By JOEL D. PINAROC
EL NIDO, Palawan — The Philippines can follow the model that the Canadian government has implemented to mass rollout computer programs designed for small-to-medium sized businesses, Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Commissioner Damian Domingo Mapa said.
The Philippine government has been actively pursuing computerization projects for local SMEs, realizing that this business sector, which comprises nearly 99 percent of all businesses in the country, has the potential to generate jobs through the use of IT.
"The Canadian experience showed some key findings which I think the Philippine government, through the CICT, can learn from," Mapa told IT journalists attending Synergy 2005, the annual Intel-HP press offsite.
The official said Canada essentially puts more emphasis on SMEs’ role in the economy, with some 60 percent of the country’s SMEs employing 80 percent of the country’s total workforce.
"Canada realizes that through the use of IT, its SMEs can actually increase profit margins by up to 150 percent," Mapa said.
The official said the Canadian government is recognizing connectivity, as to merely using computers for business, as one of the key strategies for Canadian SMEs to benefit from IT.
"The Canadian government thus is aiming to implement online trading among SMEs as one of the main catalysts to actually spark the mass use of IT among SMEs," Mapa said.
The official said Canada has since started putting in place programs for SMEs with online trading being one of the major components.
Putting this scenario into the Philippine context, Mapa said government thus needs to identify the segments to which local SMEs belong to and work towards educating these firms of the real value of having computers and having access.
"But IT will not make a poor performing SME into a profitable SME. In the case of the Philippines, basic questions — like where to invest, which IT firms to buy solutions, etc. — remains," Mapa said.
"The CICT’s program will thus focus on how to assist SMEs, from getting a business plan integrated with an IT investment roadmap, to actual funding for IT expenses," he said.
The official said one of the more concrete programs that the CICT has most recently rolled out is a sectoral council initiative which essentially identifies SMEs in specific sectors that are in need of assistance the most.
"We have convened a sectoral council for SMEs on the local health care sector, with other sectors to follow soon," the official said, adding that the commission will work with the Department of Trade and Industry for the initiative.
