UP to bid out remaining phases of technohub dev't

The University of the Philippines (UP) will bid out the remaining phases in the development of the 98-hectare UP North Science and Technology Park along Commonwealth Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City as part of a grand vision to replicate the famous Silicon Valley in California and MIT’s Route 128.

At yesterday’s inauguration of the UP-Ayala Land technohub, which represents the first phase of the UP North S&T Park, UP vice-president for development and professor of economics Ruperto P. Alonzo said the state-owned university is preparing the terms of reference for the two remaining phases and expects to start the bidding process for the second phase next year.

Alonzo said property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has signified its intention to bid for the next two phases which cover a total of 60 hectares. The second phase will involve the development of a biotechnology park while the third phase will serve as the communications technology hub.

ALI president Jimmy Ayala said six of the programmed 10 four-storey office buildings within the IT park are slated for completion this year and will provide gross leasable space of almost 70,000 square meters, catering primarily to companies engaged in IT and IT-enabled services.

The next four buildings are expected to be completed by next yearend alongside the planned six-storey dormitory building and possibly a hotel.   Total cost of the UP-Ayala Land technohub was placed at P6 billion.

The residential component will target office and campus personnel, Ayala said.

Ayala said the S&T Park will pioneer business process outsourcing (BPO) campus developments in the country and set the standards for future IT parks.

Marivic Anonuevo, head of ALI’s corporate business group, said the campus has been envisioned as a learning laboratory which will serve as a venue for industry-academe collaboration. 

Anonuevo said the UP-Ayala Land technohub currently has 20 locators, which include IBM Business Solutions, Pointwest Technologies, and software developer Seachange as well as the BPO facilities of Manulife and HSBC.

Other locators include incubating new technology start-ups and SMEs.

The retail component of the project, on the other hand, comprises dining places and a bookstore.

President Arroyo, who launched the UP-Ayala Land technohub, said it would be the country’s “foremost IT laboratory, trading ground and incubator”. “This is one giant step to bring the country closer to the goal we declared in 2001 of making technology the foundation of our economic development,” she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said she has directed the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) to study the feasibility of setting up a technology hub, capable of hosting a call center in every province.

 “We need to wire the entire country to attract more BPO and hardcore technology companies and help train young Filipinos into world class workers in programming, embedded technologies and network engineering,” she said.