Cebu sees vast potential growth for ICT

The number of software developers in Cebu today has more than tripled in figure since 2001 which reckons Cebu’s massive potential growth in the area of information and communication technology (ICT).

Bonifacio Belen, chair of the ICT-Link Asia that will witness the conduct of the Cebu ICT 2007 International Conference and Exhibition in June, bared that there are now 3,500 software developers compared to only 850 six years ago.

Workers in the ICT-enabled services such as call centers and data encoding have reached 18T compared to only 7T a few years back largely due to the presence of the top six call center firms that have branches here, according to Belen.

“We’ve got something to say when it comes to ICT,” Belen told reporters during the recent Cebu media launching of the Cebu Business Month (CBM). The ICT conference and exhibition is one of the highlights of the CBM, a yearly celebration in June spearheaded by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) to promote the province as an ideal investment haven.

India is considering the Philippines as getting closer to competing with them especially in the global outsourcing market with 266T Filipinos now employed in the business process outsourcing (BPO) in the country, Belen said.

Currently, the Philippines has only one to three percent world market share in the global outsourcing with India still leading the way with more than 50 percent of the global market share in the ICT field, this is said.

Belen said the country hopes to capture around 20 to 30 percent world market share in the BPO which the ICT conference and exhibition aims to initially pave the way towards that direction.

The objective of the ICT conference is to bring together 150 IT leaders in Asia from 11 countries with a minimum of 15 delegates per nation. About 40 IT experts have already confirmed attendance to the conference coming from India, Beijng in China and the US with the discussion to focus on how Asia can collaborate in the ICT field, this is learned.

For the second day, an Asian Summit of IT leaders is set where talks will zero in on the landmarks for possible collaboration among the participating nations such as in the area of human resource development, Belen further said.

As the CBM cashes in on the twin potentials of tourism and ICT growth in Cebu, Belen said the CCCI wants to initiate a calendar of Asian IT events where participating nations can network with each other in circulating IT events that will be happening within the region. The benefits that will be reaped through these efforts will increase Cebu’s capability to deliver which is inspiring for all of us, Belen said. (PIA)