RP declines in IT competitiveness study

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines went down two notches in the most recent IT competitiveness index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a division of the UK-based publication the Economist.

The Philippines was ranked 12th – down from 10th place in 2008 – among 17 Asia Pacific countries. Among 66 countries worldwide that were part of the EIU study, the Philippines was number 56 (down from number 47).

India and China, which placed 48th and 50th, respectively in 2008, overtook the Philippines this year ranking 39th and 44th.

The EIU study, commissioned by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), benchmarks the IT competitiveness of countries based on standard factors such as overall business environment, IT, infrastructure, human capital, legal environment, research and development environment, and government IT policies.

The study was released last week and ranked Australia at the top of the Asia Pacific group, followed by Singapore and Japan. Other countries in the top 10 are Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and India.

While the study showed that the Philippines went down in the overall rankings, it does not mean that the country is fairing any worse than in other countries.

In fact, the Philippines remains relatively flat in terms of IT competitiveness.

Lawyer Claro Parlade, BSA Asia Pacific Director for Software Policy, stressed that the other countries have improved their overall IT competitiveness, thus pushing them up in the rankings.

China and India, in particular, had among the fastest growth rates, which put them in higher rankings in this year’s EIU study.

Parlade also pointed to other countries that went down their overall rankings in 2008.

Taiwan ranked 2nd globally in 2008 but is now ranked 15th out of 66 countries this year. South Korea also went down from an overall rank of 8th in 2008 to 16th this year

Other countries that also went down their overall rankings were Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

“The current business environment, as well as other factors, affected the IT competitiveness of these countries. Nonetheless, the Philippines is in a good position to make improvements,” Parlade said.

As such, Parlade noted that the ranking system should be considered as stimulus for improvements in the overall IT environment, especially with regard to government policies.

Parlade made several recommendations that should be put in place to make the Philippines more competitive in the cutthroat global IT business, foremost of which involve government-initiated policies that will make the local IT environment more favorable.

“Laws for the IT industry and an established budget for IT-related projects should be put in place. Continued IT infrastructure development and stronger intellectual property protection are also necessary,” Parlade. –Alexander Villafania, INQUIRER.net