Season's Greetings

Legazpi City Holds 2nd Albay ICT Conference

LEGASPI CITY – To maximize and fast track the province of Albay’s potential and growth in Information and Communications Technology, the 2^nd Albay ICT Conference was held last December 10, 2008 at the Casablanca Hotel, Legazpi City. It was jointly organized by Albay Information and Communications Technology Association (AICTA) and Department of Trade and Industry in close coordination with the City Government of Legazpi and Embarcadero.

Representatives from the province’s different schools and universities, support institutions like the NGOs and telecommunications companies, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)/ICT-related companies, and focal persons from the national and local government agencies took part in the said event.

Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Commissioner, Monchito Ibrahim, were among the resource speakers of the conference. Executive director of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Mr. Jojo Uligan, and research director for Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP), Ms. Gillian Virata, also graced the event. Mr. Uligan gave a talk regarding the state of the Philippine call center industry in the midst of global financial crisis while Ms. Virata discussed about the potential of the next wave cities as business locations for the BPO sub-sector.

Next wave cities are the cities outside Metro Manila that has been identified to best support the development of the BPO industry. The CICT, the BPAP and the DTI have developed a scorecard to rate potential next-wave cities in the country.

Though Legazpi city was not able to make it to the list of newly selected next-wave cities, Ms. Gillian Virata still regard Legazpi as having great capability in attracting and hosting BPO companies. Legazpi city Mayor Noel Rosal backed this up as he discussed about what the city has to offer in terms of being the next wave city for ICT development. He highlighted the ICT potentials of the city especially with the development of Embarcadero de Legazpi. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) declaration of Embarcadero as an IT Park Ecozone has put Legazpi City to the IT Map of the Philippines.

Mayor Rosal pointed out the key factors and steps that must be strongly implemented in order to strengthen Legazpi city’s economic performance and competitiveness in the BPO sector. These factors include; strengthening tourism as major component in attracting investors, reengineering the local infrastructure for global standards, capitalizing manpower development at the grassroots level, emphasizing a distinct brand of quality service, sustaining a strong governance model and collaboration between the public and private sector and upholding a constant development and improvement outlook.

Rounding up the conference’s morning activities were the open forum and the induction of Legazpi city ICT Council officers by CICT Commissioner, Monchito Ibrahim.

The event’s afternoon activities include the presentations from the region’s two major telecommunications provider followed by Embarcadero de Legazpi’s showcase of its offerings to investors and locators. The integral part of Embarcadero is its IT Park which is the new IT hub in the Bicol region. It is envisioned to attract locators in the ICT-enabled services like web development and design, content development, online marketing and many other computer-based support services.

AICTA President, Ms. Rosemarie Q. Rey also presented the issues and concerns of the local ICT stakeholders. She challenged the participants including fellow stakeholders and players to strengthen their efforts in making Legazpi city rank higher in the list of next wave cities. Ms. Rey is also the president and CEO of SLTCFI, an institution that has laid a stake in the IT-BPO industry of Legazpi City. It ties up with foreign-based firms to provide outsourced services for various ICT related business processes.

Representatives from Content Online Services Inc. (COSI) and M3 Medical Management Services Inc., which were among the first wave of ICT locators in Albay also gave their testimonials regarding their experiences operating in the province, including challenges, opportunities, and development plans.

One of the highlights of the conference was the workshop wherein the participants were divided into four groups to discuss and present the issues and concerns that need to be addressed in order for Legazpi city to be included in the top ten next wave cities. Participants were also toured around Embarcadero as the final part of the event. Embarcadero is considered to be the first world-class destination lifestyle, entertainment and information technology center in a waterfront development in the country.

SL Technological College Foundation Inc. Attends BPO Summit Philippines 2008

In order to be updated with the latest industry trends and best practices as well as learn about the most up-to-date BPO technologies, solutions and services, SLTCFI’s President Rosemarie Q. Rey and Human Resource Officer, Cathy Rey, attended the BPO Summit Philippines last December 2-3, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila and Holiday Inn Galleria Manila in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

BPO Summit Philippines is the major annual event of the non-voice business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines. The event is a unique mix of formats that features opportunities in the back office processing, transcription, software development, digital animation, and game development.

The major trade groups that convened in the said event were the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI), Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines Inc. (MTIAPI), Game Development Association of the Philippines (GDAP), and Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA). The six industry associations showcased their creation and outsourcing capabilities. They also focused on building career awareness and attracting as well as developing new talents.

Despite the gloom brought about by the US-lead global financial crisis, the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is still seen to bring light for the Philippines in terms of employment and economic growth. The BPO industry is at present among the biggest foreign exchange earner and source of employment for the country wherein the United States is an overwhelming presence in the BPO sector since it is where majority of the BPO clients are located.

Industry leaders from the non-voice segment of the BPO industry discussed in the said event, how the current global economic downturn especially in the US, has negatively affected the demand for various outsourced services in the country. The Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) however is still optimistic that the non-voice sector of the BPO industry will continue to grow in the coming years. In an interview during the event, BPAP’s chief executive officer, Oscar Sanez said, “The BPO market has huge growth potentials with all ‘non-voice services’ representing the biggest opportunity.” He also mentioned that their group is actively carrying out marketing missions to the United States and Europe to emphasize the capabilities of the Philippines as a back-office outsourcing option.

Meanwhile, SLTCFI is among the successful BPO providers in the province of Albay. For more than 7 years already, the institution has been providing trainings and employment opportunities not just for the call center industry but also for non-voice services like web development and transcription that cater to various US-based clients. The institution is continuously looking at new markets as well as aggressively expanding its services to attract more foreign clients.

