MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Long Distance Telephone Corp. (PLDT) has opened a P20-million Innovative Laboratory (Innolab) facility at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone to help boost the information technology (IT) sector in the ecozone.
“PLDT’s Innolab marks a new foundation for Subic Bay’s emergence in the knowledge economy,” said Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza.
He noted that the opening of the new facility will help the freeport maximize its potential in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.
“With PLDT as partner, the Subic Bay Freeport can now shift from labor-intensive industries to knowledge-based industries, guided by the emerging trends in the IT sector,” Arreza added.
He said the PLDT Innolab will showcase Subic ’s capabilities in terms of IT support, and will eventually determine to some extent direction taken by the IT sector in the freeport.
For her part, PLDT first vice-president Nerissa Ramos said the PLDT Innolab features “proofs of concept” of breakthrough technologies that are being offered by PLDT.
“Soon, everyone will realize that Subic’s IT capabilities is as good as what is offered in Manila, Cebu, Clark and other renowned BPO destinations in the country,” Ramos said.
According to PLDT, it is now offering various “cutting edge” IT solutions in the fields of hotel and restaurant management, manufacturing, retailing, franchising, real estate, and BPO.
“The Internet is playing a huge role in today’s management of businesses. With PLDT solutions, people can monitor and make business directions even from afar, and even generate cost-savings, as they employ these technologies that streamline business processes,” Ramos said.