Right now, it can be said that one big company is dominating the online gaming business that most i-cafés have as their bread-and-butter line. Already the leading game distribution company, IP E-Games Ventures Inc. (E-Games), the online gaming subsidiary of technology firm IPVG Corp., went into buying Internet cafés in the country as part of its strategy to dominate the online gaming space.

Last April, E-Games completed its purchase for a 75-percent stake in Digital Paradise, the operator of the Netopia brand of i-cafés. Netopia’s network consists of 72 company-owned and 27 franchised branches strategically located in malls and high-traffic areas. In September of this year, E-Games further solidified their strategy with the purchase of Webworx Computer Technology Corporation, owner and operator of the CyBr brand of Internet cafes.  This added an additional 23 i-cafes to E-Games’ retail network.

Last month, E-Games, a publicly-listed company, reported today a revenue of PhP337 million for the first nine months of 2011, a 155% increase from the PhP132 million posted for the same period last year. The notable rise in revenues is attributable to a 17% growth in game publishing revenue, and the consolidation of two brands of Internet cafes: Digital Paradise, Inc. (operator of Netopia), and Webworx Computer Technology Corporation (operator of CyBr).  Earnings for the first three quarters also rose to Php51 million from Php1 million in 2010, representing a 5,000% increase.

Moving forward, E-Games looks to become the largest consumer Internet company in the country. Between the E-Games community of 16 million registered users, and the i-café business’ 2 million monthly visitors, the Company has one of the largest captive audiences in the Philippines. E-Games’ strategy calls for capitalizing on this growing user base by providing a unique experience in each of its i-cafes. E-Games aims to revolutionize this sector through further investment in other i-café brands, helping them upgrade their infrastructure by means of the Company’s expertise, and providing new products and services.

With the current unenviable status of small i-café owners, what could this strategy of E-Games mean to them? You might say that there are other distribution companies that you can rely on for the supply of games so E-Games current domination are not affecting your business. How about if E-Games will be able to convince those other game distributors to pass through them? Will this mean an online gaming business monopoly in the near future? Just asking.

In order to address the problem of the growing number of students who cannot attend classes in traditional classrooms, the Department of Education is rolling out a tech tool, Virtual Campus, a first of its kind in the country which makes ready-to-use content to make learning and teaching more convenient for both students and teachers. According to DepEd, the Virtual Campus is an online community, e-learning and communication platform that allows the collaborative learning and activity sharing. The department said the Association of Private School Administrators of Muntinlupa (APSAM) has already tapped this technology tool to strengthen its educational service in their area.

The DepEd said recent studies have shown that the literacy rate in the Philippines is quite high compared to other Asian countries. The country, it noted, has succeeded in expanding its education in quantitative terms. However, the increase raises several questions especially with the quality of education in the country because even though the statistics in education is high, still the economic situation is not so good.

Statistical data from the DepEd reported that the completion rate for elementary schools stood at 72.18 percent in school year 2009-2010 and 72.11 percent in school year 2010-2011. For secondary schools, the completion rate  stood at 73.74 percent in school year 2009-2010 and 74.67 percent in school year 2010-2011.

This move announced by DepEd could have a positive effect to the i-café industry in the country if students would use the internet shops in accessing the Virtual Campus technology tool. It may not come easy because i-cafés are not currently seen as educational facilities. Majority are still into offering online games which are deemed to cause truancy among the students.

One (1) day after the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) unveiled its ICT Roadmap – the Philippine Digital Strategy for 2011-2016, the local ICT sector was stunned last week when it was publicized that Pres. Noynoy Aquino issued Executive Order (EO) No. 47 on June 23 renaming the CICT as Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) and transferring it under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The ICTO will be headed by an executive director, equivalent to the position of undersecretary, in contrast with CICT which had a chairman who held a Cabinet rank and directly reporting to the Office of the President.

In a press release, Senator Edgardo J. Angara, the top ICT advocate in the Senate, criticized the issuance of EO No. 47 demoting the CICT while the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) have filed a petition calling for the repeal of the EO and for the restoration of the CICT. They warned that demoting the agency could imperil the gains made by the information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry.

The IT-BPO industry raised US$9 billion in revenues last year with 530,000 people under its employment. The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) predicts that total employment will increase to 1.3 million and revenues to US$26 billion by 2016. Both the BPAP and the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce (JFCC) are long-time advocates of the DICT.

