Election 2010... a Bright Future for IT in the Philippines

Looking at it from a 'project management' point of view, the preparations leading to the Philippines' first automated election system was almost at a 'nightmare' level. Just like a lot of fellow Filipinos, I shared the view and sentiments of the so called "IT Experts" I often see and hear in the news. As a project manager, you never deploy a system this big, a system this critical, without a thorough simulation and comprehensive "operational testing." I wanted to remain optimistic about the new system, but checking each item in my imaginary project management 'checklist', I cannot help but feel nervous about the situation. So with that feeling of nervousness, plus ongoing talks about possible failure of election scenarios, I went out on May 10, 2010, to cast my vote.

But as always, Filipinos never seize to surprise and amaze, specially concerning our democratic exercises. For starters, I was happy to see a lot of people joining the long lines of voters, and the mood was generally relaxed, if not festive, in the voting precincts. Secondly, in spite of the many 'glitches' in the technical preparation, and the supposed over-sensitivity of the system even for small mistakes in ballot shading, the voters (young and old alike) looked genuinely excited to try out the new system. Thirdly, unfamiliarity with the new system made the voting process quite time consuming compared with the previous, but voters were very patient about it, with some even extending until late in the night to cast their votes.

While waiting for about 4 hours before I finally had the chance to vote, mostly I was smiling with the thought that the Filipinos had again shown the world their love for democracy, their openness to adopt new technology, and their undying faith that things can, and will become better than it is now.

Oh. I almost forgot why I wanted to write this entry in the first place :)

Being an IT professional, I wanted to say how happy I am of the openness and enthusiasm of Filipinos in quickly adapting to the automated election system. In my own experience in the IT industry, a computerized system, however reliable and efficient it may be, is only as effective as the willingness of the "users" to use it in place of their current (manual) system.

In our recent election, I saw not only the willingness of voters to use the new system, but their excitement to be a part of it, in spite of the many negative news about it. If it is any indication of our general willingness to adopt a more organized, a more efficient, yet more structured (inflexible and sometimes rigid, specially regarding mistakes and errors) system than the one we are used to already, then I can say that we Filipinos really have a bright future in IT (and technology) ahead of us. I can see this trickling down to our local companies and organizations. IT solution providers and software developers can now propose computerized/automated processes and systems, and we do not have to worry so much about acceptability and adaptation by the users, especially Filipinos. Once they are convinced of the benefits, they will be more than glad to be part of the new system.

Remarkable PhilNITS Pass Rate of 31.25% from Davao

Congratulations to all who passed the recent PhilNITS exams!

(check out the results here at www.philnits.org ... passers from Davao begins with FE04...)

I am so happy!!!

I am so happy right now for so many reasons...

... results were updated to show 15 passed from Davao in the recent (March, 2010) PhilNITS exam, from the initially heartbreaking thought (see my previous entry) of only 5 passers

... we have met our target of 10 passers for Davao, however improbable a target it was when we set it knowing that Davao averages only about 6% pass rate and maximum of 5 passers in past exams

... we have met the challenge of our major sponsor company, Data Horizon, who hopefully will decide to continue their support and confidence for Davao IT students/professionals

... we have achieved a remarkable 31.25% pass rate (15 passers out of 48 examinees), which is quite good even compared to average national pass rate of around 15% and even Japan's average pass rate of around 20%

... we have achieved this result in spite of the surprise major change in structure and format of the examination

... it is a well deserved pass result, as I know most of the passers and I know how much heart and effort they have put into preparing for the exam

... our review program has finally reached this milestone, learning from several unsuccessful attempt to produce a good enough number of passers from Davao

... we provided very promising career opportunities waiting for our passers, considering how difficult it is to find a good job that compensates well and one that helps us to grow in our chosen field of Information Technology

... we have a good participation from our local SW development companies, contributing also to our list of passers

And finally, I am happy and excited that this inspiring result would encourage and motivate more from Davao to challenge the PhilNITS certification exam.

Lessons Learned from PhilNITS... again... and again...

It's about a year ago when I wrote about how PhilNITS reminded me how hard an exam it is to pass, and how unexpected the results can be. It seems I never learn.

Much of what I am feeling, and what I want to say now, you can read from that post (Lessons Learned from PhilNITS, May 8, 2009).

I am glad that 5 passed from Davao this time. I am glad that three of them I helped with their review, and of those three two were just third year college Computer Science students of UP Mindanao. But...

I know how to accept failure. Having conducted PhilNITS reviews for several years now, I have had my share of crushed expectations. But for me, believe it or not, more important than the present result is the improvement gained each time. It might take some time, but if I can show improvements every time, however small they may be, time will come when we can consistently produce good results.

The probem is, I am not seeing any improvement in the results from our review program. I would like to think we already covered all bases we can possibly can, but still the result doesn't seem to show any pattern at all, aside from it being consistently low (around 3 passers only everytime). Here are some of the possible causes that prevents us from getting a better performance, and what actions were taken to try to resolve them, or why I believe they should not be a reason for us not to pass the exam:

