Pursuing a career in IT requires passion for the job

This was revealed by technology career expert Ms. Gina S. Duminy.

"IT is an ever changing field and we should try to erase this misconception that it is exclusively for those who understand its jargon. That is not always the case," Ms. Duminy told students at the 7th Philippine Youth Congress in Information Technology (Y4iT) in UP Diliman last week.

Ms. Duminy, president and CEO of itprosasia.com, an online career resource for technology professionals, said that the field is a "multifaceted discipline" focused on providing business solutions.

"IT is a challenge in organizing people, solving issues and problems through better process and organization. Its emphasis is on business problem solving," she said.

Ms. Duminy, a European languages graduate, outlined career options for future IT professionals, which include business operations, database development and administration, security and compliance, networking design and administration, technical support, and Web development and administration, among others.

Aside from career growth, a good compensation package is also in store for these professionals.

Research firm ZDNet Asia in 2008 through its "IT Salary Benchmark Philippines" showed that the country’s top five IT skills received salaries ranging from P495,000 to P600,000 a year on average.

The following fields are: application development, desktops/software, Web development, database management, and systems administration.

The continued growth in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is also an indication that the demand for IT professionals is increasing, said Ms. Duminy.

An official from the Business Processing Association of the Philippines said in a separate interview that the local outsourcing sector planned to corner at least 10% of the global BPO-IT market by 2010.

For that matter, Ms. Duminy told students to improve on their craft, master at least three competency skills in IT and avoid being a "jack of all trades, master of none."

"IT is exciting. The technology profession presents limitless opportunities for those who want to excel. This profession entails continuous acquisition of new skills and learning... you have to work hard at it," she added.

Ms. Duminy said that it is sometimes hard to screen fresh graduates due to their similar backgrounds, but what makes one stand out are the training and skills acquired in college.

Still, she said that a passion for the job is key.

"Pursue what you are good at and that should be accompanied with discipline, an openness to learn and good communication skills," she said.

DepEd urges private sector to support ICT-enhanced education

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has enjoined the private sector to work closely with the department in promoting learning systems enhanced with information communication technology to improve teaching and learning outcomes.

“Enhancing the curriculum with ICT is the only way for our public school children to meet the challenges of 21st century learning,” Lapus said as 40 Intel Classmate PCs were turned over to public schoolchildren in Concepcion, Tarlac recently.

Lapus said, “We thank our partners in Intel for investing in education, and for supporting our major thrust to introduce technology in education. This intervention would not have been possible without their support to DepEd through the Adopt-A-School Program.”

A Classmate PC includes two gigabytes of memory storage and Microsoft Office. It is internet-ready, portable, and user-friendly for children.

To date, 280 Classmate PCs have been turned over by DepEd’s Adopt-A-School Program to public schools in Pampanga, Baguio City, Sagada, and Taytay, Rizal. Some 400 Classmate PCs are scheduled for turn-over to other DepEd elementary schools in different divisions nationwide.

Lapus added, “This partnership with Intel is geared towards building the ICT Enhanced Elementary School Model, which puts a premium on ICT-enhanced education. We hope to achieve this goal and turn every public school into a space where teaching and learning outcomes are improved by technology.”

Aside from Intel, collaboration is ongoing with Aralandesk.Net for the creation of the ICT Enhanced Elementary School Model. Together with these partner institutions, DepEd ensures full utilization of ICT facilities to improve the teaching and learning process in public schools.

A workshop on mapping digital resources in English is being conducted with support from Aralandesk.Net at no cost to DepEd. The department is also heavily investing in the drafting of a Digital Learning Resource Management Guide that will serve as standards for identifying and harvesting digital materials, and matching these with the curriculum.

The Adopt-A-School Program is DepEd’s venue for cooperation between the government and the private sector. Since it was relaunched by Lapus in 2006, more than PhP12 Billion worth of assistance to public schools have been committed by the private sector. Private groups and individuals can support DepEd’s education initiatives in exchange for up to 150% tax incentives.

Private sector assistance ranges from technology support to supplementary learning materials, from literacy programs to physical infrastructure and facilities to feeding programs. Companies and individuals may also extend direct assistance to public schoolchildren in the form of school supplies.

