Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Chancellor and Chair of the Philippine Community eCenter Network (PhilCeCNet), attended a preparatory meeting for the 13th Knowledge Exchange Conference on 22-23 January 2018 in Lingayen, Pangasinan, Philippines. The exploratory meeting was in cooperation with the provincial government of Lingayen as organizers of the conference which is set to be held on 17-19 April 2018.
PhilCeCNet is composed of a network of Community eCenter (CeC) stakeholders in the country advocating the building of CeCs through learning and collaboration. With a vision of building "responsive, efficient, valuable and sustainable CeCs", PhilCeCNet advocates stakeholder support, engages in knowledge and expertise exchange, and pursues training and capacity building.
Dr. Bandalaria currently chairs the PhilCeCNet Executive Council, which is composed of representatives from different sectors. UPOU serves as the representative of the education sector and is a partner-organization for PhilCeCNet.
The Knowledge Exchange Conference, held in collaboration with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is an ICT gathering for stakeholders, and one of the organization's most prominent events. On its 13th run this year, the convention is set to be held with the theme, "Optimizing eCenter Resources and Modern ICT Affordances for Community Development". The event aims to be a venue for sharing ICT best practices, tools and resources, and networking toward community development.
