BICTC clicks hot keys to

pave IT-BPM road-map

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—Keeping the momentum high after earning a positive rating from no less than the national Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry association, Bohol ICT Council Incorporated (BICTCinc) is now clicking on the hot keys to move the heavy rollers to pave the way to a governing road map for Bohol’s next biggest industry.

BICTCinc president Jay Paul Aying bared this at the recent Kapihan sa PIA, where Bohol Economic Development and Investment Promotions Office (BEDIPO) also sent Jude Guieb, to detail how the government is partnering with the private sector to lay the wafer board to act as the substrate for the integrated development and long term plans for the IT-BPM here.

Fresh from the first Bohol IT-BPM Forum last month, the council members took pride in finally getting a rave from no less that IT BPM Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) president and chief operations officer Jack Madrid.

“Bohol is no longer just an emerging site, but well on its way to becoming a scalable and talent-ready IT BPM hub,” Madrid declared, during the recent Bohol IT BPM Forum held at the Capitol Ceremonial Hall, July 18.

With this and flooring it further to drive the industry in, the council in partnership with BEDIPO and the Department of Information Communication and Technology (DICT) sat down with stakeholders for its session two of a three part workshop to craft the Bohol ICT BPM roadmap.

The roadmap, forms as the bible for the development of the ICT industry in Bohol, this will draw the path to which the ICT development in Bohol gets though, Aying said.

A map that also looks at other potential areas in Bohol and not just Tagbilaran City, so we would look at which LGU is willing to host this kind of business, where we can source out the talent, locate training facilities which can maintain the upkeep of the capabilities of our talents, he added.

Himself a web developer, and owner of a start-up company in Bohol, Aying hoped that with the workshops, facilitated by the DICT, becomes a comprehensive, collective aspirations of the Boholanos.

Picking Bohol for its brimming digitally trained competitive talents from one state university, 17 private higher educational institutes and some 10 LGU operated colleges, at least five big companies in IT-BPM are now locating in Bohol, hiring about 5,000 full time employees.

We at the Provincial Government acknowledge that talent is a very critical pillar, no locators will come without the talent they would need, explains Guieb, who works in the local investment promotions office.

He said one of the strongest feedbacks the office received from our locators is that the local talents speak pristine English.

Now poised for yet another launch in the expansion of operations of two of the locators and one more set to operate anytime next year, the Council, along with BEDIPO has organized career road-shows intended to get students aware of the career opportunities in the IT-BPM, shared Guieb.

Now enjoying the advantage of having two PEZA-declared ecozones in the Tagbilaran Uptown IT Hubs 1 and 2 and another one in Bohol Business Park at the old city airport, Bohol now keeps an area of over 20,000 square meters as the next target for investors who are confident in locating here, according to BEDIPO.

Served now by four major telecommunications companies with fiber-optic connections and another one company coming in, Bohol’s position now bids well for the council and for the prospects of more jobs for Boholanos.

The BICTI was organized before Bohol became a part of the country’s fiber optic network, that the campaign for investors then was hinged on telcos wireless fidelity facilities and asymmetric digital subscriber lines.

Even then, Bohol saw a blossoming of a few start-up companies that provide business process related services.

In less than three years however, the government and private sector collaborated to put up the infrastructure to attract investors.

“We have seen a good number of infrastructure built for the IT BPM industry, and we are trying to attract workforce and engage qualified Boholanos to work in the industry,“ shares Aying.

As to the roadmap, both Guieb and Aying said if all things go to plan, there is still a lot to happen.

In ten years, Boholanos need not go out to search for opportunities, there is no need to break families who would be separated by distances, and by then, we hope Boholanos level-up into the other high skilled jobs in programming, artificial intelligence and robotics, and more IT companies locating here can even grow,“ Aying said. (PIABohol)

PAVING THE WAY. To make sure Bohol IT-BPM industry develops according to the development visions of the Boholanos, council leaders like Jay Paul Aying (extreme right), Engr. Albert Uy (Center) and BEDIPO head Maria Fe Dominese lead the stakeholders in crafting the development plans while Bohol is the experiencing next biggest thing in the industry. (PIABohol)