The Next Wave Cities, a program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Office, is one way to help solve Metro Manila’s worsening traffic situation.

This is according to Monchito Ibrahim, deputy executive director of DOST’s ICT Office, who attributed the daily traffic in Metro Manila to the many companies that still choose to operate in Eastwood, Makati, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, and other major commercial destinations in the metro.

“This is why many Filipinos in the rural areas still opt to migrate to Metro Manila to take advantage of these job opportunities,” said Ibrahim. “This leads to a scenario where office workers go to the same commercial districts, us the same mode of transportation at the same period of time, thus causing heavy traffic during rush hours.”

“Through the Next Wave Cities Program, the DOST-ICT Office managed to introduce and recommend places in the regions that are ideal for IT-BPM operations,” Ibrahim explained.

The DOST-ICT Office provides to industry investors extensive reports on the competency of these Next Wave Cities, such as number of quality educational institutions, infrastructures, and crime rate, according to Ibrahim.

The positive business environment offered by the identified Next Wave cities encouraged the establishment of IT-BPM hubs in the provinces instead of Metro Manila. Talent and office locations are already available, Ibrahim said, such that investors who decide to have IT-BPM operations in the provinces get less competition and avoid the so-called pirating of talent.

“We want the local residents in the countryside to have decent employment opportunities, wherein they can earn salaries that are enough to support their needs without leaving their families,” he said.

Ibrahim revealed that the number of full-time IT-BPM employees in the provinces has increased from more than 63,000 in 2010 to more than 300,000 as of August 2014.

ICT Office also conducts Stepping-Up the Value Chain, an awareness program that aims to promote other IT-BPM career opportunities aside from call centers or voice services to the provinces. These include game and software development, animation, healthcare information, accounting and finance, and engineering outsourcing services.

“We want them to present various options. If you are a nursing graduate and you are finding difficulties in searching for a job, particularly in other countries, you can use your expertise in healthcare information services. If you are an IT or multimedia arts graduate, you can maximize your creative skills in various IT-BPM services such as animation, game and software development,” Ibrahim said.

The Next Wave Cities program concentrates on bringing Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) companies and opportunities to the provinces. As such, it helps avoid the heavy flow of office workers in Metro Manila’s business hubs and decongest traffic in these places while giving more opportunities to those who want to build IT careers in the provinces. (S&T Media Service) #dostPH #nextwavecities #icto #itbpm #trafficPH #jobs #itjobs