The Department of Trade and Industry Central Visayas (DTI-7) recently launched a series of webinars under the banner Ready to Recover (R2R) to jumpstart the local economic rebuilding and recovery process.

Held via Zoom and Facebook Live, these webinars were made possible with the cooperation of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Visayas, Start-up Island Philippines, various Chambers in Region VII and the Rotary.

The first webinar which was entitled “Understanding Smart Contact Tracing: For Safer Communities and for Faster Business Recovery” was held last September 11 to promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of the importance of contact tracing in the fight against Covid-19 as well as disseminate awareness of available low cost but effective digital solutions.

In anticipation of an increase in business activities and easing of restrictions in Central Visayas, the DTI-7 enjoined the business sector to adopt safe technology solutions in the area of contact tracing.

The webinar included a number of notable speakers such as Symph Founder, Albert Padin who talked about Contact Tracing Technologies; Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong who talked about the Baguio City Contact Tracing Model; DOST Expert Vaccine Panel on Clinical Trials Chair Dr. Nina Gloriani who talked about The Science of Contact Tracing; and Atty. Amor Venenoso of the National Privacy Commission who talked about Protecting Data Privacy in Contact Tracing.

For those who want to watch the first webinar, they may visit this link: https://bit.ly/2GXufXH

The second webinar, an online Pitch Party of 10 curated contact tracing apps, was held last September 25. These apps included CLEARPASS, Coscan, Open Gov, QR City, among others. The panelists were the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines’s Co-Founder Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue; DICT’s Regional Director Frederick Amores; Philippine Retailer Association Cebu Chapter’s President Chester Lim; Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry R7’s Regional Governor Edward Du; and Office Services Colliers International’s General Manager Gerard Thomas Padriga.

For those who want to watch the second webinar, they may visit this link: https://bit.ly/3n1Fw9W

The third webinar in the R2R series was Pitch Party 2: Curated Contact Tracing Applications held on October 9 this year. Due to public demand, DTI-7 decided to organize a part 2 of the Pitch Party which ended with a DIY workshop on QR-based contact tracing system application. The goal of this session was to further the knowledge of the business sector on smart contact tracing and to showcase how they can create their own QR-based contact tracing system.

For those who want to watch the third webinar, they may visit this link: https://bit.ly/33ND5QK

For updates on DTI 7’s upcoming webinars, those interested may visit the department’s official Facebook page DTI.Region7 or its Youtube channel DTI 7 Digital.