The DepEd Chief added, “I urge other companies to invest in education through Adopt-A-School and join us as we say Edukasyon Ang Solusyon. Our initiatives in education would not have been successful without our partners’ all out support. ”

Study reveals major shift in IT development, growth

While network and internet infrastructure companies are investing money to provide connection even to the remotest place in the Philippines, IDC-Digital Universe study revealed that a fundamental shift in the areas of information growth, security, compliance and management is seen in the next few years.

The IDC study revealed that over the next four years, the number of information-generation technologies and interaction will increase dramatically. Mobile users will grow to 600 million in four years time, as more people will become Internet heavy users.

Non-traditional IT devices such as wireless meters, automobile navigation system, industrial machines, RFID (radio frequency identification) readers, and intelligent sensor controllers, will grow by a factor of 3.6.

Because of the increasing high-technology generation, interactions between people via email, messaging, social networks, and others, will also grow dramatically.

Moreover, more of the world’s economic stimulus efforts will also increase the amount of digital information created, the result of increased access to broadband communications, electronic patient recorders, smart electric grids, smart buildings and autos.

By 2012, IDC projected that 850 million people will buy and sell products and services on the Internet and twice as much, Internet commerce will take place versus 2005.

Also in the same year, Internet commerce will become a US$13 trillion industry, mostly involving sensitive business-to-business commerce.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) earlier announced that it is spending a total of P27 billion in expansion investments, including its plan to roll out “fiber-to-home” technology in the middle of this year, and its ultimate goal in providing “broadband-for-all.”

The company incurred P25.2 billion in capital expenditure in 2008. This year, despite the volatile economic conditions, PLDT is increasing its capex allocation by P3 billion more.

“The 2008 capex level reflects PLDTs continued investment in the business, an outlook sustained in our forecasted capex of P27 billion for 2009. We are looking beyond the near-term uncertainty and positioning for the long-term when global situation stabilizes,” said PLDT president and chief executive officer (CEO) Napoleon L. Nazareno

The introduction of “fiber-to-home” technology will provide Filipinos with much reliable and faster internet connection. Although this may cost a little higher compared to ordinary connection, it is considered as the “ultimate” in fixed line infrastructure.

PLDT, the largest telecommunication provider in the Philippines, reported that Internet traffic has grown at least 80 percent year on year since 2006. Broadband subscriber based continued to grow robustly, and approached one million by year-end.

Total broadband and Internet service revenues for the company grew 45 percent to P11 billion in 2008, which now represents eight percent of consolidated service revenues from six percent in 2007.

IT careers ‘rewarding,’ says expert

YOU NEED not be a graduate of a computer course to land a job in the expanding field of information technology (IT), according to a technology career expert.

"IT is an ever-changing field and we should try to erase this misconception of seeing this profession [as being] exclusive to those who understand its jargon, and that it’s boring. It is not always the case," Gina S. Duminy told students at the 7th Philippine Youth Congress in Information Technology at the University of the Philippines in Diliman yesterday.

"It is wrong to generalize that IT professionals are techie gear heads with little interest in anything outside of technology. We also pursue other interests and hobbies," she added.

Ms. Duminy, president of itprosasia.com, an online career resource for technology professionals, explained that the field is a "multifaceted discipline" that is focused in providing business solutions, adding that an ideal IT professional "is somebody who understands business."

"IT is a challenge in organizing people, solving issues and problems through better process and organization. Its emphasis is on business problem solving."

Ms. Duminy also outlined career options for future IT professionals, which include business operations, database development and administration, security and compliance, networking design and administration, technical support, and Web development and administration.

Aside from career growth, the field offers a good compensation package. Research firm ZDNet Asia’s "IT Salary Benchmark Philippines" report last year said the country’s top five IT skills received salaries ranging from P495,000 to P600,000 a year on average. These are: application development, desktops/software, web development, database management, and systems administration.

The continued growth in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is also an indication that demand for IT professionals is increasing, said Ms. Duminy. The Business Processing Association of the Philippines expects to corner at least 10% of the global outsourcing and IT market by 2010.

She reminded students to improve on their craft and master at least three competency skills in IT. A student should avoid being a "jack of all trades, master of none."

"This profession entails continuous acquisition of new skills and learning. You have to work hard at it."