1. Not enough resource/reference materials for review ==> We have gathered around 15 years of past exams (some from translated Japanese exams); received an exam handbook containing almost two hundred past questions with solutions; received a softcopy of the preparation book for IT passport; received a hardcopy of the FE preparation book; received copies of several lecture materials about fundamental IT concepts; and we even use one or two Japanese reviewer books. I usually tell my review participants that we actually have more than enough review materials that we can feasibly comprehend during our limited review time.
2. Not enough focus/time is being given for the review ==> Busy with schoolworks (thesis, SP, exams, school activities, etc.) is one the usual excuses. But come to think of it, so are the other students in other schools. Teachers who passed the exams I would think are even busier with their teaching loads, not to mention their having to take care of their family and kids when they get home. As I usually advise my review participants, do not expect to secure 1 hour or longer review periods from your usual schedule, but instead, try to find those packets of time (around 5 to 20 minutes) which I fondly call "nakaw na sandali". These would include lunch breaks, snack breaks, travel time, even CR time. Added up, they amount to almost 2 hours of review per day.
3. Lacking of motivation and desire to pass the exam ==> In this trying times wherein even the best graduates find it hard to find a good job, what can be a better motivation than an almost certain job offer if you pass the exam. Don't you think a three-year training in Japan, then going back to Davao and establishing the company here, a good deal? All you have to do is pass the exam, and you are almost certain they will offer you the job. of course not all who take the exam would have the same motivations, but I strongly believe there are quite a few (at least 30%) are highly motivated.
4. Fundamental concepts learned at school is not sufficient ==> I can agree that our schools' current curriculum can use some revising/improving, but students from lesser known schools were able to pass the exam. Even older examinees whose curricullum during their generation I suppose is already obsolete by today's standard, are able to pass the exam. And in our review program, we even have a system to identify which are your weak areas, so you can give focus on improving those areas particularly.
5. The review program is not very effective ==> Assuming this is true. But still, some students have passed the exam even without the benefit of an organized review, without access to the materials that we have. All they have to rely on are the materials they can freely get from the Web.
6. The exam is really impossible to pass ==> This one I cannot accept. If Manila and Cebu can show 10 to 20% passing ratio, I cannot accept that students from Davao cannot do the same, or even better. I simply refuse to believe that students from other cities are much better than ours.
7. The format of the recent exam was changed (from previous) without any warning ==> True. It has caught us off-guard and by surprise, and may have even caused unnecessary nervousness during the exam. But the examinees from other cities also experienced the same, but still they managed to pass the exam.

Maybe I have written too much already. Maybe all I really wanted to say is that I do not know what to do anymore to effect an improvement for the next review program. The last few exams seems to show that the result is really unexpected always. Would it be wise to just conduct the review any which way, without much strategy and planning, and just leave the passing or failing of the exam to mere 'chance'?

A Special Note of Thanks

Yesterday (March 28, 2010) we had the PhilNITS examinations here in Davao City (simultaneous nationwide, and also with several Asian countries).

I intend to write more details about the examination, particularly the one here in Davao, soon. But for now, I would like to say "Thank You"...

... to all those who took the exams!
... especially to those who exerted extra-ordinary efforts to prepare for the exams
... to those who participated in our tight-scheduled, month-long (almost), daily reviews
... to Data Horizon, for continuing to sponsor the review and the exams for our students
... to members of the Davao Software Industry, Inc. (DSII) for taking/challenging the exams
... to MCA, for sponsoring the exams for some of our Davao IT engineers
... to PhilNITS Foundation, especially the Davao team, for their support and assistance
... to Kato-san, for visiting Davao again, after almost a year
... to the teachers, for their undying support and inspiration to their students
... to those who joined our bowling game last March 21 at the Fairlanes bowling alleys
... to my lovely wife, my cute kids, and my family, for their support and understanding

I am saying my "thank you", not in anticipation of the would-be results, but I am saying my "thank you" regardless of what would be the results of the recent exam.

20 Topics to Start Your PhilNITS Review On

A recent visitor (BK) to my blog wanted to know if I had a list of recommended topics to focus on in reviewing for the PhilNITS exam. So I came up with one.

Actually those who have attended my reviews were provided a list of Frequently Appearing Topics/Questions, plus subsequent discussions on them. But since that might be difficult to share here, let me give you a list of the 20 most important topics. As the actual scope of questions of PhilNITS is very wide, I hope this short list will be more manageable and can help get your review going:

1. Radix Conversion
2. Data Structures (Lists, Queues, Trees)
3. Basic Search, and Sort Algorithms
4. Flow-charts and Pseudo-codes
5. Memory Architecture, and Performance Calculations
6. Processor Performance Calculations
7. Auxiliary Storage Capacity and Performance Calculations
8. State Transitions
9. Data Flow Diagrams
10. Basic SQL Commands
11. System Availability (MTBF, MTTR)
12. Software Development Methodologies
13. Testing Methodologies, and Phases
14. OSI Basic Reference Model
15. TCP/IP Addressing, and Common Protocols
16. Database Normalization
17. Public Key Cryptography
18. Basic Accounting (Break-Even, Profit, Loss, Inventory)
19. Seven QC Tools
20. Arrow Diagrams, and Critical Path determination

As for Tips and Techniques on how to prepare for the exam, and how to improve your chances of passing, these past entries may be useful :

http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2009/04/pointers-on-how-to-pass-philnits-fe.html

http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2008/07/pointers-on-how-to-pass-philnits-fe.html


The best of luck to you.

Lessons Learned from PhilNITS

Today is May 8, 2009. I just finished eating an early lunch when I visited the PhilNITS website (www.philnits.org). I was surprised to see the results of the April 26 (2009) exam already posted, as I expected it to come out after a week more or so.

I immediately looked for passers from Davao (starting with FE005-...), and was surprised to find only 5 in the list of FE passers. I have set my mind not to expect too much (as I did last time), lest I might be dissapointed. But to be honest, I was hoping more from Davao would pass. Maybe because some took the "Removal" exam only. Maybe because some of the examinees already took the October 2008 exam and some of them even got very good scores. Maybe because our current batch of examinees really showed very good promise during our review program. Maybe because some of the examinees were quite confident about their performance when I asked them immediately after the exam.

