The Integrated Center for Advanced Studies had its initial achievement with the presentation of Engr. Zarinah Aligsao's research entitled, "Review of Demographic Trends and Socio-Economic Characteristics: Developing Framework for Growth Strategy in SOCCSKSARGEN Region" last March 17, 2008 in General Santos City.


No less than, Celedonio Ines, MOS (Provincial Officer, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics), FJ Babate, Ellen Dalagan, MM and Judith Janiola, MPA served as the audience during the presentation.



Her research was made possible through a small research grant programme administered by the Center. The latter is under the oversight of Ms. Judith C. Janiola, MPA.

We are pleased to invite you to become a delegate to the SOCCSKSARGEN Study Tour and Trade Mission scheduled to convene in Singapore on 26-30 July 2008.

The paramount objective for the mission is to promote and develop trade links aimed to open business and investment opportunities beneficial to both countries, Philippines and Singapore. The delegation plans to meet with Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), one of the large business organizations in Singapore.

A SOCCSKSARGEN-Singapore Investment Forum with the board of directors & members of the ASME will be conducted. There will also be a one-on-one business matching with ASME members. The mission also includes company visits and a tour to some of the famous tourism landmarks in Singapore.

The cost of participation is pegged at Php 32,000 (inclusive of local and international airfare, 4 days hotel resort accommodation, kit, selected in-city transportation, breakfast) as well as visit to Johor State, Malaysia. To reserve your slot, an initial payment of Php 14,000 will be made on or before May 25th and final payment will be made on June 30th.

For any other information, just contact us at biztour@philstat.org or SMS 09207742628 (Luilus Llera). We welcome your participation, and invite you to learn from and enjoy these exciting events.

We look forward to seeing you in Singapore!


Ismael Salih, MBA and Ronnie Masicampo, MBA
Convenors

Our very own active member, Enp. Dennis Fel T. Matutina, MPA was a recent grantee of a training scholarship held recently in Indonesia.

The International Open Source Network (IOSN) ASEAN+3 and InWEntCapacity Building International, Germany in collaboration with TheState Ministry for Research and Technology (RISTEK), Republic of Indonesia have supported both government and non-governmentorganizations (NGOs), IT small-to-medium enterprises/businesses(SMEs/SMBs), developers, experts, trainers and users of Free/OpenSource Software (F/OSS) disaster management information systems this Training of Trainers (ToT) event for FOSS Geographic Information Systems(GIS) with a leading ICT-based NGO, Sahana. This event was held at the PDII-LIPI in Jakarta, Indonesia from March 24 to 28, 2008.

This activity was in response to the great demand and interest for afollow-up training as a result of the successful conduct of an earlier ToT on FOSS GIS for Disaster Management held last October 2007 inPDII-LIPI in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Mr. Matutina is currently the IT Chief of the Office of the City Planning and Development Coordinator and acknowledge as an authority in FOSS GIS in the country.

The Association through its educational and research arms will start offering a certificate course on June 2008.

The Certificate in Applied Statistics (CAS) is intended to provide comprehensive training in applied statistics and data analysis. It is intended for professionals in diverse fields seeking short-term program to strengthen their statistical skills. This program includes to probability and statistical theory and additional training in either spatial analysis or environmental statistics.

This requires a moderate math background. The course requirements for the certificate in applied statistics are:

1. Introductory probability and statistics (June)

2. Elementary applied statistics (July)

3. Multiple regression/design of experiments (August)

4. Topics course in multivariate, spatial or environmental statistics (September)

The certificate course is primarily offered to PSA SOCCSKSARGEN members however, interested individuals can also enrol wholly or partly in the program. This program is entirely developed and managed by PSA SOCCSKSARGEN Inc. Hopefully, it will evolve into a program consortium of academic institutions, industry partners and PSA in the region.

Details about this project can be coursed through the director of the PSA Mindanao Academy (Ellen M. Dalagan, MM)

Judith C. Janiola, MPA who is an active board member of the PSA SOCCSKSARGEN Inc. presented a paper during the International Research Conference held in Iloilo City last February 27-29, 2008. Her paper is entitled, "Civil Society and Local Authority Collaboration and Its Effects on the Implementation of Family Planning Programs in General Santos City" and is co-authored with FJ Babate.

This conference was in response of higher education and research institutions to the challenges of globalization through research. This event was also a review of the state of the art of researches in the areas of teacher education; sciences, math and technology; medicine and health; humanities and social sciences; agriculture and allied fields; and media and communication. Current research outputs in these areas by researchers from different institutions or research centers have been shared.

The conference provided a venue for exchange of ideas to foster institutional collaboration and linkages in research.

Ms. Janiola is a population program officer of the Local Government Unit of General Santos City and the director of the Integrated Cented for Advanced Studies, a research and development arm of the PSA SOCCSKSARGEN Inc. Last year, she received a scholarship to attend in an international conference in Hyderabad, India.