WHILE digital transformation is generally slow in the Philippines, the government is now leading the way toward this direction, thus encouraging other industries and business players to follow suit and accelerate their growth, according to a top executive of a leading global provider of industry-specific cloud applications.
“We’re seeing increased demand for digitalization in the public-sector space, where many organizations are leveraging the use of sophisticated enterprise software and automated solutions to introduce system-wide efficiencies,” Infor Asia Pacific (Aspac) Senior Vice President and General Manager Helen Masters told BusinessMirror in an interview.
Citing the Cloud Readines Index 2018 report of the Asia Cloud Computing Association, she said the Philippines is consistently moving up in the ranking to No. 9, out of 14 Aspac economies, with a total score of 53.6.
In particular, it did well on aspects like addressing privacy (8.5) and freedom of information (5.9), she noted.
These factors, according to her, are very relevant for the business-process outsourcing industry—one of the main growth sectors contributing largely to national economic development. The country, likewise, got favorable grades in business sophistication (5.9), cybersecurity (5.9), intellectual-property protection (5.9) and government regulatory environment (5.7). It was a bit below the average score of 5, though, in terms of broadband quality (4.8); as well as power grid, green policy and sustainability (4.5).
The vulnerability to hurricanes and other natural disasters (3.9), as well as international connectivity (2.5) make it a risky destination for local information hubs, per the research.
“Excellent connectivity to regional data centers becomes imperative to accelerate the shift to digitization,” Masters said.
Previous reports have shown the Philippines to have the slowest Internet speed in Southeast Asia, an indication of its poor digital infrastructure.
The SVP and GM of Infor in Aspac attributed this to the sluggish transition to digitization of local businesses and organizations as compared to their counterparts in the region.
With strong government drive towards Industry 4.0, however, she observes that many businesses today are encouraged to replace legacy systems with current technology to remain competitive in today’s connected business world.
“The government has invested significantly in infrastructure, and this has helped to accelerate the drive toward digitalization,” Masters said.
For instance, she cited the “Build, Build, Build” program of the Duterte administration, which is aimed at addressing the physical infrastructure challenges nationwide.
The digital infrastructure investments included in this initiative, she said, can help fast-track national economic growth. Considering that international players leveraging on digital strategies are entering the domestic market, Masters urged organizations in all industries to learn to adapt to the evolving global landscape and take advantage of new strategies to transform.
“Modernizing, innovating and digitizing are keys to face the global competition,” Masters stressed.