Today, I was just reminded how difficult it is to pass the PhilNITS exam, and how unexpected the outcome can be. I have learned these so many times before while helping to prepare examinees to pass it. I have not really forgotten those lessons, I just thought that with all the lessons I already learned, and with all the new techniques I introduced to prepare for the exam, that "this time" would be "the time."

But alas, it was not to be.

Today I feel down... I feel I let so many people down.

But I will not give up. PhilNITS is definitely hard to pass, but it is not impossible. And I will continue to find ways to help people do well in the exam...

PhilNITS Exam (Davao City) -- April 26, 2009

Today is another exciting day for Davao IT!

Today, April 26, 2009, a total of 76 IT students, professionals, teachers and enthusiasts are challenging the PhilNITS certification exams. Majority are taking the exams for the first time (most of them college students in their 3rd year of education), while some have experienced taking it before and are determined to continue the challenge. Almost all examinees are challenging the FE (Fundamental IT Engineer) exam, but there was one who challenged the SW (SW Design and Developent Engineer).

To facilitate the exam, and to provide morale support, Shinichiro Kato (PhilNITS' Vice President for Finance) and PhilNITS Davao staff members Joy Alferez and Renan Cruz were there. Arriel Nengasca also lent a hand in behalf of DTI-XI. I too visited the UIC (Bonifacio) Campus to give support to the PhilNITS people and to the examinees, especially to those who attended my reviews and orientation seminars.


My hopes are high that our examinees will do well in the exam. But with an average passing rate of only about 10% nationwide, I am realistic in my expectations. Still, knowing personally the capability of most of the examinees, I am confident that they have done well. I am just hoping their scores are good enough to reach the passing mark. Last year our review program helped to produce the first student passer from Ateneo de Davao University (Jedd Benedict Kris Mahilum), and also from University of Southeastern Philippines (Rendell Andrin). Three of our review participants from UP-Mindanao also passed (Larvi Jerrick Badoy, Raymond Bryan Brion, Ian Jay Plaza). A good number also got good scores, but ufortunately were a little short of the passing mark.

The PhilNITS review courses were made possible through the generous sponsorship of Data Horizon (a Japanese SW Development company). PhilNITS Foundation also found additional sponsors, allowing more Davaoeños to take the examination in spite of their tough financial standing. This was all made possible through the tireless efforts of PhilNITS president, Ma. Corazon Akol, and its vice president, Shinichiro Kato.

It would be about a month or so before the results of the exams will be known. For the time being, we can relax knowing we prepared well for the exam. Pass or not, we have already benefited a lot (in terms of IT knowledge and skill improvement) from preparing for the exam.

Pointers on How to Pass PhilNITS (FE) - Part II

(this is a sequel to an earlier post : http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2008/07/pointers-on-how-to-pass-philnits-fe.html)

My previous pointers on passing the PhilNITS-FE exam focuses on the "preparation" stage, this entry focuses on tips for the "actual exam day."

Reminder : General Description of the Exam (both AM and PM exams)

Tips for the AM Exam

• Try to simplify first before computing/solving (especially true for large numbers, decimal points or complicated equations)
• Do not leave any item blank. Actual scoring might have weighted score per choice.
• Do not spend too much time on “conceptual” or definition-type questions if you do not have any idea about it. Better to guess then proceed with next item.
• “Units” are very important during computations
• Choose the best answer when you feel there seems to be more than one correct answer
• Usually you can readily eliminate one or two of the answer choices
• Sometimes you can quickly (but intelligently) guess the correct answers (you may review your answer using the conventional way if there is still time later)
• Review your answers if there is still time remaining. There are no additional points for submitting your papers early
• Suggested time allocation : 1.5 mins per question
  

Tips for the PM Exam

• Decide your language of preference (C, Java) prior to the exam (but quickly scan also the other option, just in case it offers a much simpler problem to solve)
• Tracing the program may be the best way to find the correct answer (so practice your tracing/debugging skills so you can do it very quickly)
• All questions are designed that they can be answered, and “hints” and “clues” can be found within the program/question
• The fewer the sub-questions, the more weight (in points) they carry
• Exam questions are designed with the intent that any examinee with general knowledge can answer them
• Do not get intimidated by technically sounding terms that you are not familiar with, as usually a brief explanation about them is mentioned, or, they are not critical to the actual program
• Do not get overwhelmed by long questions, flowcharts, or codes (if you do, you will fail to properly understand the program flow)
• The longer the question, the more “clues” are mentioned in the question itself
• Sometimes the answers are already inside the question text, and can be found without reading the code or flowchart
• Program modules are often highly independent from each other (as part of a good coding practice), so you can break them down and analyse by modules (instead of analyzing the program flow as a whole)
• It might be a good idea to have a “quick glance” at the answer choices to better understand each question
• It is most likely that you will have to go back and refer to the original questions when answering the sub-questions
• Manage your reading time well (see suggestions for time allocation)
• Suggested time allocation : 15 mins each (for the "Easy" questions #1, 2, 3, 6, 7), 30 mins each (for the "Difficult" questions #4, 5, 8, 9)

Properly Filling Up Your Answer Sheets

• If you filled up your examinee number incorrectly, you get NO SCORE for the entire exam set!
• If you improperly marked your answers, you get NO POINTS for that particular question
• All questions for the morning exam is compulsory. Do not leave any item blank
• If you failed to mark the “Selection Column” (between C and Java questions) properly, you will get NO POINTS for those particular questions
• If you change your answer, completely and neatly erase your previous answer (exams will be checked by scanning machines)

As a last piece of advice, it might be wise to bring little snacks (more of the "brain food" type) and bottled water which you may eat during the long exam. Better bring also packed lunch as it might be hard to find fastfood centers during the exam day (usually falls on a Sunday).

