MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has improved its ranking slightly in the second edition of the IT Competitiveness index sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The index is an assessment of the IT environments of 66 countries and indicates the extent to which the economies enable the IT sector to grow.

As with the first edition of the study, the Philippines ranked tenth in Asia Pacific, moving up a notch from the previous year, but remained 47th overall.

BSA vice president and regional director for Asia Pacific Jeffrey Hardee told reporters that the Philippines performed strongest in providing a favorable business environment, support for the IT industry, and human capital.

However, it lacks legislation that will ensure at least minimal protection to stakeholders against such things as cybercrime and spam. There was also a noted weakness in the IT and telecommunications infrastructure, as well as innovation research.

The Economic Intelligence Unit, which undertook the study for BSA, recommended that the Philippine government expand the talent pool for IT industries, support broadband growth, and refrain from dictating technology.

The analyst group also highlighted the need for the Philippine government to pass laws that would improve confidence in e-commerce, as well as encourage companies to patent significant gains in research and development.

The study was completed about three months ago and was released the previous month, so the current financial crisis was not factored in.

But the situation does not change the fact that a good environment for IT growth will translate to economic benefits down the line, according to Hardee.

“In fact, now more than ever, governments should really think about how to improve their competitiveness to attract more of the investors in this environment,” he said.

Expectedly, the Philippines’ mobile communications and outsourcing industries stood out as growth drivers, enabling the country to cope with global challenges despite inadequacies in other areas.

Broadband penetration is very low at 1.3 to 100, but overall Internet usage was noted to be high. Internet users could reach 21.5 million at end-2008 and 50 million in 2015, the study said. - Philippine Daily Inquirer