She noted that it is sometimes hard to screen fresh graduates applying for a job due to their similar backgrounds. But what makes one stand out from the others are training and skills they acquired in college, she said.

"It shows how diligent and dedicated a student is to the field. If he has undergone good skills training then it would be a plus Employers have their own set of expectations depending on what the business is all about, the goals, the competency requirements for the job, among others."

"Still, the minimum is passion. Pursue [things] you are good at. That should be accompanied with discipline, openness to learn, and good communication skills," she said.

Iloilo IT Week to highlight ICT jobs, biz prospects

The 4th Iloilo Information Technology (IT) Week on September 28-30 will highlight jobs and business prospects in the field of booming Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.

This year’s theme, “Facing Global Challenges through I.T.,” focuses on the opportunities for employment and economic advancement brought about by the ICT sector. The three-day event will feature exhibits, lectures, competitions and jobs fair.

The Iloilo Federation for Information Technology (IFIT) in cooperation with the city and provincial governments and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-Iloilo) will spearhead the IT Week activities at Robinsons Place here.

The Iloilo IT Week is an annual event that brings together schools, business and government to celebrate the development of the ICT industry.

IFIT is a non-stock and not-for-profit organization founded in 2006 to develop the ICT sector in Iloilo through an active collaboration of the triumvirate of academe-government-industry. It seeks to help transform Iloilo into an ICT investment destination and major ICT and IT-enabled services (ITES) hub through proactive intervention in human resource development.

Dr. Adrian Arcelo, head of IFIT research team will present in the afternoon of September 28 the result of the Iloilo ICT Human Resource Survey conducted by IFIT and funded by the provincial government and DTI-Iloilo.

Dr. Gregg Gabison of Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (CEDF-IT) will also present the Philippine Information Technology General Certification Exam (Phil-IT GCE). It is the first certification exam for IT graduates adopted by IFIT to ensure that they master IT upon graduation. It also serves as a benchmarking tool for schools to determine areas of improvement in their ICT curriculum.

Meanwhile, ICT lectures include:

1. “Taking Your Business Online” in the morning of September 29 by Mr. Ramon Lizardo, president of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society and director of Yehey.com;
2. “Freelance 101: Turning Passion to Profit – Blogging from Home” by Ms. Janette Toral, professional writer/blogger, search engine optimization (SEO) consultant and producer of digitalfilipino.com;
3. “Alternative Income Opportunities on the Internet” by Ms. Aileen Apolo, consultant for the Philippines of Google; and
4. “Green ICT for Sustainable Future: ICT Environmental Sustainable Practices” by Ms. Beau Baconguis of Greenpeace, all in the afternoon of September 29; and
5. “Packaging Yourself for Success: How to Make Great First Impressions” by ePLDT Ventus; and
6. “Don’t English Me, I’m Panic: The Importance of English Proficiency for Work” by Ms. Zsa Zsa Bacaling, marketing communications manager of Callbox, Inc., both in the morning of September 30.

The IT Quiz and Jingle Contest will be conducted in the afternoon of September 30.

Nepal's 'living goddess' adjusts to life in the IT sector

As a child, she was worshipped as a "living goddess" in Nepal after she proved her bravery in an ancient ritual by not crying at the sight of a sacrificed buffalo.

But now Rashmila Shakya, 29, meets friends in cafes, listens to Bollywood music -- and is building a promising career as a computer software developer.

Last year, Shakya became the first former "Kumari" goddess to graduate from college in Nepal, where the centuries-old practice of worshipping a young female as a deity survives.

The girls -- chosen from a single ethnic group native to the Kathmandu Valley -- spend their childhood living in isolation in a small palace, emerging only for feast days when they are paraded through the capital to be worshipped.

The selection criteria are strict. Priests say that to become a Kumari, a girl must have an unblemished body, a chest like a lion and thighs like a deer.

Even if they fulfil all the physical requirements, aspiring Kumaris must prove they can sit in a room with a buffalo carcass without crying as a test of their bravery.

Shakya, who was selected aged just four and spent eight years living in the Kumari's palace in central Kathmandu, said that being a goddess was a lonely childhood.