Best Computer Science SP (Special Problem) 2009 (UP-Mindanao)

I have always had a high regard for University of the Philippines' (UP) students and UP graduates, as I believe they have one of the best curriculum, professors and students amongst the universities here in the Philippines.

Here in Davao, there are a few admirable universities producing top quality IT engineers (CS, IT, IM, CoE, ECE, etc.) every year. But the fact that majority of those who are passing the PhilNITS certification exam are coming from UP-Mindanao (UP-Min) reinforces my respect for UP, particularly for their Computer Science course. But learning that only a handful of their CS students graduate on time (it takes 4 school years to complete the regular CS course) made me a bit curious why. Apparently, one of the main factors for not graduating on time is their Special Problem (SP) subject, wherein each of students are tasked to focus on a particular problem, and provide solutions (or probable solutions) by applying what they learned from their entire CS course. As per my discussion with UP-Min's CS Department Chair, Ms. Vanessa C. Ramoran, the ideal SP is one which introduces a new (may even be revolutionary) algorithm, demonstrating the field of expertise of the CS course (as a differentiated from other IT related courses).

When Mr. Riannel Tecson, a CS faculty member of UP-Min, invited me to be one of the judges for their 2009 Search for the Best SP for CS (April 17, 2009), I took it as an opportunity to personally see the kind and quality of SP UP-Min produces, and maybe even get an idea why some of their students find it hard to finish on time.

The quality and contents of the manuscript and the presentations of the finalists (please see list below, ordered according to the sequence of actual presentation) did not dissapoint me :

1. Sedfrey Dickson Atay : Barangay Mintal's Human Resource Management System
2. Kevin Bernard San Gaspar : Windows Vista Compatibility and Addition of a Compiler Function for the Examination On-Line (an exam system used by the CS department)
3. Precita Samonte : Office of Student Affairs (OSA) Student Organizations A.S. (SOAS) Website

They might be a bit different from what I am used to in my experience in the IT industry, but as an academic exercise they are quite impressive.

After the presentations by the finalists, and also after some discussions with Ms. Ramoran and my co-judges (Mr. Tecson, and Professor Vicente Calag), I now have a better understanding why the SP might cause a student not to graduate on time. Here are some of the possible factors that I learned :

• SP is an individual exercise (and usually takes a lot of effort to complete)
• SP corresponds to only 3 units (side-by-side with other major subjects and school activities, sometimes focus is lost on the SP completion)
• SP usually is started from the fourth-year of the CS course (so if you miss it's completion, you cannot graduate on time)
• Some UP students are already working (usually as part-time) while studying (so sometimes there is reduced motivation to finish the course on time as they are already earning)
• As more and more students are needing one or more extra semester to finish their course, it might have brought the wrong notion to younger students that it is the norm rather than the exception

But these factors are well known by the students (and is common also with other universities). And although they might make the SP more challenging, there is still no excuse for not finishing the SP on time. And it still is the responsibility of the student to manage his/her time well so as not to loose focus on their SP's completion. But with the able guidance, coaching and mentoring from their teachers, I believe the situation would definitely improve. Perhaps, it's solution can even become the subject of one student's SP in the future :)

IT Olympiad Quiz Bowl

Yesterday, me and my wife attended the IT Olympiad Quiz Bowl, as part of the contest's judges. The IT Olympiad is a yearly event organized by CDITE-XI and PSITE-XI, and participated by schools under their group. Aside from the Quiz Bowl, part of their event was their Research Paper Presentations, and a Programming Contest.

This time, it was a partnership with PhilNITS to formulate the Quiz Bowl's questions. Being located here in Davao and a known advocate of PhilNITS, and being neutral (no official affiliation with any particular school), I was requested to develop the questions. It helped also that both me and my wife (who helped by reviewing the questions I made) are passers of the exam.

I had to skip sleep the night before as it was the only time I had to finish developing the questions. It was all worth it after seeing that the participants, organizers and even the audience appreciate the questions. All my tiredness and sleepiness went away when I observed several organizers and audience trying to answer the questions too :) That was part of my objective as I wanted the competition to be "engaging and educational" too.

The questions were said to be more challenging as compared to previous ones. But basing on the result of the competition, if you have fundamental knowledge on IT concepts, you can answer the PhilNITS-based questions. That's pretty much the same with the actual PhilNITS exam. At first glance they seem impossible to pass, but once you get to know how it is organized, from which topics (they call it IT Body of Knowledge) they base the questions, and what are the most important areas to focus on, you will gain that confidence and pass the exam. It was one of the messages I was hoping to deliver during the event. And I am hoping it will inspire more students to join the Quiz Bowl next time, and also take the PhilNITS exams.

Congratulations by the way to the organizers for such a meaningful, and successful, activity. Congratulaions also to all participants and their coaches, and also the audience who came in support of their respective school mates. Of course, a congratulation is in order to the winners :
1st place = Jose Maria College
2nd place = UP Mindanao
3rd place = Davao Del Norte State College

My Guiding Principles for Year 2009

Year 2008 marked my return to the IT industry (click here to read a previous post on this) since relocating here to Davao city.

For year 2009, I plan to be more focused and involved with IT.

Based on my actual IT work experience in the past, there are several areas of IT I can participate in, e.g SW development, Quality assurance, Human resource development, etc. I can opt to work for an existing IT company here in Davao, work as a consultant, or maybe even put up my own company. But I believe in starting small, and doing all you can to succeed in every step.

