By the time you have read this, the Cebu ICT 2007 would have come to a
close. The Cebu ICT 2007 is part of the Cebu Business Month 2007
events that is undertaken yearly by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and
Industry. This year, the conference attracted well over 300
delegates from Manila and abroad, and on the second day, a few hundred
more as the sessions were made available to the public for free.
The first day of the Cebu ICT 2007 was held in the Shangrila Mactan
Hotel, and the second day, June 27 was in the Cebu International
Convention Center.
What was really great was that there was a substantive amount of
factual information that was shared, and I would like to share this.
1.) There are numerous opportunities in the contact center business.
The export of these services is hitting more than 150,000 full time
employees, and revenues reached US 2.7 billion dollars. The Contact
Center Association of the Philippines expects that this will hit US 5
billion by 2010. The Philippine Institute for Development Studies
also predicted that while the Philippines has about 20%of the world
market for contact center, they estimate that it can grow to 50% of
the world market in two years as more and more companies discover the
advantage of Philippine talent over other countries.
2.) The other bright spot is actually the backoffice process
outsourcing industry. It was reported that this industry employes
over 36,000 people and recorded earnings of over US 288 million in
2006, and is expected to grow faster than the call centers. The
growth is because BPO does not need expertise of spoken American
English, but is more on business processes like accounting, asset
management, financial reporting, business data processing, customer
relationship management, of which the country also has numerous
talent.
3.) Health information management, which includes medical
transcription, as well as patient assessment, and diagnosis was
estimated to gross US 75 million in 2006, and is expected to also
outpace the growth of the contact center industry.
4.) Animation and computer graphics was estimated to increase from
6,500 animators to over 25,000 in 2010. The NSO estimates that the
animation industry reported revenues of over $52 million in 2005.
Many Japanese anime shows, as well as major production studioes like
Walt Disney, Warner Brother, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoo Network, and Marvel
use Philippine talent.
5.) Software development contributed US 272 million in 2006 with
over 79,500 employees and 100 companies exporting.
6.) Engineering Design grew 42% in 2006, and the secotr , with over
4,000 technical professionals is expected to earn revenues of over US
357 million by 2010. However, since the country graduates more than
35,000 students from engineering courses annually, this industry is
expected to have a good pool of talent to grow further.
7.) Game development in the Philippines is still in its infancy, and
approximately there are only 15 to 20 game development companies yet
in the Philippines. The present pool of Filipino game developers is
still estimated at around 300. However, with the right marketing and
support, this industry is expected to grow rapidly.
These are promising sectors in the ICT, and we are looking forward to
report better numbers every year, as Cebu tries to get its share of
investments in this sector as Cebu Chamber of Commerce and industry,
with the support of the city and provincial governments go into
hyperdrive to attract, and entice more and more companies to see, in
Governor Gwen Garcia’s opening address during the ICT 2007, the ”
great opportunities of Cebu and dynamism of the Cebuano people.”
Moreover, the plan of the CCCI to make Cebu a whole ecozone, should
insure that the growth will not be limited only in key areas of the
city, but will percolate throughout the city and province.
Incidentally, I was talking to some executives during the Go
Negosyo event last June 26 in the CICC, and Wally Liu, President of
Primary Structures suggested that I use my column to ask reader
feedback, or ask questions which I may address in my column. I think
that is a great idea. So far, I have been writing a lot of things
that I thought would interest my readers, but I wouldn’t mind if you
write me at wilsonbizdriven@gmail.com any questions you might want to
ask about computers and technology, and I will do my best to answer it
also in my column.
wilson ng keeps a blog of his artilces in www.ngkhai.net/bizdrivenlife