Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

MANILA - 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.