I have decided that the most fulfilling for me would be to get involved in the Human Resource Development (knowledge, skill, competency) side of IT. Naturally the main core of my activities would be trainings and seminars, but they would also be supplemented by the following :
* PhilNITS ==> to serve as the base standard of our knowledge and skill level in IT, and also as a tool (PhilNITS exam) to objectively measure our competency
* SW Development ==> to serve as a venue for practical application of the skills learned during the trainings, and to gain actual experience needed to become a competitive IT engineer
* HR Deployment ==> to serve as an end goal of our skill improvement activities. for most at least, the goal is to get employed in a reputable and highly competitive IT company

To make sure I do not go off target, I have the set the following as my guiding principles :
1. Earn a living for my family, and find fulfillment in what I do
2. Promote PhilNITS and contribute to it's sustainability
3. Improve and promote IT capability of Davao

Financial earning is very important, specially so because I have a family to raise. Currently, much of my efforts now are done without much regard to the immediate gain I might be getting in return. But it is my hope that the foundation I am laying down today will reap rewards for PhilNITS, for me, and for Davao in the near (hopefully very soon) future :)

Consistent with my guiding principles, I try to represent PhilNITS any possible way I can (specially here in Davao). I strongly believe that by utilizing PhilNITS (the standards it sets and the actual certification exam), we can even surpass our Asian neighbors (Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc.) in terms of IT knowledge and skill. Capability wise, we definitely have the potential. And now we have the tool (PhilNITS).

In my previous work in the IT field, I have worked with IT engineers who hailed from different cities and provinces of the Philippines. It is my observation that those coming from Davao generally have the traits that makes for a good IT engineer : technically adept, easily trainable, very sociable, and has the potential to be good leaders. I has since made it a personal mission to help develop the IT skills and promote Davao as a good IT destination.

As my initial activities, I have conducted PhilNITS reviews (contributing to the passers from Davao), shared my learnings and experiences with IT students (preparing them to be more competitive when they become IT professionals), and personally promoted Davao (to my Japanese friends and aquaintances, in my trainings in Japan, and other activities done outside of Davao). I am also actively encouraging our graduating students to excel as IT engineers, and let the world know that they hail from Davao, as they are Davao's most effective promoters.

The number one challenge I am facing now is finding similar-minded people to help me turn my plans and ideas into reality. Activating the PhilNITS-society (passers of PhilNITS) members living here in Davao would be best. As working together we can work towards having more PhilNITS passers from Davao, get more sponsors for IT skill development programs, and conduct IT-related trainings and seminars. Another option is to collaborate with teachers and students who are involved in IT, as this could have the widest reach and coverage for our advocacy of IT skill improvement in Davao. I know that alone my activities may not bring much of an impact, but I strongly believe that the day will come (soon) when we can form a group that would embrace and promote that advocacy of having a brighter future in IT, starting here in the Davao region.

2008 : The Year I Returned to IT

When my family transferred to Davao year 2006, I temporarily hibernated from the IT industry, where I worked for more than 12 years. In that span of time I got to experience and manage different aspects on an IT company, e.g. Software Development, Project Management, Offshore Assignment (IBM Japan), Quality Assurance, Recruitment and Training.

Year 2008 marked my return to IT. It was kicked-off by a 5-week training in Japan for "Bridge Systems Engineer," (click here to read a previous post on this) wherein I confirmed I still had what it takes to lead and manage SW development projects, particularly focused on offshore contracts from Japanese companies. It was good to be able to visit Japan again after some time. Aside from the very good technical learnings I got, it also provided me with a good opportunity to plan my return to IT.

Upon my return I discussed with PhilNITS for a possible tie-up to conduct some IT trainings here in Davao. PhilNITS Foundation president, Ma. Corazon M. Akol, was very kind to accomodate my ideas. Our first collaborative activity was a PhilNIS-FE review program. We found it hard to gather interested participants (our target were Davao IT professionals) for the review. But I guess the timing and situation was just right, as PhilNITS was able to secure a sponsor which allowed us to accomodate several participants for free. We even got more sponsors to be able to to offer the same review programs to selected Davao students. I think the outcome of the review was decent enough, producing all 5 student passers from Davao for the October 2008 exam. (click here to view October 2008 results for Davao)

November of the same year I got another chance to visit Japan, this time for a 3-week training on "Software Design and Development Engineer." (click here to read previous post on this) I learned many valuable information about the PhilNITS exam on this training, which I would later use to improve my PhilNITS review program. The time spent in Japan also gave me the chance to reflect on how successful my return to IT is for the year 2008. Although actual activities done were not many and only occasional, I think I was still able to lay down a good foundation for my plans for 2009.

Hopefully year 2009 would be a much busier and much fruitful year for me, for PhilNITS and for the IT engineers of Davao...

Davao PhilNITS-FE Passers = 12+1 (as of 11/07/2008)

To keep track of the PhilNITS passers of Davao, my wife and I donated to PhilNITS Davao office a wallclock wherein the names of all those who have so far passed the exams are printed. As of the latest results of PhilNITS (November 7, 2008) posted at their website (http://www.philnits.org/), the number of examinees who have passed the PhilNITS FE exam in Davao so far is 12. There are also some examinees who passed only either the AM or the PM part. And I am positively hopeful they will complete the remaining part next time they take the exam.

Here is a glimpse of the clock face :

You might have notice 13 names in the clock face. The other one is my wife's. She passed the exam in Manila, but is now back in her beloved hometown of Davao, and is here for good.

The next level exam, PhilNITS SW, has not yet been conducted in Davao (maybe because nobody have registered to challenge it). But this coming April 2009 exam, there are some of us who are seriously considering to take it, and of course with the intention (or at least hope) to pass it. So until now all the passers are for the FE exam.

So far the clock can still accomodate the names of all passers. But I am hoping soon we will need a bigger one... meaning, there will be a lot more who will pass the exam and we cannot place them all in the current clockface. Now that is something I am excited about, and really looking forward to...

Eat-All-You-Can Barbecue in Tokyo

(November 8, 2008. Tokyo, Japan) Together with some friends from my previous company, we went to eat at an “all-you-can-eat barbecue” restaurant at Shimbashi. With all the excitement, I forgot to check the name of the place. For 1,200 yen, you choose from a buffet of meats (beef, pork, chicken), vegetables, etc., and barbecue them right at your dining table. There are ready-to-eat complements too, like rice, dumplings, noodles, etc., a selection of fruits and desserts, and an unlimited refill of juice and colas. The patrons were a mix of different nationalities (Japanese, Filipinos, Asians, Europeans, etc.), and two buses full of Chinese occupied only a fifth of the packed place. My stomach was so full when our 1-hour time limit expired, I felt like needing a wheelchair to leave the place.

To burn some of the fats away, we went for a walk at Ueno Park. After taking some interesting pictures and visiting some of the nice places there, we decided to call it a day and go our different ways (I was living at a different area than them, and had to take a different train line). But we felt like there were still much to talk about, and lost time to catch up. We decided to chat for a little bit more at Starbucks, or any other cafe house, but we ended up at Mc Donalds. some had coffee, others had nice cold drinks. We were still too full to eat. Before we knew it, we already spent more than two hours just chatting about anything.

But most of our discussions revolved around some news and happenings about their company, AWS Systems. Somehow I felt like I still belonged to the company, as it was my first (and only). I had to leave it (after more than 12 years) when I started raising my family and transferred to Davao. Somehow our discussions gave me renewed energy to pursue the current challenges I am facing, and helped clear my mind to set the direction of my return to IT, this time focusing on skill development of the next generation of Filipino IT engineers.

We also talked about how we can motivate young Filipino IT students and enthusiasts to pursue a future in IT. Informally, I asked for their support in sharing their stories and experiences, both good and not-so-good, about their IT career and life. We agreed with the observation that one of the problems facing future IT engineers is the lack of a clear image or idea of what is in store for them in the field of IT, and how they can grab those opportunities. We also talked about the values, knowledge, skills and attitude that should be taught and introduced to them based on the actual needs and requirement of the current IT industry. I hope one day we can make concrete steps towards sharing these stories with others.

Then finally it was time to go home. Aside from being re-energized with meeting my friends again, I was so happy because our Nihongo teacher (sensei), who is also a good friend of mine and a baptismal godmother of my son, gave some gifts for her godson, and a lot of Japanese food stuff to bring home to Davao. Unfortunately for those in Davao (but fortunately for me), some of those stuffs may never reach them, as they are too tempting to ignore, specially when I am by my lonesome in my hotel room studying and preparing for my lessons the next day.

Seven Passers from Davao for the October 2008 PhilNITS-FE Exam

In an earlier entry (see Davao Aims to Make a Mark in PhilNITS), I wrote that I finally had a chance to conduct review classes in Davao for the PhilNITS-FE exam, which I hoped will help bring notice to the IT competency of Davaoeños.

A total of seven (7) passed in Davao. Five (5) of them were fortunate enough to have passed the exam in their first try. All five attended my review program. The other two passers passed one part of the exam (either the morning or the afternoon part) in their previous take, and the other part in the recent (Oct 2008) exam.

I would like to extend my congratulations to the seven recent Davao passers of the PhilNITS-FE certification exam!
(FE03-0081) Andrin, Rendell Caldona *(USEP)
(FE03-0088) Atiagan, Rosfield Cabanes
(FE03-0041) Badoy, Larvi Jerrick Ocsio *(UP-Min)
(FE03-0070) Brion, Raymond Bryan Solomero *(UP-Min)
(FE03-0064) Mahilum, Jedd Benedict Kris Tahil *(AdDU)
(FE03-0027) Plaza, Ian Jay Cañares *(UP-Min)
(FE03-0077) Sereño, Mylene Estandarte
* attended the review program I conducted in cooperation with PhilNITS Davao

(you may visit PhilNITS website for the complete list of passers)

This brings to 12 the PhilNITS-FE passers of Davao. If we include my wife, who passed the exam in Manila but is now residing here in Davao, then we have 13 PhilNITS-FE certified passers here in Davao. I know we have more Davaoeños who already passed the exam but have taken it in other exam sites throughout the Philippines. I hope one day we can gather together, physically or virtually, and help promote Davao's IT capability.

SW Design and Development Engineer Training in Japan

I am fortunate to have another chance to visit Japan this year (2008), from November 2 to 23, for an IT training sponsored by AOTS, in cooperation with PilNITS. The training is about the Software Design and Development Engineer Exam, or SW for short, which is also being conducted by PhilNITS in the Philippines. The exam is one level higher to the Fundamental Engineer (FE) exam of PhilNITS also. Both SW and FE are recognized by Japan as a valid measure of one's IT competence, and can be used to facilitate getting work in Japan as an IT engineer. For my case, passing the FE exam has allowed me to participate in two advance IT trainings in Japan this year alone.

My current training, SWIT as we officially call it, comes in a good timing for me, as I am also planning to conduct more IT trainings and reviews in Davao. I recently conducted reviews for the October 2008 FE exam in Davao. And hopefully next year reviews for SW can follow.

