ILOILO CITY (PIA)—The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has highlighted the potential of Western Visayas in enhancing digital ecosystems and harnessing interconnected information and technology resources and systems.
The region has been ready, and it just needed a constant boost from different stakeholders, DICT Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development Jocelle Batapa-Sigue said on the sidelines of the Regional ICT Summit and Exhibitions (RISE) program held on Sept. 25, 2024.
“We are ready; we have been ready. But we need to continue to be ready to evolve. The demands of the industry have become complicated,” Batapa-Sigue emphasized.
She also cited that Western Visayas has two Centers of Excellence—the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo—and one digital city, Roxas City—making it possible for the region to lead the way.
“Our challenge for Region 6 is to let us lead the way for the country because we have a lot of potential,” she stressed.
She noted that the region has a pool of skilled talent from quality universities, a supportive business environment, robust infrastructure, improved road systems, and affordable, high-quality food and utilities.
The Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry, according to DICT, has already provided around 100,000 jobs in Western Visayas, with approximately P1 billion in total monthly salaries.
Meanwhile, Haidee Enriquez, talent attraction and development committee chair of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), said that the industry has 1.7 million direct employees already with a projected 1.1 million additional jobs by 2028.
“Out of those 1.1 million additional jobs, we are projecting that as much as 55 percent will be delivered by the countryside, roughly 600,000 jobs. How much of that do you want to be in Western Visayas?”Enriquez asked, as she encouraged stakeholders to explore the Philippine Skills Framework for ICT to help accelerate the growth of digital jobs in the region.
Iloilo City Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion (LEDIP) head Velma Jane Lao, on the other hand, shared the impressive growth of the ICT and BPO industry in the metro.
She still, however, emphasized the need to revisit past strategies by engaging not only with colleges but also high schools to train students in communication and advanced skills.
“I think the schools are catching up, but we need to double our efforts in making this partnership again with schools and making the graduates relevant to the industry,” Lao said, noting that the BPO and IT sectors are significant drivers of Iloilo City’s economy.
The RISE, a part of the four-day Western Visayas Innovative Startup Festival, also aimed to promote Western Visayas as a hub for ICT jobs, investments, and opportunities, emphasizing the importance of local ICT councils in fostering countryside development through collaboration among government, academia, and industry. (AAL/JNH/PIA Iloilo)
