Bitstop Joins Baguio ICT Conference

Philippines, Baguio City (October 05, 2010)- The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in partnership with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and in line with government's role to develop and promote the Next Wave Cities in support of the Information Technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry, conducted a Strategic Planning Workshop last September 27, 2010 in Baguio City (Hotel Veniz)

Many participant joined the said conference. The participants came from LGU Cabanatuan City, Balanga Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Dagupan City, San Fernando La Union, Vigan City, Baguio City, DTI, Decorp, PoroPoint Management, Globa Holdings, PLDT, DMMMSU, CLSU, Tarlac Electric, Lorma Colleges and Bitstop. By this it showed there was a lot of participant interested to the event.

The workshop which gathered stakeholder from different various cities in Region I, II, and III which were able to provide an overview of the Next Wave Cities (NWC) Program including its objectives and role of being a stakeholder. Can able to conduct s SWOT analysis using the said NWC Scorecard to overview the capabilities and readiness of cities in the field of hosting investment for the Information Technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry. The stakeholder can also able to formulate a Plan of Action for their concerned cities.

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

A SWOT analysis must first start with defining a desired end state or objective. A SWOT analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model. Strategic Planning, has been the subject of much research.

Strengths: characteristics of the business or team that give it an advantage over others in the industry.
Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage relative to others.
Opportunities: external chances to make greater sales or profits in the environment.
Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business.

Identification of SWOTs are essential because subsequent steps in the process of planning for achievement of the selected objective may be derived from the SWOTs.

The expected output of the workshop was achieved. Each of the representatives was successfully presented and shared their SWOT analysis, particularly in the area of talent, infrastructure, cost and business environment.