BE MORE INTERNET-SAVVY, ANGARA URGES PHL COMPANIES

Senator Edgardo J. Angara urged local businesses to utilize technologies, especially Internet technologies, in improving operations and competing in global markets.

Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, made the call in light of a recent survey from Grant Thornton that showed 44 percent of Filipino enterprises use social media, including networking website Facebook, to improve their profitability.

The result is a mere point higher than the global average but also lower than the ASEAN average of 45 percent.

"Social media is only one of the avenues the Internet has opened up, which businesses can work through and profit from. With many of the world's top companies capitalizing on such fast-paced connectivity, we become more competitive if we harmonize global technologies--with Facebook and Twitter being only two examples--into the way we run our businesses," said Angara, also Chair of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (COMSTE).

The veteran lawmaker noted that according to the Global SME Survey conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute, 75 percent of the economic impact of the Internet arises from companies that do not identify themselves as pure Internet players. This is so because the Internet helps drive the modernization of traditional industrial activities.

"By enhancing their capacity to work with high-speed ICT, our companies get the chance to engage in global e-commerce trade, which amounts to around US$ 8 billion and involves roughly two billion people," explained Angara.

He continued, "But trading through the Internet is just one aspect. Developments in Cloud Computing and Software as a Service have already helped many businesses streamline their processes and bring down operational costs."

During his sponsorship speech of the 2012 budget, Angara pushed for P60 million to be used for the creation of an innovation cluster in ICT for Cloud Computing and Software as a Service (SaaS).

COMSTE has been advocating for the establishment of innovation clusters as tripartite collaborations among government agencies, the academe and industry leaders for conducting R&D focused on solving key national issues such as business competitiveness.

"Such a cluster can help create solutions in boosting the productivity of our businesses. Though we are still in the process of putting this together, the chances for success are heightened when Filipino companies today become more well-versed in the Internet," stressed Angara.