The Manila Times

TECHNOLOGY TO BOOST SME SECTOR

- BY LISBET K. ESMAEL

TECHNOLOGY will serve as an enabler of growth for both employees and businesses, particular­ly in the small and medium enterprise­s (SME) sector, technology solutions provider Cisco said. Bidhan Roy, general manager SMB ( small- and medium- sized businesses) Markets and Distributi­ons in Cisco Asean, told reporters in a chance interview that the expertise of employees both in SMEs or large corpora- tions is going to be “even more enhanced in the times to come.”

“Hence, technology is not going to be a disruptor to human jobs but it is going to be an enabler of human jobs,” he said.

- nitely this will not replace jobs. This will enable them to leverage things that they did not have before,” stressed Enri Rodriguez, Cisco country manager.

Rodriguez said that when SMEs are equipped with technology, it would facilitate growth and opportunit­ies not just for the businesses but also for job creation.

“[I]f you enhanced them, then they are the brick-and-mortar that will more enhance their productivi­ty on the ground. Then they will have more capacity to hire more people for their core business,” Rodriguez said.

Cisco cited data from Department of Trade and Industry showing that the country has a huge number of SMEs, roughly 95 percent of total enterprise­s, which employs 60 percent of the workforce and contribute­s to up to 30 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product.

Cisco said SMEs need to look into the right technologi­es that could provide them security, greater productivi­ty and ways to

 ?? LISBET K. ESMAEL PHOTO BY ?? Cisco country manager Enri Rodriguez (left), and Bidhan Roy, general manager SMB Markets and Distributi­ons, Cisco ASEAN.
LISBET K. ESMAEL PHOTO BY Cisco country manager Enri Rodriguez (left), and Bidhan Roy, general manager SMB Markets and Distributi­ons, Cisco ASEAN.

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