The orientation was officially opened by Regional Director for Field Operations, Sir Ricardo Varela, who shared his encouragement to the participants, stressing the relevance of this project in advancing the economic standing of not only the region but of the nation. This was reiterated by Engineer Ajoc, who asked for a collaborative effort in achieving the shared vision of “…building a strong science, technology, and innovation community.” The project specifically aims to capacitate the Filipino workforce and business owners in handling new technologies to cope with the fast-paced changing global economic scene, through MOOCs (massive open online courses) like Coursera, and to develop local consultants and trainers on emerging technologies in Caraga.

Engineer Ajoc confirms the acceptance of the participants as the grantees who will be given the licenses necessary to avail the required courses and certifications. He briefly discussed what Coursera is and how it will prove essential in achieving their end goal of “upskilling” MSMEs. According to Engineer Ajoc, this learning platform provides courses uploaded by the top universities around the world, ensuring that the grantees will be able to learn from quality educators. The orientation was then concluded with the discussion on the grantees’ responsibilities, which are to complete the required courses and to do a capstone project that will extend their gained knowledge to business owners in their localities.