In the summit, industry officials urged independent players to expand into back-office outsourcing which is seen as one of the fastest growing segments of the multibillion-dollar non-voice BPO industry. Being among the established business sectors that helps fuel and sustain the growth of BPO industry in the city of legazpi, SLTCFI is ever ready to take on that challenge.

SL Technological College Foundation Inc. Participates in the 1st National Summit of ICT Councils

SL Technological College Foundation Inc. (SLTCFI) headed by the institution’s President, Rosemarie Q. Rey and Marketing Manager James Nuñez actively participated in the country’s 1st National Summit of ICT Councils which was held last November 25-26 at the Maria Cristina Hotel in Iligan City.

With the theme of "Advancing Philippine BPO-IT Competitiveness: Networking of Local ICT Players for the National Effort,'' the National Summit of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) councils focused on the local ICT councils and foundations' competitiveness enhancement in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry.

The Iligan Information and Communications Technology Council (IICTC, or Iligan eCouncil), Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), and the Iligan City chamber of commerce organized the said event. The organizers believe that the action plans conceived during the summit will contribute directly to the unified vision of the government in providing investment and employment for the people.

Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Ll. Cruz expressed his gratitude to the stakeholders and practitioners in the field of information technology who attended the said event. Among those who responded to the invitation were organized local IT-Business Process Outsourcing stakeholders and players from the cities of Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iligan, Iloilo, General Santos, Legaspi, Metro Clark and Quezon.

In the said conference, speakers discussed about best practices focused on the need for a multi-stakeholder approach to attain success in the IT-BPO industry. Among the noted speakers was Rosemarie Q. Rey, President of Albay ICT Association, who discussed about the integration of IT component in setting up a tourism economic zone. Rey, who is also the president and CEO of SLTCFI (an IT school in Legazpi City that partners with foreign-based firms for business process outsourcing) has long been promoting and implementing various ICT initiatives that are making major impact in the local IT-BPO industry. Other speakers in the summit include Bacolod Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, chairperson of Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for ICT Inc.; Bonifacio Belen, executive director of Cebu Educational Development Foundation for IT, and Glenn Aguilar, chairperson of Iloilo Federation for IT and Lizabel Holganza, president of ICT Davao Inc.

The vision of the summit is to serve as a venue for collaboration and sharing of best practices and the unified voice of regional stakeholders in the country’s ICT industry. The ICT councils expressed their commitment and solid support to the various initiatives for the growth and development of Information and Communications Technology in the country in order to generate investments and revenues and to create more jobs for Filipinos.

SLTCFI is privileged and proud to be part of this significant event and the institution is committed in promoting the summit’s vision which will contribute to the development of ICT in the country through local initiatives.

In this regard, SLTCFI is confident that it is strongly equipped to assist and support the local government of Legazpi in improving and developing its ICT industry by implementing programs that will enhance the educational system and in it, integrate ICT to produce a highly competent workforce. This initiative will in turn improve the lives of the people not just in the locality but in the whole of the nation as well.

SLTCFI: A Major Partner of Embarcadero's IT Park

Embarcadero which is accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as an economic tourism zone is a major seafront commercial and IT development in the city of Legazpi. It is projected to become the prime destination for local and international tourists alike.

Aside from the much anticipated commercial hub of Embarcadero, the P1.8-billion IT Park Promenade which will be the very first IT ecozone in the Bicol region heightened the excitement of every Legazpeño as it promises better employment opportunities not just among the city locals but for many Bicolanos as well.

Among the private sectors that strongly supports Albay's very own IT park is Southern Luzon Technological College Foundation Inc. (SLTCFI) -- an IT school in Legazpi City which has been operating facilities for outsourced services for years already. With the strong leadership of SLTCFI’s President and CEO Rosemarie Q. Rey, the institution became a trusted partner for various United States-based business process outsourcing (BPO) firms. The institution also provides training for various Information Communications Technology (ICT) enabled services.

According to Rey, SLTCFI will be one of the locators in Embarcadero’s IT Park, along with around three other BPO firms still under negotiation. The school will be posting three accounts in Embarcadero: One for a financial account for an Australian company, another for an outsourced web development, and a call center for a foreign telecoms firm. Aside from these, SLTCFI is already hosting accounts that deals web programming, web marketing, and web copywriting.

In an interview for the Philippine Daily Inquirer dated November 10, 2008, Rey said: "What we want is when the locators come, we will already have a trained pool of manpower. And we're not limiting ourselves to call centers. We're also familiar with backroom operations and other technical needs of the e-commerce industry."

Among the highly trained group of students and young professionals for online marketing facilitated by SLTCFI is Alexander Osias. The trainings and employment opportunities provided for by SLTCFI made Osias thankful because he no longer needs to go to Manila and work far from his wife and child. In an interview for the Philippine Daily Inquirer last November 10, 2008, Osias expressed excitement about the Embarcadero prospect saying: "Legazpi City is starting to come alive. We no longer need to try our luck in Metro Manila to earn enough. Now, what we can earn in the province is enough for our family's daily needs, without having to leave them behind."

Sandra Balderama, a graduating Computer Science student from SLTCFI is also among those enthusiastic about the Embarcadero IT Park. Having been given opportunities by the school to train for programs like web marketing and call center competency, Balderama sees a bright future ahead of her here in Legazpi City.

With the dedication and hard work of the local government of Legazpi that partners with institutions like SLTCFI, more opportunities will be opened for Albayanos and a steady progress for the province will soon be realized.

For more about the Philippine Daily Inquirer Article featuring Embarcadero and SLTCFI, click here.