PH needs to upgrade infotech infrastructure

The Philippines will need to have more reliable infrastructure and policies to maximize the opportunities when the Asean economic integration starts next year.

European companies involved in information and communications technology (ICT) in the Asean region gave these recommendations through the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) during the recently concluded Cebu ICT/Business Process Management (ICT/BPM) Conference at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu.

The recommendations were highlighted in a speech by Henry Schumacher, ECCP vice president for external affairs, which was read for him by ECCP past chairman Gus Palao.

Schumacher was asked to speak during the forum about the difference between the European Union (EU) which was created in 1950 and the Asean Economic Community (AEC) set to go full blast next year.

EU AND AEC

According to Schumacher, there is an enormous difference between the two systems and consequently, people will have to have different expectations.

“My view on the AEC is positive and I am excited about the creation of the AEC with 600 million people or consumers. I am fully aware that the AEC will not happen on January 1, 2015—AEC is a process that has started many years ago and will continue to be implemented over many years to come. For me, it is important to focus on the opportunities the region’s integration offers and to avoid looking at all the challenges only,” said Schumacher.

To maximize these opportunities and to help ensure they happen, the ECCP has gathered recommendations from all European companies operating in the region.

The companies noted that the Philippines ranked No. 86 in the Network Readiness Index in 2012 out of 142 countries surveyed.

Of the 10 member countries in the Asean, the Philippines is second to the last which illustrates how poor the country’s ICT infrastructure is.

Topping the list is Singapore which ranked second in the overall rankings, followed by Malaysia at 29, Brunei at 54, Thailand at 77, Indonesia at 80, Vietnam at 83 and Cambodia at 108.

With this, the companies recommended the country build the right structure for the telecom sector, and create the right environment where fair and equal treatment of operators under the same license from a single regulator encourages foreign investment.

MODIFY LAWS

The firms also emphasized the need to modify laws and rules to support free movement of skilled people and invest more on education and training on ICT areas and modify rules and practices to meet the three dimensions of an independent National Regulatory Authority.

“Let me add issues that also need to be addressed which include the need to implement the Data Policy Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act. Also having only two telcos needs to be watched by the office for competition, the acquisition of Sun by PLDT should not have been allowed.”

There is also a need to increase bandwidth and create a Department of ICT (DICT), which is still desirable to move forward with education reformulated toward this sector, said Schumacher.

Schumacher also said the free movement of individual goods will be easy as this has already started since 2010.

“The free movement of agriculture products will hurt, and there may well be delays as what we had in the EU. The free movement of services will not be easy too, and the free movement of people will be challenged as it is still done in the EU—not on paper but in the attitude of people,” Schumacher said.

In other words, every business has to start including AEC into their business plans and start looking at opportunities as well as the challenges along the way, he said.