The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked the Philippines at 67 out of 102 countries surveyed, lagging behind among Asian countries in ICT preparedness. Wallace commented: "The Philippines doesn’t seem to be maximizing the opportunity from the dynamism of offshore IT outsourcing. Other countries are emerging as more attractive destinations for IT investments. If trends continue, the Philippines is unlikely to become a major IT player in Asia as it hopes to be."

The Philippines has a bright spot in the call center industry that generated jobs for more Filipinos. From 1,500 seats in 2000, the industry is growing by 20,000 a year and is expected to reach 60,000 by the end of 2005 with almost $1 billion in revenues. But we still have to do a lot of work to catch up with India’s 150,000 seats.

Based on the Wallace study, the Philippines would be able to accommodate additional seats of 100,000 to 200,00 between 2005 and 2010. What are some of the weaknesses? Amcham recently cited security or terrorist attacks and deteriorating English proficiency skills as risks. IT firms face the threat of power supply interruptions by 2007 and 2008.

Wallace noted that the government doesn’t even have a data system on output and employment in the IT industry. Software development is vulnerable with high software piracy rate at 72 percent but lower compared to China and Vietnam’s 92 percent and Indonesia at 88 percent.

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Ordinate system

I got an overall score of 55 when I tried Ordinate testing system using the telephone. It will test your ability to speak and understand the spoken English at a conversational pace. It took me about 8 minutes to take the test over the phone and retrieve my score from the Ordinate’s website ­ www.ordinate.com.

You will be given a test identification number and a toll free phone number ­ 1-800-10TDS-TEST and follow the voice instructions given over the phone. This testing system offered by TeleDevelopment Services will benefit not only the call center industry but also schools and institutions.

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First prepaid in KL

It was only in March 2005 that Malaysia had its first prepaid service for its mobile phone. The New Straits Times carried a full-page ads of Hotlink with "One Country One Rate." Hotlink has claimed that its innovative services like caller ringtones, friend finder and music zone are the "first in Asia." I don’t think so because the Philippines had introduced its pre-paid service several years ago, way ahead of Malaysia. The local service providers ­Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular ­ have been competing with each other offering value-added services using SMS to their subscribers. It was estimated that the mobile phone subscribers would reach 20 million by the end of 2005.

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Epson Phils. gets awards

Epson Philippines was awarded by its regional office in Singapore as the best sales company in the Southeast Asian region including India, outperforming Indonesia last year. It was also cited as the best sales in consumer products in the region with total revenues growing by 114 percent against its business plan in 2004.

Jino Alvarez, assistant general manager for sales and marketing has cited the role of IT journalists for achieving their goals. During the Epsonoffsite in Camiguin, Jino has acknowledged the IT press in promoting and communicating Epson and its products and services to the public.

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Women and Technology

Pres. Gloria Arroyo will talk on the "highperformance woman leader: leading and managing in a hightech, high-performance world," during the First Philippine Summit on Women and Technology on July 14 at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City.

Organized by the Information Technology Association of the Philippines (ITAP) and the Women’s Business Council, the summit’s theme is "Empowering women in the hi-tech workplace." Among the invited speaker are Sandy Prieto-Romualdez, CEO, Philippine Daily Inquirer who will talk on "HighTouch, Hi-Tech Leadership;" Tina Juan, Cory Quirino and Dyan Castillejo, noted fitness and wellness authorities; Roselle Ambubuyog, despite being blind since the age of six, has achieved excellence in the field of math (summa cum laude) at the Ateneo University.

Other speakers include Soccoro Ramos, founder of National Bookstore and Tessie Sy-Coson, daughter of retail magnate and tycoon, Henry Sy. Panelists include DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman, Summit Media CEO Lyza Gokongwei, AIM Dean Nieves Confesor and Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan.

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Cebu ICT 2005

Cebu City is will host an international conference and exhibition on business and ICT on June 22 to 24 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino presented by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry. It is one of the major thrusts of the Cebu Business Month for 2005 and the Commission on ICT’s Philippine Summit on Information Society.

Theme of the conference is "Cebu: Gearing up for Global Play." Senior IT executives from Asia, USA and EU were invited to attend the conference including the world’s most respect ICT organizations. Some 800 local and international participants are expected to attend the event.

Pres. Arroyo will be the keynote speaker during the conference. DTI Secretary Juan Santos will address the conference, while Senator Manuel Roxas II will deliver a special message and introduce Pres. Arroyo. Among the speakers are Kiran Karmik, president, NASSCOM; Gene Hall, CEO, Gartner; Dr. Mahamed Arif Nun, CEO, Multimedia Development Corp.; and Matt Thompson, director, technology outreach and opens source programs, Sun Microsystems.