More ideal ‘next wave’ cities for BPO sector identified

While it may seem that the country’s Business Process Outsourcing ( BPO) sector has already matured enough, its potential to grow never stops as the government and the private sector jointly identified more ideal, next wave locations for the industry.

In a briefing held yesterday, the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO), Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), and Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) jointly announced the 10 Next Wave Cities in the country for the sector.

The NWCs, which are hubs for information technology and business process management (ITBPM) sector, are Baguio City, Cagayan de Oro City, Dagupan City, Dasmariñas City, Dumaguete City, Lipa City, Malolos City, Naga City, Sta. Rosa City, Laguna, and Taytay, Rizal.

The NWC scorecard includes the following criteria in an emerging city — talent pool, infrastructure, cost, and business environment.

All these are factored in to evaluate a city’s ability to enable and support the entry and growth of IT-BPM companies in its area.

These top locations for local and international IT- BPM players were identified based on the 2015 assessment guided by the NWC scorecard.

“The economic turmoil in the Western countries and China has spelled greater need to move business operations here in the Philippines where there is a large pool of talent and where it’s cost-efficient,” LPC Chief Executive Officer David Leechiu said.

“The IT- BPM industry will see sustained growth in the coming years and that’s why industry players now move to the provinces where there’s great potential. The NWC program underscores that and we are proud that this initiative has inspired development not only in key cities but in emerging locations as well,” he added.

Apart from the 10 NWCs announced, government and industry leaders also elevated Davao City and Iloilo City to the status of Centers of Excellence for IT-BPM operations.

They joined the ranks of Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Clark, and Bacolod City as premier IT-BPM hosts and high-density locations.

“We have seen tremendous improvement in the readiness of NWCs to host IT-BPM operations. This has allowed us to spread the economic benefits of this industry to key cities and provinces where capable talents are also abundant," DOST-ICTO Deputy Executive Director Monchito Ibrahim said.

Special awards are also given to four cities that stood out in respective categories.