With seven months left in the year the information technology and business-process management (IT-BPM) industry continues to work with the government and partners to reach its targets for 2016. According to the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap), the industry will have a revenue of $25 billion and will fully employ 1.3 million Filipinos.
They will continue to grow and affect the lives of many in Metro Manila, Metro Clark, Metro Cebu, Bacolod City, Iloilo City and Davao City. IT-BPM companies are also found in Next Wave cities and emerging cities, as identified by the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-Icto), headed by Deputy Executive Director Monchito Ibrahim.
On Thursday Ibpap and Icto hosted the first Business Resiliency Summit, tackling the latest lessons learned and innovation developed for dealing with business disruption wrought by natural disasters. Discussion focused on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery and resiliency.
Earlier this week industry executives from all over the country attended the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) and IT-BPM discussions regarding benefits companies are entitled to if Peza-registered, and the responsibilities that come with it. Discussion points include application for Peza registration of IT enterprises and incentives, visas, national building-code permits, reportorial requirements, attestation of date of start of commercial operations and Peza permits for movements of goods. The Peza has been a partner of the industry, encouraging continuous growth with the support of Director General Lilia de Lima.
The Filipinos, the government and the foreign investors all gain from the growth of the industry. Filipinos are attracted to IT-BPM, because it has one of the best work environments in the country. The government will have a larger employed work force-paying taxes. Investors benefit from the educated talent pool of around 600,000 tertiary graduates every year, and the high literacy rate of the country at 93 percent.
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The IT-BPM road map for 2022 is necessary, and is a big step for the sector as it moves beyond 2016 with new leaders in the government. As the industry welcomes a new administration, it will build new links and renew partnerships. There is a need for them to get to know and understand the Duterte administration and vice versa.
With over 10 years’ experience in global sourcing service, and for the country to move forward, the industry is consulting and asking really hard questions on how to manage growth for the next six years, new technologies will require new skills and have its own challenges.
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The industry is confident of its accomplishment and reaching its target at the end of the year. It looks forward to working with President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte, a charismatic leader as proven by his performance in the recent election, and his Cabinet, who many hope will be leaders grounded in basic truths, competence and ethics. Based on statements and promises made during the election period about crime, drugs and development in infrastructure, Filipinos have high hopes that life will be kinder to them in the next few years.
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Students from the University of the Philippines in Quezon City shared what they consider as vital elements of leadership, which include having a compelling vision; being open and approachable; exuding trust; being genuine; acting collaboratively; putting their employees/team/kababayan first; being courageous and decisive, and exhibiting confidence.
The youth, our future leaders, commonly agreed that success of government and/or industry is more about substance than style.
Greater scrutiny of leadership credentials is important, but it should not only be based on skills and experience. Key criteria, like judgment, decision-making, personal values and ethics, should play a far greater part of the assessment.
Words and actions should match. Only then do leaders act as genuine role models. Leaders set the cultural tone, highlighting the standards of behavior expected from colleagues and citizens.
E-mail: jemain_diaz_de_rivera@yahoo.com.
1 comment
Hopefully, the association will work better with the new administration hand-in-hand, we believe that there will be a better plans and prospects for the coming years. This can be supported with high literacy rate, great talent pool and even the ever emerging growth of BPO n the country. The question now would be, what can be the implication of this growth to both the “other sector”.