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Brain
Gain
By Michael Alan Hamlin
November 05, 2002
I learned a great deal about country
marketing while working on the book, Marketing Asian Places, which
was published last year. The opportunity to work on the book came
in the form of an invitation from Philip Kotler, the Northwestern
University marketing guru often referred to as the "Father
of Modern Marketing." My firm organizes some of Phil's presentations
in Asia, and on one of his visits he generously offered me the opportunity
to work on this book as a co-author.
Among the things I learned about
successful place marketing and its contribution to enhanced economic
growth, is the importance of attracting smart people to live and
work in a place. For many Asian governments that work hard keeping
foreigners out of their countries - principally as a knee-jerk reaction
to liberation from former colonial "masters" - the notion
that a country can't rely on internal human resources for its development
is startling, to be polite.
However, just a quick glance over
my past view columns shows just how important a role foreigners;
specifically, Filipinos, can play (and need to play) in development
of the U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) sector.
Last week, we saw Joey Gurango's contribution to empowering SMEs
(in part by helping develop the Philippines' ICT sector at the same
time). Previously, I noted that Marc Loinaz invented the first single-chip
digital camera. Dado Banatao invented the first chipset for IBM
clones, and now funds other would-be inventors and technopreneurs
as a venture capitalist.
While other people might have eventually
accomplished what these fellows did (and do), they did these things
first and made significant contributions to their fields of specialization.
It's a good thing for America that they did.
I also have mentioned a couple of
times Paco Sandejas, in part because he is so good in throwing out
"sound bytes," or short, highly accurate prescriptions
for fixing the Philippines and getting it back on the track for
rapid growth. In one conference Sandejas neatly summarized what
the Philippines needs to do to create Silicon Valley-like technology
hubs.
He said, of course, that the Philippines
must attract smart people. And how does it do that? "By being
a cool place to live and work." Sandejas has a fairly elaborate
definition for what makes a place cool, but no one needed to hear
it. A "cool place" says it all. And it says it so well
that I have quoted in repeatedly in the past couple of years. And
obviously, I still am.
But Sandejas ? an accomplished engineer
in his own right with a bonafide Silicon Valley history developing
high definition TV technology? is doing more than lust making recommendations
about development. Recently he founded BGN Ventures, a venture capital
firm. That's an interesting development for a number of reasons.
Among those reasons is what BGN stands for. "It's a reminder
that the firm is built around a human resource network Marc Loinaz
and I started in 1992," Sandejas recently explained.
BGN is an acronym for Brain Gain
Network, an initiative that Sandejas, Loinaz and many others eventually
grew into a membership of over 750 scientists and engineers working
in the U.S. and other countries. Members were, and are, united by
a single goal: to someday return to the Philippines to make a direct
contribution to the country of their origin. And the country that
first educated them. The country that first prepared them to work
among the world's brightest minds.
The network lost momentum, however,
when its proponents earned their PhDs and went to work in laboratories
where they spent 60 and more hours a week, according to Sandejas.
"The network was run by volunteers, and after working up to
100 hours a week, there was little time left. And as we see in the
Philippines, if there is no full-time effort and no budget, good
ideas falter."
Sandejas says he has been inspired
to revive the network now because of encouragement and support from
friends and associates like Banatao, the Philippine government,
and the private sector. His goal is to increase the value-added
Filipino engineers contribute to the development of original technology,
and eventually he wants that technology to be developed in the Philippines.
His goals differ from those of Gurango
in style, but not substance. Gurango concentrates on software, while
Sandejas' true love is hardware. Like Gurango, he believes that
the Filipino engineers who live in work in the Philippines are among
the most talented in the world, and have enormous potential. But
to realize that potential, they need exposure to the big leagues.
Sandejas, in character, uses a sports
analogy to illustrate his objective, noting that the South Korean
soccer team was so successful in the 2002 World Cup because it recruited
a foreign coach with extensive experience with world-class teams.
That's where the Brain Gain Network comes in. He believes that the
members' experience in the highly competitive technology hubs in
developed countries, combined with their knowledge of local conditions,
will contribute to the creation of "cool" technologies.
And that together with local engineers and scientists, therefore,
they can build world-class research centers.
Sandejas' effort is an important
first step, because he's been there and done that and is now doing
it in the Philippines. And this time he's making sure the Brain
Gain Network stays vibrant. Because that's the name on the door.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing
director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on
Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian
Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001). He can be reached
at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2002 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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