Digital cities to empower countryside – DICT
THE government's Digital Cities Framework (DSF) and its Philippine Skills Framework (PSF) will bolster the business process outsourcing sector, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Thursday. At The Manila Times business process outsourcing (BPO) and technology forum, Jhino Ilano, director of the DICT's Industry Development Bureau, discussed how the DCF will empower countryside areas and how PSF will help Filipinos build a robust skillset. Through connectivity, the DICT aims to help develop the countryside through its Digital Cities Framework, Ilano said. This involves creating job opportunities in the ICT field and branching them outside Metro Manila. "We do believe that if we're able to do internet penetration connectivity to the rest of the country, a floodgate of opportunities will definitely be open not just with the IT-BPM (information technology-business process management) but with other arrays that would encompass ICT," Ilano said. In pursuit of this, the bureau established the IT-BPM career fairs. These career fairs have reached almost 30,000 beneficiaries through creative festivals, expos and conferences and more than 2,000 beneficiaries in its IT-BPM activities, projects and initiatives. More importantly, Ilano reported that 1.7 million jobs have been generated through the career fairs, with 600,000 coming from the countryside. The bureau aims to generate 2.5 million jobs by 2028. Industry growth Ilano said the Philippines has a huge edge in the IT-BPM sector due to its highly skilled workforce and educational system that fosters critical thinking and great command of the English language. This allows graduates to be technologically competent and adaptable to the global market. "When we talk about outsourcing, anything that can be done elsewhere on a much cheaper scale, is business. For businesses to thrive, they need to have countries like the Philippines, which have an edge and niche in terms of being an investment destination. This is what we're selling to the investors," Ilano said. But a declining skillset is a problem. To address this, the bureau is working with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) for the PSF. "The PSF is an upskilling model that we wanted higher educational institutions to adopt to ensure that our graduates are adept with all of the industries that we are working in right now," Ilano said. "What's really nice about the PSF is that it doesn't only tell you the soft or the hard skill sets that are needed, but it tells you specific tracks that you can venture into as a graduate. So, it gives the student a clearer pathway where they want to land their career after graduation," he added. Currently, the bureau is working with the Commission on Higher Education to revise curriculums and incorporate PSF. PSF focuses on skill sets for contact centers, software, animation, artificial intelligence and data analytics.
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
THE government's Digital Cities Framework (DSF) and its Philippine Skills Framework (PSF) will bolster the business process outsourcing sector, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Thursday.
At The Manila Times business process outsourcing (BPO) and technology forum, Jhino Ilano, director of the DICT's Industry Development Bureau, discussed how the DCF will empower countryside areas and how PSF will help Filipinos build a robust skillset.
Through connectivity, the DICT aims to help develop the countryside through its Digital Cities Framework, Ilano said. This involves creating job opportunities in the ICT field and branching them outside Metro Manila.
"We do believe that if we're able to do internet penetration connectivity to the rest of the country, a floodgate of opportunities will definitely be open not just with the IT-BPM (information technology-business process management) but with other arrays that would encompass ICT," Ilano said.
In pursuit of this, the bureau established the IT-BPM career fairs. These career fairs have reached almost 30,000 beneficiaries through creative festivals, expos and conferences and more than 2,000 beneficiaries in its IT-BPM activities, projects and initiatives.
More importantly, Ilano reported that 1.7 million jobs have been generated through the career fairs, with 600,000 coming from the countryside. The bureau aims to generate 2.5 million jobs by 2028.
Industry growth
Ilano said the Philippines has a huge edge in the IT-BPM sector due to its highly skilled workforce and educational system that fosters critical thinking and great command of the English language. This allows graduates to be technologically competent and adaptable to the global market.
"When we talk about outsourcing, anything that can be done elsewhere on a much cheaper scale, is business. For businesses to thrive, they need to have countries like the Philippines, which have an edge and niche in terms of being an investment destination. This is what we're selling to the investors," Ilano said.
But a declining skillset is a problem. To address this, the bureau is working with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) for the PSF.
"The PSF is an upskilling model that we wanted higher educational institutions to adopt to ensure that our graduates are adept with all of the industries that we are working in right now," Ilano said.
"What's really nice about the PSF is that it doesn't only tell you the soft or the hard skill sets that are needed, but it tells you specific tracks that you can venture into as a graduate. So, it gives the student a clearer pathway where they want to land their career after graduation," he added.
Currently, the bureau is working with the Commission on Higher Education to revise curriculums and incorporate PSF. PSF focuses on skill sets for contact centers, software, animation, artificial intelligence and data analytics.
