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Thursday, June 15, 2006
Iloilo as infotech hub pushed
By Kathy Villalon Cinco
THE fastest growing industry nowadays is information technology. To keep up with the trend, the Iloilo City and Provincial Governments and the private sector are pushing to make Iloilo the latest information and communications technology hub in the country.
The first step is the holding of the First IT Week which started yesterday and will culminate on June 16. The Iloilo Foundation for Information Technology was also launched in order for this to tackle issues regarding this industry.
“IT is the fastest growing sector in business and industry, especially calling centers and business processing operations, which give big salaries,” according to Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada in an interview over Aksyon Radyo yesterday.
Agents in call centers are paid P20,000 to P30,000 a month, said Mejorada.
“That is why we are pushing for Iloilo to become the newest area for expansion of information and communication technology by training our children for these,” he added.
Mejorada revealed that Iloilo has a pool of graduates who can qualify for the demands of companies engaged in the IT industry. “But we noticed that most of the jobs are there in Manila and they’re just making Iloilo as a recruitment base,” Mejorada said.
“So, we aim to tap big companies to open their IT businesses in Iloilo,” he added.
He also said that while Ilonggos are trained to handle computers well, there is a need for training on English.
He said that IT companies impose a high standard that is why our graduates need to be trained. “For example, we have graduates who are good in English. However, they need finishing in order to make it,” he said. In calling centers, one’s accent should not show that one is in the Philippines.
Therefore, he said, it’s important that schools should prepare their students for this challenge.
According to Wikipedia, the Philippines is a popular area for call centers because of the abundance of English speakers that are college graduates and Americanized when it comes to English accent and cultural affinities. The Philippines was an American colony for almost 50 years. Filipinos are said to be the best outsourcing site outside North America since the accent is nearer to that of American consumers.
Iloilo City has one calling center -- the PLDT e-Ventus.
(June 15, 2006 issue)
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