"Every morning I would be worshipped by Hindu priests and during the day I used to play with the dolls that the devotees brought for me," she told AFP in an interview at her family's modest home in Kathmandu.

"There was a special kitchen where food was prepared specially for me and I had to eat alone.

"Sometimes my caretakers would allow me to sit in front of the window and watch people, but it felt strange to look at the people and cars going by."

Shakya was only ever seen in public in heavy make-up and full ceremonial dress, but now she favours simple Nepalese tunics and trousers.

Her favourite time of year was the annual Indra Jatra festival, when thousands of spectators crowd into the capital's Durbar Square to watch the Kumari as she is paraded around the streets of Kathmandu in her chariot.

Such scenes are a far cry from Shakya's new career with an IT company, and she admits that the transition to ordinary life has not been easy.

"I was not prepared to live a normal life as I had grown up in a different environment," she said. "Before, I was a goddess and everyone worshipped me and treated me with respect.

"Living in society has been difficult, but I am getting used to it. My education and work experience have taught me how to deal with people."

Once the girls reach puberty, they are considered ritually unclean and a new Kumari is selected.

But they often struggle to adapt to life at home, and to catch up on the years of education they have missed.

Many never marry, possibly due the superstition that their husbands will die prematurely, and Shakya said she is currently single.

But she would like to marry one day, and admitted she now has mixed feelings about her past, preferring not to tell clients and colleagues she is a former Kumari for fear they would treat her differently.

"I like it when people don't recognise me as a former goddess because I have found that people's behaviour changes when they know about my past," she said.

"Sometimes the people that I meet through work greet me with respect. It makes me a bit uneasy, but at the same time I am happy that people still recognise me."

Three towns in the Kathmandu Valley follow the custom of having a Kumari, but the one in the capital is considered the most powerful and has the closest links to Nepal's deposed monarch.

Former king Gyanendra and his ancestors would seek annual blessings from the Kumari. Since the abolition of the monarchy, the tradition has been continued by the Nepalese president.

But as the country modernises, there have been calls to end a practice some view as inhumane and outdated.

The Supreme Court ruled last year that the girls should be educated and they are now taught inside the palace where they live and have special dispensation to sit their exams there.

Shakya, for one, does not believe the tradition should be abolished. She said the Kumari help maintain religious harmony in Nepal, where they are worshipped by both Buddhists and Hindus.

"The tradition needs to reformed, but it should not be ended," she said. "Kumari should be given scholarships to attend college, and the government must find a way of preparing the child for normal life."

The widening impact of I.T.

It appears that the Philippine government has at long last prioritized the development of the country’s IT industry, though the sector still faces numerous challenges in order to modernize its infrastructure. In early August the development of the IT sector in the country drew the attention of the UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The ITU deputy secretary-general, Houlin Zhao, visited the country in order to better understand how the progression of IT in a developing country can impact industry, especially during the time of a global economic downturn. The case of the Philippines is particularly intriguing as private sector IT-driven companies have continued to expand despite the gray economic climate, largely due to the growth of the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

Currently the Philippines is without a fully-fledged department of information and communications technology (ICT), instead relying on a less empowered Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), along with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). While the CICT and the NTC together perform the essential functions of a department of ICT, they lack the funding, support and political power needed to stimulate and maximize IT development.

In June of 2009 the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce (JFC) of the Philippines recommended 10 policy reforms to the Filipino government that it claims will dramatically increase foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country—among those reforms was the departmentalization of the CICT.

Also drumming support for the necessary legislation to be passed through congress, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made a special point in her State of the Nation Address in late July to implore Congress to pass the bill before next year’s elections.

The reality behind the IT sector in the Philippines certainly indicates the need for decisive action. Recently, the Philippines ranked 85th of 134 countries in the Global Information Technology Report. The report, which assesses a country’s ability to establish and improve ICT infrastructure, indicates the country is falling behind the curve, allowing some of its regional neighbors (such as Vietnam and Indonesia) to surpass it. Industry experts are quick to point out inefficiencies—some of which are caused by the presence of overlapping infrastructure.

It should be noted that the archipelagic makeup of the country presents extremely difficult challenges regarding infrastructure development. As a result, broadband penetration in the country remains very low; however, given the advent of affordable netbooks, Internet accessibility in the country is anticipated to grow rapidly in the near future.

