Next-gen IT professionals to converge at UP

Thousands of IT professionals, educators, enthusiasts and students nationwide are expected to converge for the 7th Philippine Youth Congress in Information Technology (Y4iT) on September 8 to 11 in UP Diliman.

Held every September, Y4iT conference provides a venue for discussion and learning of latest trends in technology and innovations, current opportunities and challenges in information and communication technology or ICT.

This year’s Y4iT will be featuring keynote speeches and side events that focus on “ecological issues,” such as CICT Commissioner Mon Ibrahim’s talk on “Smarter Planet” and exhibits by the World Wide Fund for Nature and Biomodd, said Dr. Jaime Caro, director of UP Information Technology Training Center (UP ITTC).

Caro said some of the perceived presidential candidates in the 2010 elections, such as Senators Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr., Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero and Richard “Dick” Gordon, are among those confirmed speakers during the four-day event.

Besides them, other personalities like CICT Chairman Sec. Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua 3rd, CICT Commissioners Angelo Timoteo Diaz De Rivera and Consuelo Perez, Imee Marcos and Winston Damarillo are also expected to speak at the conference.

New interesting topics that will be discussed during the event include Cloud Computing, “Emphatic” Computing, iPhone development, Kinesthetic Learning Activity and Assessment, Making IT Work for NGOs, IT Journalism, among others.

Caro said more than 16,000 delegates have already pre-registered and around 2,000 more are expected to join this year’s conference with an environment-friendly theme titled “Y4iT Goes Green.”

The participants of the said event are expected to be coming from far-flung provinces like Tuguegarao, Apari, Cagayan, Capiz and Zamboanga. At least 168 schools nationwide have registered to be part of this year’s four-day conference.

The event, to be hosted by UP Diliman, in Quezon City, will be held simultaneously at three locations: the UP Ang Bahay ng Alumni, the University Theater and the UP Film Institute.

Y4iT is an annual conference organized by UP ITTC, UP System IT Foundation (UPSITF) and Student Volunteer Corps (SVC) in cooperation with the Philippine Society of IT Educators (PSITE), Computing Science of the Philippines (CSP), Philippine Computer Society (PCS), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) and the IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress).