College teachers from Cebu, Bacolod, and Tagbilaran learna bout technopreneurship at Smarts SWEEPX event. (CONTRIBUTED)
TAGBILARAN City in Bohol is a gateway to top tourism attractions like the Chocolate Hills and the white sand beaches of Panglao, but it is difficult and expensive to get around using the tricycles that are the most common means of transport.
Three faculty members of Holy Name University in Tagbilaran proposed an innovative solution to this mobility challenge – a localized booking system for tricycles – during the three-day SWEEPx: Technopreneurship Training for Teachers initiated by Smart Communications.
The training, the third leg of which was recently held at the University of Cebu Banilad Campus, aims to inspire teachers to promote technology entrepreneurship among their students so the latter could use their academic learnings to solve problems in their communities.
The previous sessions were held in Cabanatuan and Davao. SWEEP is the longest-running collaboration between Smart and the academe, which aims to raise the standards of engineering and IT education in the country.
Technopreneurship skills
The SWEEPx training taught participants the process of identifying a problem and solving it from a user’s perspective and connected these skills with entrepreneurship values as getting funding for and marketing their product.
“Technopreneurship is not just about learning how to do business to make a profit. It is also understanding the needs of the market. From the training, I learned practical business skills and strategic applications that I can impart to my students,” said Eduardo P. Mendoza Jr. of the University of San Carlos IT Department.
Several universities in Cebu and one each in the cities of Bacolod and Tagbilaran were represented in the technopreneurship seminar by faculty from their respective IT, Engineering or Business Administration departments.
Pitching workshop
SWEEPx participants underwent a pitching workshop handled by Tudlo Innovations Solutions, Inc. managing director Vince Loremia. He said his technology business that grew out of the need for emergency and disaster response solutions “started with what you had two days ago — an idea.”
From his pitching experience with investors, Loremia said he learned it is always best to start with a story than to present figures. He added that they should also be aware of the most common things that tech startup founders miss out on when talking to investors, such as demonstrating an understanding of the market, clearly presenting revenue projections and showing a plan to mitigate big risks.
User experience
University of Cebu – Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue Campus faculty member Teodoro A. Avergonzad Jr. said one important thing he learned from the training was understanding the user experience or UX process and its role in creating great products.
Phil Smithson, On Off Group director, handled the training on the use of the UX process and its role in the creation of great products and having these tested with the people who will use them. The Dream Project founder Prim Paypon talked about how to identify social pains and problems.
For more information on SWEEP, please visit www.smartsweep.