Next Wave Cities

In 2012, the Department of Science and Technology – Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO), together with its key partners, the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) conducted series of roadshows in nine cities outside Metro Manila or in the Next Wave Cities (NWCs). The roadshows aimed to provide a proper venue for the government, the industry players, the academe and the stakeholders to present and discuss the prospects of the Information Technology – Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry in providing job opportunities and economic development in the countryside.

Since 2001, there has been a dramatic surge in the development of Information Technology – Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry in the country as seen in its exponential growth in revenues and in employment generation. However, while 75% of the tertiary education graduates in the country completed their courses in cities outside Metro Manila, 75% of the country’s IT-BPM industry is located in National Capital Region (NCR). Thus, there is a need to spread the benefits of economic growth across to other regions and cities while easing the inflationary pressures in NCR and in other high-density IT-BPM locations. Helping the IT-BPO industry move to graduate-rich but less IT-BPM–congested locations would result to a more balanced development across the country.

While there are many potential talent/employees for the IT-BPM industry in the Next Wave Cities, one of the challenges faced by the IT-BPM locators is the negative perception about the industry. The negative perception is due to the lack of proper understanding and knowledge as to the benefits and advantages the IT-BPM industry can offer to each employee working for it and to the earnings it contributes to the local economies.

With the positive feedback and success of ICT roadshows conducted last year in the following cities, namely: Legazpi, Palayan, Tagbilaran, Zamboanga, Malolos, Clark, Bacolod, Trece Martires and Davao, the Department of Science and Technology – Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) through the ICT Industry Development Team (IIDT) under the Next Wave Cities (NWCs) Program, is undertaking series of road shows again in selected NWCs.