Towards A Better Internet Café Industry In The Next Decade

The title of this blog is the theme of the First Internet Café National Summit which will be held at CICT Audio-Visual Room, Ground Floor, CICT Building in CP Garcia Ave, Diliman, Quezon City on October 21, 2009 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The summit is being organized by I-Cafe Pilipinas, the national advocacy body of the Internet café industry in the country, with the full support of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology – Cyberservices Group. The event intends to gather together the players in the Internet industry as well as the concerned government agencies and private entities related to the industry.

The event will be supported by players in the information and communications industry of the country. Intel Philippines, with its unwavering support for the Internet café industry, is the first company to give its commitment as a major partner of the organizer of the summit. The organizing committee of the event is expecting the other invitees to express their commitments soon.

Under the theme of “Towards A Better Internet Café Industry In The Next Decade” are four sub-themes of the summit which can be said to be the initiatives that I-Cafe Pilipinas will pursue in its objective to change the image of the industry and have diversified business models for the Internet café owners. These sub-themes or initiatives are as follows:

• The Internet Café as Digital Business Center – In the recent Yahoo-Nielsen Net Index survey, it was found out that only three (3%) percent of Internet users in the Philippines are doing online business transactions. In the same survey it states that 70 percent of all internet access in the Philippines mainly comes from internet cafes thus making them the best avenues to further develop e-commerce in the Philippines.

• The Internet Café as Center of Leisure and Communication – The internet café industry has evolved from its being locally networked gaming hub in the early 2000 to the present online gaming centers. The development of fast DSL connections has made it possible for internet café to cater not only the  entertainment  but also the communication needs of the community. In realizing this ever increasing role that the internet café operator plays in the community there is an increasing awareness for him to become a socially aware businessman and promote the responsible use of technology in the community.

• The Internet Café as Center for Education and Collaboration – Due to fast growth of Internet technology in the last few years, initiatives has been done in order to address the need of making technology work in education. Since the Philippines is a developing nation, education officials has been trying to address the problem of lack of Internet access by our students and teachers due to scarce resources. There are many internet cafes established around schools all over the country that could become access points for e-learning in collaboration with educational institutions.

• The Internet Café as a Dynamic Business Endeavor – The internet café industry can still considered as a backyard industry in the country due of lack of much needed support and training in order to improve their conditions. The internet café owners must realize the need to upgrade his business management skills and other knowledge in order to effectively run his business.

The organizers of the First Internet Café National Summit with the support of the concerned government agencies and its private sponsors will present plans for the above initiatives to the players in the industry and seek their support in working towards achieving them.