In an interview with OBG, the Globe telecom CEO, Ernest Cu, stated that, “The Philippine broadband market is very attractive as penetration rates are low and demand from both consumer and business segments is increasing. In early 2008, only 8 percent of all Filipino households had broadband access, representing just 1.1 percent of our 92 million population and, therefore, the potential for broadband is vast.”

Other issues, such as e-governance, indicate a need for escalating the capabilities of the CICT. Not only can e-governance streamline simple processes, it can increase transparency and accountability in a government severely lacking in both areas. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly possible that part of the Arroyo administration’s 10-point agenda, automated elections, may not be fully functional in time for next year’s voting.

Lastly, issues within the private sector, such as piracy, intellectual property laws and the need for IT courts, should likely be addressed in a sterner manner. According to some estimates, piracy accounts for over two-thirds of the entire software market in the country. Software piracy is a crime punishable with up to nine years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $20,430 under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (Republic Act 8293). However, the implementation of the law has yet to stem losses due to piracy, which were estimated at $202 million in 2008, up from $147 million in 2007, according to the Pilipinas Anti Piracy Team.

Despite some industry insiders’ perceived lack of government oversight and support, there are several highly promising aspects to the sector—the first of which is the quantity of human resources in the country. While questions pertaining to quality have been raised in recent years, there is no doubt the country produces ample quantities of graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and software development. The English-language capabilities add further value to the human resources of the country.

This is an important factor as the BPO industry is certainly one of the Philippines’ most promising sectors. Also referred to as the country’s “sunrise industry,” BPO has rapidly emerged as a significant contributor to the national economy, accounting for over $6 billion and 600,000 jobs annually.

Over the past decade, growth in the country’s BPO industry has been driven primarily by call centers dedicated to customer service. However, the industry continues to expand in terms of quantity, quality and variety of services. Emerging knowledge-process outsourcing services in areas such as animation, graphic design, IT support and software development will necessitate the continued development of IT students.

Although the Philippines has yet to fully utilize and develop its IT sector, signs indicate that the government will have a department of ICT by 2010. The looming election season of spring 2010, during which time most legislative reform slows, remains the only obstacle. Regardless of congressional outcomes, private sector IT development will continue to grow—creating jobs and adding significant value to the national economy.

ISM to join consortium in acquiring European IT firm

Listed ISM Communications Corp. wants to participate in a consortium that will acquire up to 100% of an information technology firm based in Europe.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock exchange, the company said its board has given the go signal to negotiate and conclude an agreement with the consortium that will own the foreign IT firm engaged in the business of providing in-room guest entertainment services for the hotel industry.

For investments in IT-related opportunities, ISM said it will utilize funds raised in its recently concluded P655-million stock rights offering and the $10 million private placement of the Ashmore Group in 2007 as well as the remaining P91.7 million proceeds of its P300-million stock rights offering undertaken the same year.

Earlier, ISM chairman Roberto Ongpin said the company is financially liquid. "ISM now sits on a pile of money. We have P1.2 billion in retained earnings. We are looking at a number of very important investment opportunities in the ICT (information and communications technology) arena," said Ongpin at the company's annual meeting last May.

These possible investments include an international stock trading mobile applications provider and a media technology service provider. Both companies have successful track records and have significant technological innovations that can be leveraged into a critical first-mover status in the country, said Ongpin.

ISM's principal asset is Eastern Telecommunications, the country's oldest phone company.

In 2008, ISM recorded P301.1 million in net income, of which Eastern Telecom contributed P120.4 million.

CICT leads Cebu Convergence 2009

Aimed to give awareness in enhancing the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in local governance, general community, and the future workforce, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) in cooperation with the government and local ICT stakeholders, conducted the Cebu Convergence 2009 at the Cebu International Convention Center last August 25-26, 2009.

This was learned from Claire P. Fernandez, coordinator, National Computer Center, who informed that the activities lined up for the said convergence include Industry and local ICT updates, track sessions on cyberservices, ICT infrastructures, human capital development, and eGovernment development, among others.

