By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
March 12, 2010

IT industry groups from the private sector recently came up with a policy report aimed at guiding the next administration to implement the effective ICT platform.

Entitled the “eGrowth Plan: The ICT Road to Economic Growth” the report is composed of a set of recommendations on policies and projects that the government needs to implement to harness growth.

The 32-page eGrowth Plan was derived from several Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) and Roundtable Discussions (RTDs) by the IT Association of the Philippines (ITAP), Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) and Computer Manufacturers, Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines (COMDDAP). It was written by Emmanuel Lallana, former commissioner of the Commission on ICT (CICT), who convened the group’s meetings.

The groups said government should harness ICT in its drive to stimulate the economy. But more than just recommendations, Lallana wrote the eGrowth Plan also forms an “agenda towards making the ICT sector more competitive and better able to contribute to national economic growth and development.”

Among the eGrowth Plan’s set of recommendations on policies and projects to the government include an immediate, intermediate and long term approaches, which are: improving digital infrastructure; capacity building; enhancing eGovernment services; and creating an enabling environment for the ICT sector. For the long term plan, the report indicated ICT leadership, vision, strategy, developing competencies, and establishing genuine partnership between local government units (LGUs) and the ICT industry.

Oscar Sanez, president and CEO of BPA/P, told Computerworld Philippines the next administration should target to get the country in high rankings in the area of IT competitiveness via strengthening the infrastructure for ICT such as broadband access, computers for schools, e-government, and also by deploying the right IT policy and promoting broad education and usage for ICT technologies and competencies.

“The Philippines has no choice. If it wants to create more jobs for our young people, we need to have a government that puts priority to the ICT competitiveness of its working population.” Sanez said. “Government has to understand that even agriculture, utilities and small-scale industries will have to rely on ICT capability and competitiveness to flourish.”

Sanez said the next administration should promote a BPO strategy that is anchored on two fronts – one is to rapidly increase the supply of talent on the IT-BPO skills laid out by the industry through financial support to training institutions that will participate and scholarships for the identified competencies. Second is that there should be a strategy on how to increase the level of awareness for Philippine BPO in the sourcing markets (US/Europe) through as aggressive marketing campaign highlighting the Philippine talent capability and country branding.

The BPA/P boss said “the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not invest in international marketing missions and international marketing which did not help create the right level of awareness for Philippine BPO capability.”

As a result, he said many emerging countries like Egypt, Malaysia, South Africa, and others had surged forward while the Philippines lagged behind in awareness. “This was a serious mistake which should not be repeated by the new administration,” Sanez stressed.

Sanez continued that the BPO industry will support a candidate who puts ICT at the top of his or her priority.

“The opportunities for getting the Philippines to reach US$20 billion to US$30 billion during the term of the next president depends on how much he or she can invest in promoting the right policy to enable industry growth,” Sanez said. “Foremost would be the passage of the DICT bill, the data privacy bill, the fiscal incentives regime, the cybercrime bill and the various amendments to the labor code. These bills will help clear the barriers to growth and promote a business environment that supports unencumbered investments in the ICT sector.”

Yet for CICT chairman Ray Roxas-Chua, he hopes that the next president will view ICT not merely as a revenue generator or support tool, but also as a means of empowering the Filipino people and bringing the country closer to the ranks of developed nations.

“I hope his or her platform will include providing broadband Internet access to all Filipinos and using ICT to eradicate corruption in all levels of government. I also hope the next President will create a stronger entity, whether a department or in some other form, to oversee the ICT development of the country,” Chua said. “Whatever form it is in, one thing is certain – communications and information technology needs to be under one body in line with global convergence trends.”

Chua said “IT-BPO” has been and will continue to be one of the biggest success stories of the country. Despite the success, he said the Philippines must constantly strive to be even better and more competitive, because many other countries are aggressively trying to penetrate the market.

“I believe the next administration should focus on promoting the Philippines as the No. 1 IT-BPO alternative to India, improving our educational system to develop more knowledge workers, migrating the industry to higher value KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) opportunities while still maintaining our dominance in call centers, diversifying our markets outside the USA, and developing more cities as IT-BPO destinations,” Chua said.

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