Veteran IT executive Ver Pena told a recent MAP forum that the biggest problem is how to spend the $ 1 billion fund earmarked for e-government program with no proposed projects on the pipeline.
Ver has noted that there was a lack of willingness among government agencies to move towards ICT adoption particularly the pending creation of a department for ICT which he had been advocating in government.
Some of the government ICT initiatives proposed by Ver which have yet to be implemented include the development of cyber services corridor, voice over IP in government, ICT development in SMEs and community e-Centers in local government units and public schools.
The strategic directions of these initiatives include affordable Internet access to all communities in the country, build ICT awareness and capability in society, provide a healthy and competitive business environment, generate high value jobs in the communities through world-class ICT services and provide government services to the citizens.
Ver had proposed some policy reforms -- the certification by the Arroyo administration of an urgent bill creating the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), the amendment of some provisions of E-Commerce Act including the outdated Telecommunications Law, the enactment of the data privacy and security legislation, the strengthening of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) laws for ICT and the institutionalization of e-government.
He noted that two of the most important developments in the ICT were in software development and business process outsourcing (BPO).
Ver has stressed the importance of software development in the country as he cited the case of India’s more advanced technology and software development.
He expects a high growth in BPO that would move beyond outsourcing towards accounting and other business processes. However, there is a need for skills requirement that goes beyond English such as logistics.
It was estimated that the BPO would generate $ 2.5 billion in revenue, increasing to $ 12 billion by 2010. The Philippines is next to India in attracting foreign companies to outsource their back-end processes.
One of the challenges facing the ICT is the slow adoption of IT in many industries except for banking that had advanced to the automation of back office processes.
Ver said the main reason why India is advanced in software development is its integrated system and well-developed skills.
"We have to make sure that our industries have completely adopted ICT in the delivery of services," Ver pointed out.
There is also a need for government agencies to coordinate in ICT projects with effective private sector initiatives and in matching the skills with demand.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Edu H. Lopez
Quelle/Source: The Manila Bulletin, 23.10.2006
