Creating new IT agency will help generate a million jobs

MANILA, Philippines - Creating a department focused on information and communications technology (ICT) will assist Philippine initiatives to generate a million jobs in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector by 2010. Initiatives to make the Philippines a major business process outsourcing (BPO) hub in three years “will be much more readily provided if the proposed Department on Information and Communication Technology (DICT) is created," Ovum, a Sydney-based consultancy company, said. To generate a million jobs and earn $13 billion in revenues, the local BPO sector should attract an estimated 420,000 additional highly-skilled workers, David Mitchell, OVUM senior vice president for IT Research, said. Mitchell commented on the industry’s goals as indicated in its Offshoring & Outsourcing Roadmap 2010 which intends to secure 10 percent of the global BPO industry by 2010. “However, the more specialist skills, and the sheer number of different specialist skills that will be needed, are likely to be more difficult to produce without significant support and investment from government in secondary, tertiary and vocational education," said Mitchell. The Philippine IT industry has been pushing for a DICT as early as the 1990s. In the current Congress, a DICT bill is still undergoing deliberations at the committee level. The Philippines is only one of a few countries in Asia with no ministerial level ICT agency. The ICT policy making responsibilities lie in at least two agencies—the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), for the telecommunications-related policies, and the Commission on ICT (CICT), an agency under the Office of the President. Other agencies involved in supporting the ICT sector include the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for trade and investment promotions, and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for research on ICT. “If DICT is created, it should rally the ICT economy around a maximum of four capability areas, aiming to create high-value businesses rather than commodity outsourcing capabilities," said Mitchell. Industry group Business Processing Association of the Philippines is supportive of a DICT believing that such an agency will ensure that the infrastructure for ICT will be in place. Mitchell said a smaller economy like the Philippines needs to focus its efforts if it wants to compete with BPO powerhouses India and China. “Smaller economies in emerging markets need to have focus, and avoid competing with larger economies on cost alone," said Mitchell. He said a DICT can help the Philippines focus and charge premium rates for skills that rare. - GMANews.TV