I plan to write about the technical details of the training in a future entry, but for now let me share the other aspect of our visit here. For the SWIT training, there are a total of 23 participants, from Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. We are lucky to have the most number of participants, a total of 8 came from the Philippines. Most of the participants are working in the academe or educational institutions, and are quite experienced and knowledgable in their respective fields or specialization. Aside from my learnings in the formal lectures, I am sure to learn a lot from my colleagues too.

We are staying here in Tokyo, and our training is conducted at AOTS Tokyo Kenshu Center (TKC). The weather is quite nice, compared to the Philippines it's like being in an airconditioned room anywhere you go, but not yet too cold that you will need gloves already. Our formal lectures are being conducted by NEC Learning Ltd., and they provided us each with individual notebook computers for our use during the training period. The training room is also very nice, with all the necessary facilities you will need for a seminar/training, and more (like a big TV set for film showings, and wireless access points, etc.) How I wish trainings in the Philippines can be as nice as they do it here. In general the lecturers are good, but not all. Some also just looks at their powerpoint and reads everything that is written there. But all lecturers are well experienced in their respective expertise in the IT field, every lecture time is a treasure cove of experience and learning.

More about the training and my acitivities here in the coming days...

Bridge Systems Engineer Training in Japan

Being a passer of the PhilNITS-FE exam, I was privileged to be able to join the Bridge Systems Engineer (Bridge SE) training held in Japan last February 18 to March 21, 2008. It was a very timely training for me, first because it kicked-off my return to the IT field (after a year or so of hibernation), and second because I was planning to provide formal IT trainings in Davao from this year.

The training was great! Not only were the trainers, co-participants and venue wonderful, undergoing the training seemed to have awaken in me the experiences I acquired in my more than 12 years of being in the IT industry. It refreshed me with knowledge and skills required of a bridge SE, and povided practical exercises in IT project management.

The training was of course for free, sponsored by the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarships (AOTS), and offered to Filipinos through the cooperation of the PhilNITS Foundation, Inc.

Interestingly, I was the only participant coming from Davao. Majority where from Manila and Cebu. Also, I was not the most mature in the group, but somehow my capability to speak Japanese (at least on a casual conversational level) and my previous exposure working for a Japanese software development company helped me to cope well with the environment, and to understand the technical and Japanese Language (Nihongo) lectures resonably well. Sometimes I even have the chance to help out some co-participants from the Philippines and Vietnam.

The training also gave me the chance to visit Japan again after six (or seven) years. The last time I went there was for a one-and-half year long assignment at IBM Japan. It was also a good chance to experience more closely the Osaka culture, as my previous visit there was only for a day-trip sight seeing tour. It was good to know also that I remembered still some of my Nihongo, making me confident in exploring around Osaka and not getting lost.

I plan to write more about the technical contents of the Bridge SE training in a future entry, so that I can share to others at least the practical learnings I was fortunate enough to receive.

Davao aims to make a mark in PhilNITS

August suddenly became a very busy month for me, as I was just informed that I will conduct two more batch of review courses for around 50 graduating students to help prepare them for the upcoming PhilNITS-FE exam. The additional courses will start early September, but I need to prepare early as the schedule will become "frantic" come September and first half of October.

I am very happy for the additional review courses, but at the same time very worried as conducting simultaneous reviews, with a compressed schedule, and with a large number of participants for each batch, will surely be a challenge. It turned out that from September, all my weekday evenings are fully booked, with only Tuesday as a day-off. Even the whole days of Saturdays and Sundays were booked. This is one time I cannot afford to get sick, or else we cannot anymore meet our target before October 19 (the day of the PhilNITS exam).

The first batch of reviewees are mostly professionals. Some already working in the IT field, others have just decided to transfer/go back to IT. There are also a good number of faculties from the academe. This is a good opportunity for me, as whatever I can share with these batch, they are at a position to carry on the sharing with their colleagues and students.

The second batch are all students, mostly coming from UP Mindanao, and some from the University of the Immaculate Conception (UIC) engineering department. I am both excited, and in a way intimidated, to teach this batch as so far UP has produced the most number of PhilNITS passers in Davao. I am sure to learn a thing or two from the participants as well.

The third batch are mosty from Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU), plus some from the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), UIC, and UP Mindanao. I am also very excited to teach this batch as I know their students have good capability, and that I might be of help to produce the first (except UP) passers from these schools.

It will also be a good opportunity for me to compare the performance of these different batches, as the program I will be using is common for all three. You may visit this previous entry for an overview of the review program I plan to conduct (http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2008/07/philnits-review-course-in-davao.html). This will provide me with a unique insight as to the readiness and competency in the fundametals of IT of these different organizations. I believe they are also a good representation of Davao, so this would be my first snapshop of Davao's capability to pass the PhilNITS-FE exam.

We have yet to see effectiveness of our review program, but I am hopeful that we can produce a decent number of passers this time from Davao. And in our own little way help Davao to be noticed more when it comes to IT (particularly in the software development field) in the Philippines.

Pointers on How to Pass PhilNITS (FE)

For those who would like to challenge the PhilNITS Fundamental Engineer (FE) certification exam, but do not know how to start or how to proceed, I am compiling here some pointers I have gathered through my own experiences, discussions with others who have tried out the exam, and also from my own analysis and researches. I hope some of the information here will be of help in your preparing for the exam...



