The Bicol Region is now on the country’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) map and is poised to be among the emerging Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) location in the Philippines. Instrumental to this achievement are the people behind Ako Bicol. As an organization back in 2004, Ako Bicol is already dedicatedly asking for the support of various government officials to sponsor free trainings specifically in the field of ICT. Through this endeavor, various specialized courses for ICT-enabled services are now being offered in Legazpi City: to wit, trainings for Call Center, Web Development and Design, Online Copywriting, Web Marketing or Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Auto CADD with 2D and 3D Animation and Legal Transcription. Populace coming from the various provinces of the region availed and benefitted from these free trainings. Since such trainings are geared to bridge the gap between the academe and the industry, the city was able to produce globally competitive pool of manpower in the ICT-BPO sector.To date, such trai
nings already created more than 1,500 talented manpower and majority of which now form part of the IT workforce in the Bicol Region as well as of various firms all over the country. Because of this, the human resource capability of the Bicol Region is now improved, consequently making the region attractive for investors and even making Legazpi City as one of the Next Wave Cities™ in the country. These Next Wave Cities™ are cities outside Metro Manila which Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), in cooperation with Commission on ICT (CICT) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recommend and support as key outsourcing destinations in the country. The criteria to determine the country’s next wave cities’ ranking are: talent (40%), infrastructure (30%), cost (10%), and business environment and risk management (20%).In terms of improving the IT infrastructure, which also has a bigger criterion (next to talent/manpower) in determining the ranking of the next wave cities, Ako Bicol is also very much committed to helping the city in this area. Elizaldy S. Co, the chairman of Ako Bicol has invested in constructing Embarcadero de Legazpi with an IT park in order for the city to address the infrastructure requirement of the BPO industry.
Aside from these, Ako Bicol is also a staunch supporter of various IT-related events in the region. Example of which wherein the organization is among the major sponsors, is the Information Technology Conference & Exhibit (INFOTEK) 2009 held in Legazpi, Albay last October 28-30, 2009. Gracing the said event is no less than the Secretary of the Commission on ICT, Hon. Ray Anthony Roxas Chua III and the Secretary of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Marianito D. Roque. The event featured a two-day job caravan which was participated-in by 25 local and international job placement agencies. Out of the approximately 2,000 job seekers, 155 applicants were hired on the spot (HOTS). Through such events, the Bicol region specifically Legazpi City, is able to showcase its IT capabilities and competitiveness in the outsourcing arena.
In 2009, Legazpi City was ranked 21st among the Next Wave Cities™ and currently it is ranked 12th and is expected to show improvements in ranking in the next few years as what BPAP Chief Executive Officer Oscar Sañez said during the press launch of the 2010 Next Wave Cities™.
The present thrust of the Albay ICT Association (AICTA) and Legazpi ICT Council (LICTC) to groom Legazpi City to be among the prime outsourcing destinations in the country is now starting to be realized and this is mainly because of the invaluable support from the local government, stakeholders, and from various organizations like Ako Bicol.
