THE Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (Bnefit) is initiating a digital caravan in the province to further strengthen the sector, especially the business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.
Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, executive director of BNEFIT, told SunStar Bacolod that the digital caravan will be conducted all over Negros Occidental during summer.
Batapa-Sigue said that through this initiative, they will try to engage senior high school teachers, especially of Grade 12, in a series of boot camps.
“We will expose them to what BPO is all about by bringing them to different call centers in Bacolod City,” she said. “We will introduce them, at the same time, to disruptive technologies like automation.”
Based on projections, standard wise, 40 percent of the BPO industry will be disrupted by artificial intelligence (AI).
Thus, chances are 40 percent of those doing voice jobs will be substituted by the machines.
“But the machines will be ran by people who will need to handle AI so we need to upscale,” Batapa-Sigue said.
Earlier, she said that this year will be a test whether the K to 12 program is really successful in helping the local talent become work ready.
Bnefit is projecting almost 10,000 senior high school graduates both from private and public schools in Bacolod City alone this year.
Instead of putting the blame on the educational system, Batapa-Sigue said the federation is doing its share by initiating the digital caravan for the first time in the province.
“I think everybody is doing career talks but what is difference about our caravan is that all BPO industries and companies in Bacolod will sit together not as competitors but as incorporators,” she added.
The Bnefit official cited that since everybody would need talent, what BPOs would normally do is conduct trainings and outreach programs on their own.
“I don’t think we are faster and wholistic in that strategy so what we want to do is gather in one venue all senior high school teachers and students to listen,” Batapa-Sigue said.
“As our approach, we will not let the BPOs to speak, but their workers instead on how their lives are enriched and their knowledge was improved," she added.