The Philippines fell four places to rank 51st among 66 countries worldwide in terms of IT competitiveness in 2009, results of new study by the Business Sofware Alliance Economist Intelligence Unit revealed Wednesday.
From its 47th rank in 2008, the Philippines slid to 51st this year as its score also dropped from 29.8 to 28.5. The study assesses and compares the information technology industryenvironments of 66 economies to determine the extent to which they enable IT sector competitiveness.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, six factors work together to create a sound environment for the IT sector: an ample supply of skilled workers; an innovation-friendly culture; world-class technology infrastructure; a robust legal regime that protects intellectual property; a stable, open, and competitive economy; and government leadership that strikes the right balance between promoting technology and allowing market forces to work.
The study said the Philippines' IT sector improved significantly in the IT Infrastructure category and advanced slightly in research and development in 2009. On the other hand, its score declined in support for IT industry development and in the human capital area.
The United States topped the global list with a score of 78.9, followed by Finland and Sweden. At the bottom of the list was Iran.
In the Asia Pacific region, the Philippine ranking fell two notches from 10th in 2008 to 12th in 2009.
"In today's economic climate, it is critical that the Philippine government continue to support the growth of a strong technology sector. The IT sector remains an important engine of economic growth. It is essential for the government to support innovation and take steps to stimulate technology sector output which can help attract investors and accelerate the country's economic recovery," said Claro Parlade, Director for software policy, Asia Pacific of the Business Software Alliance.
"Challenges for the Philippine government and other Asia Pacific countries remain. With broadband access becoming a prerequisite for many parts of the IT sector, economies with pervasive broadband penetration have a big competitive advantage over those where the infrastructure is lacking," Parlade said.
The Philippines ranked 42nd in terms of business environment; 58th in IT infrastructure; 44th in IT human capital; 61st in research and development environment; 47th in legal environment; and 45th in support for IT industry.
Among the key study findings for Asia Pacific is that coordinated efforts among governments, universities and IT firms are needed to improve the quality of technology training and expand the pool of potential hires.
Asian economies continue to produce large numbers of IT employees but lag behind North America and Europe in providing well-rounded technology education, it said.
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