According to Fernandez, the Convergence 2009 tackleed an eGovernance track by the National Computer Center (NCC) that featureed three CICT projects and programs, eLGU Project, Philippine Community eCenter (PhilCeC) Program, and Philippine Community eCenter (PhilCeC) Program. eSerbisyo and eBayad Project offered NCC free services to national and local government agencies that enabled them to include their eservices into a common online portal as well as a government epayment facility and infrastructure without the need to worry about the cost of setup and maintenance.

eLGU Project offers local government units with access to free open source-based revenue generating system for real property, business and other collections, capacity building programs and training for LGUs, Fernandez said.

Philippine Community eCenter (PhilCeC) Program is the government’s answer to meeting the challenges of bridging the digital divide. LGUs in particular were oriented on all aspects of this development-focused program and how to tap it to avail of free equipment, training and other support to jumpstart the establishment of a community eCenter in their respective municipalities, Fernandez further said.

Other activities, Fernandez informed, include site tours to Business Process Outsourcing – IT centers, career talks, education consultancy, job fairs and English assessment intended to benefit academic heads, teachers, exhibitors, IT/BPO-related companies and students mostly from colleges and universities in Cebu.

The Philippines in its aim to be globally competitive, has become a front-runner in developing the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry in accordance with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s vision of creating interconnected centers of I.T. enabled services all over the country, Fernandez concluded.

A Google model for mobile advertising?

The week is not over yet but it seems I've already exceeded my quota of interviews with IT executives. Most of them are mobile officials who came over to the country to attend the recently concluded IMMAP (Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines) conference.

I picked up a number brilliant ideas from these guys who all argued that the next battleground in digital marketing is in the mobile sector. While Google has undoubtedly made the most money out of the Internet, its competitors, including archrival Yahoo, are locked in a race to conquer the mobile space.

One of the most interesting comments I got from my interviews is from a Dutch guy named Boudewijn Pesch, who is the managing director for Asia-Pacific of Acision. I almost did not attend my session with Pesch because my interview schedule was mixed up with that of another reporter and the venue was the company's office in the opposite end of the metropolis. The late-afternoon gig became messier when strong rains made traveling doubly hard.

But, I'm glad I dragged myself to the Pesch interview since the guy was not the typical executive I usually encounter. He was quite stingy with his answers and responded with a single sentence for each of the questions I threw at him. Thus, I had to constantly ask questions to keep him talking.

At the start of the interview, Pesch proudly pointed out that Acision, a Netherlands-based tech company, is the inventor of SMS or text messaging. Since I had no idea who really invented this technology service, I didn't dispute his assertion and accepted it at face value.

Pesch also admitted that his company developed the Duo service offered by Globe Telecom. The innovative offering allows mobile phone users to make unlimited calls to landlines and other Duo-ready phones at a fixed subscription fee. Pesch stressed, however, Globe had first broached the idea and Acision only provided the technology.

One interesting comment he made was on the issue of mobile advertising. Acision, he said, has actually developed a technology that allows advertisers to insert their ads in the text messages sent by subscribers.

Pesch this is similar to the Google model in which ads that are related to the queries of users are placed alongside the search results. As we all know, Google has extended this model to its Gmail service wherein ads related to the e-mail sent by its subscribers also appear inside their inbox.

The exec said they already presented this service to local operators, which, I'm sure, will thoroughly study it first before deploying it commercially. Pesch didn't mention any pricing scheme, but the only reason I can think of that consumers would agree to have ads in their text messages is for operators to give free subscription service in return.

It would be interesting how this thing will pan out.

Rigodon Update

Internet firm Yahoo has just appointed a new guy to lead its Philippine operations. Jonathan "Jack" Madrid, former head of technology incubator iAyala and managing director of MTV Philippines, will replace tech pioneer Jojo Anonuevo, who will take up a regional post at Yahoo in Singapore.

Madrid also had a short but uninspiring stint as a manager at Dell Computer's call center before the facility was sold recently to Teleperformance. But, I guess the company had to put in a marketing man in charge after Anonuevo, a technology guy, was done setting up the local office.

Also, veteran IT exec Nilo Cruz has reportedly taken up a new post as head of the joint venture of Smartmatic and TIM, the consortium that won the 7 billion pesos (US$144.2 million) 2010 automated elections contract. Cruz's experience and network as former country manager of Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and BT will surely come in handy in his new job.

