CEBU, PHILIPPINES (08/09/2000) - Information technology professionals and entrepreneurs with creative ideas now have a chance to develop and market them with the help of the Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp. (CPVDC) business incubator project. CPVDC launched its incubator project at the Cebu Civic Trade Center (CCTC) IT park last July.

The CCTC incubator will house six promising IT idea teams and provide them with the software, hardware, and administrative needs to develop the idea into a business. Each incubatee room will be provided three computer terminals, a complete voice-and-data fiber-optic communication system, a common conference room, and secretarial facilities.

CPVDC and Ayala Internet Venture Partner (iAyala) have already begun screening potential incubatees.iAyala, for its part, has invited sponsors or venture capitalists to invest in the six IT fledglings.

According to CPVDC president Rex Drilon, successful projects will be launched as independent companies.

Each potential incubatee will be evaluated for its product's focus, including emerging Web technologies, the product's uniqueness, and its market growth potential.

Internet and wireless applications are the leading choices for incubatees.

During the recently concluded WAPceleration Cebu, the CCTC IT park received a number of proposals from potential incubatees that were interested in Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and other Internet business applications.

At the same time, CPVDC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) calling for the establishment of a virtual center for technology innovation in a information technology learning hub at the CCTC IT park. The DOST will take care of the expenses for the training programs and courses, trainers, videoconferencing systems, and computer servers needed for the training sessions. CPVDC will provide 30 square meters for the learning hub for free, including a module of CPVDC's adjoining incubator project for an incubatee nominated by the DOST. CPVDC is also providing personal computers, office furniture, and other needs for the learning hub, including Internet access and networking capabilities.