iSchools SAPOT develops IP sensitive Content for Students; IPO status Scored

Original article found at:

http://www.ischools.ph/project_updates/ischools-sapot-develops-ip-sensitive-content-for-students-ipo-status-scored.html

by: Kairos Dela Cruz

“Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being”.

We all know our rights, sometimes we even overshoot on assuming them. The latter even makes some of us neglect the existence of others and the rights that are intrinsic to them. In cases of violence, people know about their human rights. In cases of trials, even the accused parties have the guts to assume their rights to remain silent. In the cases wherein students duplicate or photocopy resource materials, the Philippines appear to be blatant in transgressing intellectual property issues.

Should this be the case and future of Philippine education? Students stealing to become educated?

iSchools Project says NO.

iSchools Project, a government-funded ICT-education integration program, seeks to educate students not just by giving them free computer laboratories and training workshops; but also by providing them with intellectual property- sensitive educational materials.

SAPOT Participants (institutional/individual partners and project staff) pose for a group pick at Angels' Hills, Tagaytay last July 20-22, 2011.

The project seeks to provide high-quality educational content to the project’s high school recipients through its Content Mapping Initiative (CMI), more popularly coined as Supplementary Academic Philippine Online Treasury (SAPOT). The initiative is part of the project’s thrust in empowering the major stakeholders (teachers, students, and community members) of its recipient schools.

Representatives from iSchools partner institutions meet up with iSchools Project Manager, Toni Torres (in maroon) to insure the smooth flow of SAPOT.

As Toni Torres, iSchools Project Manager, puts it “iSchools Project believes that ICT can propel the Philippine education system but the project will not compromise any values in doing so. 

Content, especially in education, comes at a price that not everyone can afford. To help in solving the problem, iSchools would provide free content materials in different subjects, materials that will undergo rigorous academic scrutinizing. Permissions from the “whose” end of these content materials will be coordinated and negotiated by the project”.

In the recent outlining and primary mapping workshop for CMI, iSchools Project joined hands with major academic, cultural and legal institutions at Angels’ Hills, Tagaytay City last June 20-22, 2011. Among the many subject matter experts, Atty. Mark Dy of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO-Phils.) was given the chance to explain the need and implications of insuring that CMI would not transgress any level of the intellectual property rights of the proponents of the content materials that the initiative wishes to include in the final content map.

According to Atty. Dy, “Respect for intellectual property is a strong indicator of quality creative & educational content. Designing world-class educational material always includes proper referencing, attribution and copyright clearance for all the components used in the project. This way, credit is given to those who deserve it and the entire project is kept fresh and original”.

iSchools SAPOT will distribute the content materials to project recipient high schools tentatively through three major media- an online portal, portable external hard disk, and a magazine-type catalog. All of these materials will be distributed free of charge.

Atty. Mark Dy from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) briefs SAPOT participants about the possible IP implications of the initiative.

During Atty. Dy’s lecture he came across why initiatives such as SAPOT are pushing a holistic change for intellectual property in the Philippines. iSchools SAPOT is one of the first of its kind but it would not be the last of iSchools’ attempts in bridging the digital divide.

“The creative, scientific and academic communities must demand greater institutional support for copyright in the Philippines if we want our creative content to flourish. Senate Bill 2487, once passed into law, will create the Bureau of Copyright under the Intellectual Property Office, dedicated to copyright policies and programs. Presently, our Intellectual Property Office only has an ad hoc team composed of two lawyers and about 10 support personnel manning the entire copyright system of the country. In contrast, South Korea has about 800. We urge everyone to support the passing of Senate Bill 2487 and lift Filipino creativity to the very top”, Dy added.

Attributing the author with due recognition is a basic in respecting intellectual property; here is an example.

Khalil Gibran, an internationally acclaimed philosopher, and author may sound too noble and too ideal when he published the opening line. In all honesty, maybe the world can use a little of this nobility and idealism.

Power Struggle

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily




Yesterday, I was able to sit in at a meeting with officials from the Energy Department and the CEO of the Philippine National Oil Corporation. Unlike many of the government meetings I’ve been to, this was very much cordial, casual (over pizza) and highly instructional. It was like taking an unsolicited crash course on energy and the oil industry. Like everyone else, the Energy people talked about the possibilities of renewable sources of power and how it is the only choice we have for the next decade unless we wish to enter into a new age of darkness. 


Chilling fact: The world’s oil supply will disappear in twenty years.


So what are we doing about it? 


Very many things, but not nearly enough. 


Initiatives from all over the globe are being made to further our understanding and application of renewable energy. Europe, Japan and America are working full time to come up with mass produced clean energy automobiles. Scientists from all over the globe are working on different kinds of bio-fuels and alternative fuels. Engineers are designing more fuel-efficient and quieter aircraft and vessels. In the Philippines, full support and generous incentives and tax cuts are bestowed upon those who enter into the renewable energy business, through the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.


We are entering into a new age of responsibility where the world’s light can shine brighter than ever before. In this generation, in our lifetimes, we have no choice but to understand the value of interweaving productivity with preservation.  


Renewable energy is clean, efficient, free and unlimited. This will provide lower costs for electricity and, effectively, on all goods and services across the board. The better overall quality of life of each and every person will be assured. This is not only good for the environment; it will certainly be good for business. 


So, is this a pie-in-the-sky scenario? Many people continue to think just that. But it doesn’t take a delusional optimist to know that we are moving forward with these technologies and fast. Today, it is perhaps the best place to dump your money because every future activity is pointing towards that particular direction. Like buying Google in its first year of operation, this could be a jackpot that is right before our very eyes and it only takes very common sense to realize this. 


It’s time we end the age of promise and enter into an age of fulfillment. Our survival depends completely on it. All this talk of environmental protection is nothing more than self-preservation. If we do not get our act together in the next twenty years, our extinction is a proximate certainty. Mother Nature provides but she will not rescue us from our own stupidity. I have no doubt in my mind that Earth can survive and revive itself without us. 


But can we do the same without it? 


That is your pie-in-the-sky.