“ICT is a sunshine industry with enormous potential for investment and job generation. It deserves no less than a cabinet portfolio. This is an ironic move that sends the wrong signal to the industry about how much – or little – we prioritize ICT,” stressed Angara.

Created under EO No. 269 issued by then Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004, the CICT was tasked as the “primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, regulating, and administrative entity of the executive branch of Government that will promote, develop, and regulate integrated and strategic ICT systems and reliable and cost-efficient communication facilities and services.”

The agency, in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with I-Cafe Pilipinas, recognized the role of computer shops in providing the public with affordable access to the Internet. I-Cafe Pilipinas as the national advocacy body of the internet cafe (i-cafe) industry is working on a project with CICT that would convert qualified i-cafes into government-sponsored community e-centers (CeC). The demotion of CICT to ICTO may affect the current status of i-cafes in the eyes of national agencies so I-Cafe Pilipinas is calling on the stakeholders of the i-cafe industry to join hands and in the movement to restore and save CICT. Click the image on this article or the link above and sign the appeal.

Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino has so far shown no interest in creating a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). He was a senator in the last Congress when the bill creating DICT failed to get the approval of the upper chamber of our legislative mill. If I remember it right, he was with the group of his Vice-Presidential running mate who are opposed to the creation of the line department in the executive branch of our government.

Lately, Taguig City Representative Freddie R. Tinga has reiterated the importance of passing a pending bill creating such agency. He said the creation of an executive department for information and communications technology (ICT) is needed by the country to capitalize on the gains of the industry.

He also said that the emergence of new technologies is rapidly changing the world’s economic landscape and we need to be ready for it. He added that ICT deserves to have a governing body of its own – an executive department that will set new directions on how the government can provide an enabling environment for the country’s fastest-growing industry.

So far, the committee report on the house bill creating the DICT has been approved in a joint hearing of the Committee on Government Reorganization headed by Zamboanga Representative Ceasar Jalosjos, and the Committee on ICT chaired by Tinga. The bill, if passed into law, would create an agency that would give focus on the development of IT and modern communication facilities. There is also a pending Senate Bill on the subject authored by Senator Edgardo Angara.

Under Philippines laws, an executive department can be created in three (3) ways: a) by Constitutional provision, b) by legislative enactment, and c) by authority of the law. The last method usually pertains to the authority vested in the President to create such agency through an executive order or presidential decree. However, a law passed by Congress is more favored since the department is backed by a statute and will have its own budget.

At present, the promotion, development, and regulation of ICT is under the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), an agency created in 2004 by virtue of Executive Order No. 269 signed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In a privilege speech during a regular House session, Tinga revealed that the country is way behind Asian nations and other developing countries in terms of ICT competitiveness, as shown in the Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011 of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Philippines ranked 86th in the survey, way behind its neighbors Singapore (2nd), Malaysia (28th), India (48rd), Thailand (59th), Vietnam (55th), and Indonesia (53rd). This ranking is notwithstanding the fact that the Philippines is the biggest market for business process outsourcing and backroom operations, next to India.

“It’s not just improving our competitiveness ranking. We need to recognize that ICT is an important catalyst for economic growth and job creation, a pre-requisite to parity in education, a necessity for good governance, a channel for a free and empowered media, and means for poverty alleviation,” Tinga said.

PC buyers, i-café owners included, tend to spend time studying the specifications and features of central processing units (CPUs) and seem to ignore the peripherals, such as monitors. But lately, PC monitors have come into their own and most of them now have features like sensors and ultra-thin forms that should command attention equal to CPUs.

For example, Philips has come out with Brilliance 220X1, a 22-inch “lightframe” monitor. It is the first monitor to incorporate an “ambilight system,” where the panel of the monitor gets to produce its own light, making it glow with a soft blue-green hue. This glow-in-the-dark technology is said to reduce eye strain and relax the eyes, particularly among users who spend a lot of time in front of monitors.

In its press release, the company said that behind every Philips monitor is a design strategy that incorporates concepts of green technology, appealing design, and user-friendliness. Also, they say that their LED monitors consume less power and the materials used do not have components that can harm the environment. They also come with smart technologies like sensors that allow the screen to adapt brightness to its surroundings.

We know that there are many other power-saving PC monitors in the market with features that will fit the needs of computer users. It is always a wise move to consider this peripheral to be as important as the CPU specifications when you buy the computer systems for both personal and business use.