Medical hub strategies drawn up

Good news for this sunrise industry! The government targets two million foreign patients and annual medical receipts of $2.3 billion from abroad by 2010.

To achieve the target the government has drawn up six strategies to promote the country as a medical-service hub to the international community.

The policy was introduced already in 2004 to promote modern health care services through private hospitals and traditional services such as spas. The number of foreign patients increased from 630,000 in 2004 to 1.5 million in 2007. Revenue from this segment also grew, from $0.5 billion in 2004 to $1.2 billion in 2007.

To reach the goal of two million international patients by 2010, six strategies have been drawn up to further drive the medical-hub policy:

First, quality and diversity of health care services will be further improved to meet global standards. Certificates from international accreditation institutions are required, while technology must be developed to address chronic diseases.

Second, infrastructure has to be improved to support the service speed as well as access to health care services. One-stop service centers will be introduced to provide a fast track to issue the visa and reserve the accommodation for foreign patients and their relatives to enter the country and develop the reimbursement systems with the health insurance agencies of their original countries. This will help them reduce their financial burden while they are staying in the country.

The third strategy will focus on a proactive public relations and marketing plan to promote the country as a brand in the healthcare industry to make the country recognized in the international community. As part of this strategy, international medical conferences will be organized, which will open up the opportunity for local researchers to show medical research to international scientists.

The fourth strategy is a plan to share staff among public and private hospitals, particularly highly skilled physicians and service and hospitality experts. This strategy is aimed at strengthening the range of healthcare services between the public and private sectors.

As the fifth strategy, health staff will be increased and the capacity of medical workers be improved by supporting them with training through international programs, including undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

The final strategy will seek collaboration with agencies to manage all strategies to improve the country’s capacity for health tourism.

The Philippines?

No — Thailand.

Let’s see this as a wake-up call to get united and move this sunrise industry forward. The Thailand strategy makes sense; more government support needs to be provided so that the Philippines can become a recognized player in this game, also played by India, Singapore and Malaysia. But the private sector has to get its act together too.

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) has been working on retirement and health care as a sub-sector of tourism for a number of years.

While some progress has been made, the Philippines still does not have an integrated retirement village that can be presented to potential retirees. There are plans, from Tagaytay to Cebu, but so far they remain plans.

The Philippine Retirement Authority should provide seed capital for a retirement village jointly with the private sector.

This seems to be a better idea than sending its profits into government coffers.

As retirement has two main components: lifestyle and health care, we have now added medical services and medical travel to our program.

Promoting the Philippines as medical hub is almost impossible: the Philippine hospitals have hundreds of doctors with different fees for the same procedure. How can we compare the Philippines with the competitors?

Quality standards also have to be reviewed: some target markets are more familiar with ISO than with JCI. We feel that more partnerships between leading hospitals in the Philippines with leading hospitals in target markets need to be developed.

This will help in answering the recurring question: Why the Philippines?

ECCP has started discussions with some hospitals in Manila and Cebu to prepare for the promotion of this industry abroad, to provide better services for our long-stay visitors and for the retirees that we are attracting.

The partnerships between leading hospitals, universities and insurance companies will also have a positive effect on the Philippines’ information technology industry.

The convergence of biology and engineering is turning health care into an IT industry, which in medicine means the digitization of medical records and the establishment of digital networks for sharing those records.

I find it careless that we travel internationally (and locally) without carrying a chip with our health records. If we have an accident, how will doctors find the right lifesaving solution if they don’t have access to our records?

Back to Thailand: in the absence of suitable software offerings from software vendors, Bumrungrad, the benchmark hospital for medical travel in Bangkok, has built its hospital-management system from scratch. When Microsoft decided to enter this industry, it was so impressed that it bought Bumrungrad’s software division outright.

If health providers were to switch to electronic health records, integrated into a "smart grid" of information technology, the future of medicine could look a lot brighter.

The RAND Corporation, an American think tank, examined the potential benefits of digitizing health systems in a 2005 report. It estimated that, if 90% of hospitals and doctors in America were to adopt health information technology over 15 years, the health system could save some $77 billion a year from efficiency gains.

Plenty opportunities; plenty to do. Let’s move.