DUMAGUETE CITY – The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Association of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental is assisting local government units (LGUs) in bringing industry players to the countryside.
Suzanne Lu-Bascara, who heads the ICT-Dumaguete/Negros Oriental, said in an interview Tuesday that at least two LGUs have signified intent to set up a working space and the infrastructure to attract investors.
“The LGUs of Bayawan City and La Libertad have initiated the move to connect with us so they can establish a suitable environment to attract locators in the ICT-BPM (business process management) to the countryside,” she said.
Bascara said the idea is for the LGUs to address concerns, such as talent pool, the absence of a decent workspace, reliable and stable Internet connectivity, and power generator sets, so that industry players would consider a rural setting.
This will also allow their constituents to land a job in their hometowns, and for those already working in the big cities, to return home and still earn decent wages, she added.
Dana Fortunato, ICT-Dumaguete/Negros Oriental executive director, who visualized the concept of a countryside working environment for BPMs, said they would assist the LGUs in finding business prospects and setting up the industry in these localities.
She said she hopes that other LGUs would follow suit, so long as they have or could meet the industry's requirements.
The current ICT industry workforce in Negros Oriental is about 25,000, with additional seats expected in the coming months and years.
Bascara and Fortunato said the number has grown to what it is now compared to zero desks in Negros Oriental in 2004, when the BPO industry was not known here yet.
Eli Harrell, chief executive officer of EmergePH, and James Thompson, executive director of WrkPod – both BPMs based here – noted that good English language skills in a university town like Dumaguete are an advantage.
The local ICT association and WrkPod spearheaded the 2025 ICT Month Celebration here over the weekend.
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