Google developer expert to IT sector: Make talent pool better

Albert Padin, Google developer expert, together with the organizers of the GDG Cebu Code Camp led by GDG’s Romeo Bonsocan (second from left) discusses the particulars of the upcoming event during a press briefing in Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/VICTOR ANTHONY V. SILVA)

THE Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry in the Philippines, one which relies heavily on the quality of its workforce, needs to pay attention to making its talent pool better or risk getting left behind in the global economy.

Albert Padin, the only recognized Google developer expert in the country, said keeping updated with technology trends and staying relevant are critical to developing the industry.

“If our developers are not getting better and not staying relevant, it affects us greatly. Because then, companies here will just locate in other countries like China where there are more and better graduates than ours,” he said during a press conference for the Google Developers Group (GDG) Cebu Code Camp on Wednesday.

The Code Camp, the first of its kind in Cebu, expects to gather more than 1,600 developers from all over the country on Feb. 25 for a day of learning with Google employees.

Among the participants, around 60 percent are beginner developers, mostly students, while the rest are either experienced or senior developers.

Topics will range from Machine Learning, Firebase, Google Cloud, Material Design, Android, and web trends in 2017.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the IEC Cebu Convention Center (IC3), the biggest conventioner center in Cebu to date.

Padin said technology is the game to play today since the top 5 biggest companies worldwide are tech-based.

“As a developer, the main challenge is to always keep up and stay updated. That requires a lot of energy. That is where the community comes in,” he said.

Communities like GDG may provide avenues for learning new trends with subject matter experts coming in to share their insights.

GDG hosted Cebu’s first DevFest late last year, drawing more than 1,000 attendees from all over the Philippines.

For the Code Camp, the attendees will learn from Google employees, called “Googlers,” based in Japan, Korea, and the United States.

Padin said Cebu’s IT-BPM sector, which employs around 150,000 presently, is known for its good performance in voice services as well as some non-voice transactions.

In 2016, Cebu ranked 7th worldwide in the “Top 100 BPO Destinations Report” by global advisory firm, Tholons.

Even so, he said Cebu was among the “minor players” in IT and software development.

The Philippine IT-BPM roadmap aims to hire a total of 1.8 million workers by 2022, around 70 percent of which are high-skilled workers equipped with some level of expertise in technology.

Revenues from the IT-BPM sector, which were projected to reach $25 billion in 2016, continue to be among the major drivers of the country’s economic growth.