The Philippine Software Industry Association said Tuesday it expects software and IT services to deliver $5.7 billion in revenues by 2020, almost double the $2.9 billion worth of service exports it generated in 2016.
“Software and IT services alone brought in $2.9 billion to the Philippine economy in 2016. That revenue constitutes 13 percent of the entire Philippine IT-BPM sector, and it will still grow because of the huge market potential,” said PSIA president Jonathan Luzuriaga.
PSIA, in a briefing during the 5th Softcon.ph at SMX Convention Center in Taguig City, acknowledged the industry’s growing value added services and products.
“Our international partners and clients from the US, Europe and Australia do business with Philippine software producers because they recognize what our Filipino talent can bring to the table,” De Luzuriaga said.
North America remained the top market for Philippine software with over 50-percent market share, followed by Japan with 30 percent and Europe.
Global demand for IT outsourcing services is expected to reach $147 billion by 2022.
PSIA said while automation was disrupting not only the software industry but also the IT and BPM sector, human contribution to the industry would never be redundant to artificial intelligence.
“Human touch point will never go away. We know we’re in the cusp of a fourth industrial revolution but the industry still needs human intervention especially on processes that will manage AI technology,” Luzuriaga said.
The group said AI would not happen overnight and “we are equipped to take on the challenge. Normally, the systems do not require very high tech knowledge. We have 7,000 graduates annually that we can train, on top of the 123,000 people we have now who have awareness on AI and disruptive technology.”
“Instead of our people getting scared of AI as an invading technology due to apprehension for employability, we should look at it as an opportunity to move up the value chain,” Luzuriaga said.
“Our English fluency, our capability to adapt to market needs, and our agility to cope with and master the non-stop changes in technology are beginning to catch global attention. Another is our demographics: 70,000 IT graduates enter our labor force every year; 50 percent of our population is made up of millennials. As a result, we do have the manpower that can support long-term business sustainability,” he said.
Softcon.ph is the country’s premier event for promoting and celebrating the world-class products and services of the Philippines’ information technology industry organized by PSIA.
About 800 delegates attended the event at SMX Convention Center in SM Aura.