THE Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) renewed its support to the initiatives of Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for ICT (BNEFIT) with the aim to hit 60,000 jobs by 2022.
DICT Undersecretary Monchito Ibrahim gave the assurance in his acceptance speech delivered by eInnovation Program Manager Emmy Lou Delfin, during BNEFIT’s 10th Anniversary Night at Seda Hotel in Bacolod City recently.
Ibrahim was one of the eight honorees awarded with the Symbol of Lifetime Recognition by BNEFIT “for his inspiring support and commitment to the vision, mission, and programs of the organization.”
BNEFIT cited that Ibrahim, who is known as the father of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), is also considered the father of BNEFIT.
He has pushed all stakeholders in Bacolod City from the very beginning to create an ecosystem conducive to ICT jobs and investments, it added.
In his message, Ibrahim said the DICT, through its Digital PH program, will continue to help the “flourishing city” in doubling its employment figures in the next five years.
In 2013, Bacolod City was recognized as Center of Excellence for ICT.
At present, it hosts more than 20 business process outsourcing firms providing jobs to almost 30,000 Filipinos especially Negrenses.
“In 2009, Bacolod was named one of the first batch of awardees as the Top Ten Next Wave Cities. With BNEFIT relentlessly pushing forward, it was not hard for us in the DICT to give the citation as a Next Wave Cities’ Center of Excellence in 2013,” Ibrahim said.
“It still amazes us up to this day how you aggressively reach the ranks of relatively more urbanized cities like Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Clark,” he added.
Ibrahim lauded the federation for “transforming” the city in just a decade.
From setting its bold dream in 2007 to be globally competitive in the ICT industry, BNEFIT worked wonders to make it a reality, he said.
“Your story is a perfect example that great things happen when the academe, the local government, and the industry are in the same page of tapping ICT as catalyst of change in the locality,” he added.
The DICT official said the federation has brought together all the stakeholders necessary to develop strategies to make strides as an emerging information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) hub.
He noted that, from scratch, Bacolod now has 27 IT parks and centers accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as well as several talent development institutions accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Commission on Higher Education.
This is on top of having a fully functional Technology Business Incubation Center for startups, Ibrahim said.
Aside from creating 30,000 direct jobs, he said the local IT-BPM industry also created almost 100,000 in indirect employment.
“By 2022, we envision a minimum of 500,000 jobs, which will be a big boost to our 1.9 million direct employment target as part of the Philippine IT-BPM Roadmap,” Ibrahim added.