ICTO to offer a facility to hone Pinoy creativity

CEBU, Philippines - The Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) will soon offer a shared-facility for the potential-rich creative industry in the ICT sector in order to further develop the Philippines' edge in creativity.

ICTO deputy executive director Monchito Ibrahim in an interview said that the Philippines has recognized its lead in the creative sector and that further development in this segment, specifically in software, games development and animation, will be given utmost support.

According to Ibrahim, the ICTO which is under the office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), will offer a time-sharing facility that will be used by potential creative Pinoy talents in developing their ideas.

Ibrahim said that while the tools needed to nurture this creative talent is quite expensive, the government is going to support this potential in order to further banner the country’s world-class creative skills.

“Our edge is in creativity, this is our national asset that cuts across industries,” said Ibrahim.

In the ICT sector, he said the country will lead the growth not only in voice outsourcing, but also in high-end services like software, games, animation and healthcare developments.

With this time-sharing facility, Ibrahim said stakeholders and creative people will be able to cut cost in the development of their ideas.

Talent development, he said, is one of the primary thrusts of the ICTO, aside from its support in developing English proficiency of Filipinos to boost the voice outsourcing sector. Ibrahim said programs for boosting the creative sector in ICT are also in place.

The Philippine software services outsourcing industry alone posted a positive growth as it reached a robust 37 percent in 2011. This translated to US$993 million, with 11 percent growth rate on employment.

 A report from the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) revealed that the 11 percent growth of the industry translated to 50,000 information technology (IT) professionals employed in the sector.

The nearly US$1 billion figure was attributed to the increase in demand from international clients to tap local firms for their specific IT and software requirements.

According to PSIA president Nora Terrado, the improved utilization of the current talent pool enabled companies to increase efficiency and revenue per full-time employee (FTE), while close collaboration between industry players and the government in training fresh graduates and career switchers has helped augment the much-needed technical workforce.

Recently, PSIA has created a special interest group on product development (PD/SIG) which aims to help the local software development industry to create and commercialize at least 10 globally recognized software products in various categories by 2016, each generating at least US$1 million annually from offshore customers.

Meanwhile, the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (Acpi) in a report revealed that in 2011 alone, the Philippine animation industry drew in a total revenue of US$128 million or roughly P5.3 billion.

According to Acpi, this revenue was generated by around 8,000 animation professionals, not just animators.

The bulk of revenue came from animation studios and production agencies producing outsourced material for clients in the United States, Japan and Canada.

These foreign clients, in turn, used the material for their own feature films (live and animated) and advertisements. /JMD (FREEMAN)