World Bank Country Office Discusses Plans with Silliman

Two representatives from the World Bank (WB) Philippines were on campus on April 10 to explore how Silliman University can further be engaged in collaborative programs that promote dialogues on development issues.

Silliman is one of the founding members of the WB Knowledge for Development Center (KDC) Network, an organization composed of some higher education institutions in the country and key government agencies. These are units that host a KDC resource center where development publications in both hard and soft formats can be accessed by the public for free.

WB Communications Officer Justine Letargo and consultant Jean de Pano met with Silliman President Dr. Ben S. Malayang III in the first part of their visit. They discussed initiatives that can further bolster the relevance of the KDC network in providing a rich public perspective to issues.

Later in the morning, Ms Letargo and Ms De Pano met with Director of Research Dr. Enrique Oracion, Director of Extension Asst. Prof. Emervencia Ligutom, Director of the Office of Information and Publications Mr. Mark Raygan Garcia and Silliman Library KDC librarian Mrs. Cheryl Reyes. The meeting sought to gather ideas on how the KDC can better operate beyond the University and facilitate community activities.

The KDC in Silliman was originally launched in 2003 as a resource center, a component of the library. Its concept later evolved to include into its program the different academic units. Its scope expanded from a repository of information to both developer and transmitter of knowledge through forums, dialogues, videoconference sessions and other related learning activities.