The Philippines ranked as the 10th most competitive IT industry environment in the Asia-Pacific, a recent study showed.
Based on the 2008 IT Industry Competitive Index, the Philippines moved up one rank from last year but still remains 47th worldwide, a study by the Economist Intelligene Unit commissioned by Business Software Alliance (BSA).
Now on its second year, the study shows how IT competitiveness can drive growth in economies, Jeffrey Hardee, vice president and regional director of BSA Asia-Pacific, said.
The study found that the Philippines performed strongest in human capital, followed by providing a favorable business environment, support for IT industry environment and legal environment. However, it remains lagging in two: IT and telecommunications infrastructures as well as low spending in research and development (R&D).
"Of the six, the Philippines is strong in human capital. It has a large and rapidly growing young population who are well-educated in the tertiary level and has good English-speaking skills," said Hardee.
A huge proportion of this young population is in the sciences, which is dubbed to provide good employment base for the country's future IT sector.
The Philippines ranks fourth in Asia-Pacific today in terms of having a huge number of IT workers with respect to the overall working population.
The country however needs to beef up its efforts in encouraging R&D activity, a good IP framework and increasing PC ownership per capita for it to better its environment for global IT competitiveness.
In R&D, the Philippines dropped 10 places from last year now placing 62nd in the global list. According to the study, the Philippines has very few patents registered each year. The government allots only $1.2 for every 100person in R&D. The figure is not at par with neighbor Asian countries-China with $20, India with $15.6, Thailand with $7 and Malaysia with $6.7 for R&D expenditure per 100 individuals.
In 2007, the IT sector represented $1.1trillion in economic activity and in terms of employment, supported 1.1 million in the IT businesses. The industry amounts to $230 billion in Asia-Pacific.-GNP
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