In the early '80s, it all started when four visionaries conceptualized setting up a training center to fill very specific manpower needs. They are Augusto C. Lagman, Herman T. Gamboa, Benjamin A. Santos, and Edgar H. Sarte — four entrepreneurs and friends — came together to set up the Systems Technology Institute (STI).
The first two branches of STI were established on August 21, 1983, in Buendia, Makati, and España, Manila. Both campuses offered basic computer programming courses. With a unique and superior product on their hands, it was not difficult to expand the franchise through the founder's business contacts. And a year after the first two schools opened, the franchise grew to include STI Binondo, Cubao, and Taft.
A unique value proposition spelled the difference for the STI brand: "First We'll Teach You, Then We'll Hire You." Through its unique Guaranteed Hire Program (GHP), all qualified graduates were offered jobs by one of the founder's companies or through their contacts in the industry.
No one among the four founders imagined that STI would become a college or would grow to have 63 campuses in key cities nationwide. But it did, all because of its unique value proposition, the synergy between the founders and their personnel, and the management's faithfulness to quality.
In 2001, the Management decided it was high time to give the brand a new look to launch a refreshed identity for the STI brand. The new look was coupled with a better and improved STI education system as well. After more than 20 years of positioning itself as an IT school that provides quality education to the Filipino youth, STI slowly integrated itself into the education industry as a school that offers boundless career opportunities in non-IT programs such as Business and Management, Healthcare, Hospitality Management, and Tourism Management.
The GHP also underwent an overhaul beginning in 2003 when the Interactive Career Assistance and Recruitment System (iCARES) was put in place. The iCARES is an online career service system that aids STI students and alumni by establishing links with prospective employers. The system allows the alumni to store and edit their resumés in a databank and be able to access them anytime, anywhere.
The following year, STI introduced the science behind the GHP by highlighting its other brand merits, such as the standardized and updated courseware and curriculum, highly-trained and certified faculty, and modern facilities. It marked the birth of STI's unique value proposition — the Enrollment to Employment (E2E) System.
In 2007, the Driving Education Where IT Matters program was launched together with the STI Mobile School. This program has received several Anvil awards for breaking the barrier of distance in teaching computer literacy for free to various individuals nationwide.
The Mobile School is equipped with a state-of-the-art computer laboratory with the Internet access, multimedia computer, LCD monitors, and a sound system. Since its launch, there are now six STI Mobile Schools to date that have already visited more than 100,000 public and private schools in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
A long way since its birth, STI's thrust has permeated right into the core of the globally competitive market — it has transcended beyond ICT and education, addressing the need for job-ready and future-ready graduates.