US firm taps local IT talents to develop apps

CEBU, Philippines - Realizing the rich supply of information technology talents in Cebu, American-Korean venture capitalist John Kim has formed a pool of Cebuano software developers and is encouraging them to make their own online innovation and carve a name in both local and foreign online market space.

Kim’s US-registered company Now Media Group has established its headquarter in Cebu, and is now operating its first project, the iTrabaho.com online job portal that attracts thousands of companies and job seekers around the country.

Aside from the online job portal, Kim’s group, with the help of young programmers mostly graduates from the University of the Philippines (UP Cebu), is developing several breakthrough innovations, including the newly introduced “Food Pick”, online and SMS applications designed for customers who may want an immediate guide for good restaurants in the Cebu city.

According to Kim, there is a huge opportunity for young and talented programmers in Cebu to “own” their inventions through a partnership with a venture capitalist like himself.

Food Pick, which is available in Android and iOS applications, and soon to partner with Yahoo, is the first SMS, internet, and smartphone phone application that offers complete guide and visual images of food offered by food establishments.

Even without intense physical promotional glitz, the portal has already attracted several establishment subscribers such as Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, Choi City, Gustavian, Willows, among others, while hitting the over 300 and more restaurants and food destinations in Cebu.

In the next few months, the group will introduce this cutting-edge technology in the Manila market, Kim said.

“Many restaurants here in Cebu don’t have online presence. It’s best to create a platform for them,” Kim said.

Aside from the location guide, Food Pick is an image driven restaurant guide which offers seamless experience for customers “who are hungry but do not know where and what to eat.”

The Food Pick platform is developed by a group of young Cebuano programmers led by Jeffrey Simon Lo.

According to Kim, Now Media Company is up to introduce more innovations using the SMS protocol, smartphone phone applications and online innovations, utilizing the Cebuano talents that ultimately bring them to be enterprenuers, rather than a mere employee.

Although, Kim said that a real “venture capital” concept is still a farfetch idea that could be achieved by Cebu in the short term, he said he is applying his success in Silicon Valley through a diversed Venture Capital strategy to fit the lifestyle and Filipino culture.

Kim said he is impressed by the capability of Cebuano talents in developing programs, and software, and even innovative web applications, and this should be given utmost attention, via providing a facility that would encourage the talents to pursue technology-entreprenuership.

Kim established the iTrabaho.com early last year as the first job listing platform which take advantage of SMS, and social networking. (FREEMAN)