By Caesar Vallejos
Eagle News online corrrespondent
(Eagle News) — Software developers and programmers gathered at the biggest SOFTCON.PH, organized by the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) recently held at the Marriott Grand Ballroom Manila. It has attracted delegates from more than 50 companies, a new record since the conference was organized in 2013.
“The Philippine software industry raked in more than USD 2.0 billion in revenues in 2014, posting a 20% growth from the previous year, the second-highest growth rate among the information technology and business-process outsourcing (IT-BPO) subsector,” PSIA President Jonathan de Luzuriaga, said.
“The growth for the IT services has been averaging 20% in the past years and this year, it’s already a given, and we’re actually trying to stretch that a little bit further this year.” Mr. Luzuriaga said on the sidelines of SOFTCON.PH: Breaking the Code.
Mr. Luzuriaga further added that the IT industry is a huge global market, and if the Philippines would want to get a big share of it, the country needs to produce talents that can pass the international standards required by multinational organizations.
Due to the expansion of IT-BPO firms and local technology start-ups, Mr. Luzuriaga said the subsector is expected to hire 100,000 total jobs by the end of the year, from 88,000 full time workers.
The country is currently producing 55,000 IT and software development graduates every year and it needs to double that number to supply the expected labor pool shortage.
Mr. Winston Cruz, PSIA Vice President and SOFTCON.PH 2015 Chairman said in his opening remarks, “we have grown leaps and bounds this year from a headcount and revenue standpoint… [and also in terms of] how much more we can be in the IT global market. As the world goes digital, we find ourselves faced with the need to enable ourselves to meet the demands of clients moving away from traditional platforms and into cloud, emerging and disruptor technologies.”
Amazon Web Services Principal Technology Evangelist Markku Lepisto delivered the Keynote Message who engaged the conference delegates with his topic, “Cloud is the New Normal”. Relevant panel discussions on the needs of the industry highlighted the event which included start-up and investments, Big Data analytics, Internet of Things, mobile trends and strategies, and training and talent development.
Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) Deputy Executive Director Monchito Ibrahim, one of the panelists, said that, “there is also a rising need for our software professionals to innovate and re-invent themselves to adapt to the industry’s changing landscape.”
Mr. Ibrahim said the government, through the ICT Scholarship and Training Program, gives ICT training on in-demand specializations such as information technology outsourcing and software development, game development, and animation. The program aims to produce more trained workers to fill the ICT talent pool.
If the Philippines would want to take advantage of the USD 20 Million dollars of floating investment money, we should have an “honest assessment on a national scale” to “identify the real trends” and to “identify gaps that hinder the growth of the IT industry to where it should be,” Mr. Luzuriaga said.
The annual summit featured exhibits by global and local solution providers. There were also business matching for start-ups, service providers, support firms and investors.
Software developers and programmers attended the structured tracks that offered various relevant topics presenting the latest information and practices in the field. Industry experts served as resource persons on the following: Programming, Architecture and DevOps, Testing, User Experience, Product and Project Management and Data Science.
SOFTCON.PH is a high-level software engineering and technology conference that brings together software professionals, top local and foreign entrepreneurs, C-level executives, the government, and the media to participate in engaging panel discussions about the latest technology platforms, the industry trends that are shaping the software landscape, and how the Philippines is poised to become a key economic player the software services global market.