1. Have the Right Motivation

Everything changes depending on your motivation. If for example it has been your childhood dream to work in Japan as an IT engineer, then having the PhilNITS certification may be your passport in achieving that dream, and you will do everything to be able to improve your chances of passing the exam. Here are but a few more possible motivations for challenging the exam :

• Skill Development and Improvement
• Appreciation and Recognition
• Standardized and Objective Skill Assessment
• Rewarding and Challenging Job or Employment
• Career Advancement
• Advanced Technical Trainings

2. Get to Know PhilNITS Better

I believe in the saying that you need to know more your enemies before you can defeat them. Although PhilNITS is not an enemy, having a better understanding of the background, history, vision and composition of the PhilNITS exam will improve your chance greatly of formulating an effective strategy and eventually passing the exam.

One of the most important matters you need to know about PhilNITS is the basis and the scope of the questions in the exams. PhilNITS utilizes two Bodies of Knowledge (BOK), one is the IT Common BOK (for the morning part of the exam), the second one is the Practical or Core BOK (for the afternoon part of the exam)

You may visit also the following sites for more information :
http://www.philnits.org/
http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/



3. Improve Your Confidence

Even if you have the capabality to pass the exam, but you do not have the confidence, it would be very difficult for you to pass. On the other hand, if you currently do not have the knowledge or capability of to pass the exam, but have confidence about your potentials, then there should be no problem for you in passing the exam, given enough time and support during your preparation.

The tricky part about confidence improvement is on how to measure it. One simple way I can advise is to download a past exam set. Let us take for example the morning exam part, which is composed of 80 questions. Create a checklist for all 80 items, and start placing a check mark for all questions/items for which you are already knowledgable and confident in solving and getting the right answer. Your goal is to have as many questions with check marks. You can measure your confidence level in percentage, or the ratio of the total items with check marks over 80.

In improving your confidence, you should aim for a level higher than the actual exam requirements, as normally the underlying condition during the actual exams makes it more challenging for concentration and focus. So I recommend to set at least a target of 85%, as the actual passing mark for PhilNITS is 75%.

4. Don't Work Hard. Work Smart

The scope of the PhilNITS exam is very wide, and it covers topics usually taken during a regular 4-year BS in Computer Science course. Do not just review or study blindly, as it is almost impossible to cover all the topics in the Body of Knowledge if given only a couple of months to do it. Instead, if you can organize the information about the exam, and about the questions that are coming out, you may be able to formulate an effective strategy that will help guide you where to put focus on. Also, if you are able to objectively measure your understanding of each items, you will be able to determine which items you are weak at, and then start working to improve on them.



5. Attend Organized Reviews

Some people can review or study better alone and by themselves. But if you are already busy with other activities (like school, work, family, etc.), sometimes you need to force yourself to be able to focus on reviewing or preparing for an exam like PhilNITS. In this regard, attending an organized group review might be beneficial for you. An organized group may either be a professionally conducted review, or even just your regular group of friends who decided that you are all in this together in preparing for the exam.
Here are some of the foreseen benefits of attending organized reviews :

• Will Usually Force You to Allocate Time
• Sense of Commitment Other Than to Yourself Only
• Sharing and Discussions
• Expert Tips and Advices
• Coaching and Guidance
• Professional Assessment

And finally, here is a list of References and Materials that might be helpful for your preparation :

1. Past PhilNITS Exams (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
2. Solutions to Past Exams (available at PhilNITS office, ask for the “Preparation Books”)
3. Textbooks on “Fundamental IT” (available at PhilNITS office)
4. Online Review System (available at PhilNITS office)
5. IT Common Body of Knowledge (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
6. Practical Body of Knowledge (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
7. Handbook on PhilNITS (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
8. Additional Backgrounder on PhilNITS (http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/)

PhilNITS Review Course in Davao

In cooperation with PhilNITS, I can finally offer formal review courses for Davaoeños in preparation for the October 2008 PhilNITS exam.

The plan is actually quite simple, gather enough participants interested in taking the exam, improve their confidence to pass the exam, and then have them take the exam. But of course it is easier said than done.

For starters, it will be challenging to gather enough participants from Davao who are willing to invest both time and money and undergo a rigorous review course for an exam whose benefits they are not yet very familiar with. Second, who will want to invest in a review course that has no track record yet to boast of its effectiveness. Third, how will you improve the participants' confidence enough to pass an exam whose national passing ratio so far is only about 15%.

Fortunately, somehow, once the decision has been made to push through with the review course, solutions started appearing for the challenges mentioned. And any new problems or challenges that comes along the way will just have to be dealt with as they appear.

For the review course participants, PhilNITS will untilize its exisiting network to invite prospective reviewees. They will try to tap also some sponsors that would be willing to take care of some, if not all, of participants would-be expenditure for the review, including the enrollment fees and materials.

As for the review course program itself, I would just have to rely on my actual industry experience, and also on my experience of conducting similar exam preparatory courses before.

Here is a quick glance of the features of the review course...

The importance and benefits of the exam for IT engineers would be well emphasized, by showing the participants a picture of what is waiting for them in the world of IT, particularly in the software development industry.

And once we get the proper motivation for challenging the PhilNITS exam, a systematic and smart approach to studying/reviewing will be implemented. Considering the very wide scope of topics of the PhilNITS exam, the only way to effectively prepare for it is if we can somehow provide an organization and structure to the concepts and skills it requires the examinees to have. The next step would be to assess where the weak area is, and to improve on those weak areas.

And finally, we will work on the confidence of the participants, and bring it to a level that will hopefully be enough for them to pass the exam. Confidence is equally as important as actual knowledge and skill, because the absence of which may cause a relatively knowledgable and talented examinee to fail. Incidentally, to build/improve confidence, it is definitely necessary to improve ones skill and knowledge as well.

With all these systems in place and running as planned, and with the dedication of the participants, I am hoping that Davao can produce several passers this coming October exam.