The Philippines as global center for analytics

I believe in the Philippines.  I have no other country.  All my kids and grand kids live here.  But it pains me to read bad news about the Philippines – worst airport, corruption, poverty, and government scandals of ethic proportion.  It’s no longer just for me – I’m almost done (though I hope not).  It’s for my grandchildren and the rest of the younger members of the Cecilian clan.

Good news

For a few years now, the Philippines is the global leader in the voice segment of the BPO industry.  Soon, if not now, it is the BPO Capital of the World.  Morgan Stanley declared the Philippines as one of the next growth countries (PINE) -Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Ethiopia.

In November 2013, I interviewed two top ranking executives of IBM – MarielsAlmedaWinhoffer, President and Country General Manager of IBM Philippines, and Rob High, IBM Fellow and Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of IBM Watson Solutions.  I wrote in this column about their keen interest and prospects about cognitive computing and analytics.

Mariels indicated at that time that a consortium is about to be formed to push forward the analytics profession and industry.  I had another precious hour with Mariels last Tuesday, and she was even more optimistic that the Philippines can become the global center for analytics.

Smarter Analytics

Analytics is a holistic approach that turns information into insight, and insight into business outcomes.  As big data proliferates from structured and unstructured sources, leaders need analytics to make better and faster decisions in this information-centric and insight-driven world.  The ability to sift through massive data, discern patterns, and make sense of information can optimize and hasten decision-making and become a competitive edge.  Analytics started as an initiative; now it is an imperative.  Its application today covers health care, public safety, disaster management, water conservation, marketing, retail and even education.

Mariels gave me a quick journey of the budding concept of analytics in the Philippines. “In 2012, IBM shared the vision of making the Philippines the Global Center for Smarter Analytics.  We had discussions with government, academe and industry leaders.  It was reaffirmed that the country has the right ingredients to be the global hub for analytics – the right economics, a strong industry support, a steady supply of quality talent, and government support.”

Mariels told me how she had to go from one stakeholder to another.  She first talked with Washington Sycip and told him of the felt need.  She told Wash, “There’s really a big gap in education where we can help, but I can’t solve all the problems, as it will take generations to address them.  What IBM can do is to take a small slice where we think we can lead.  With all the work we have done, I believe we can help make the Philippines the global center for analytics, as a profession and industry.  I know how Mr. Sycip has been helping and donating to the country to improve education and I thought I should get his blessing on this initiative.  And he gave me his blessing, saying I was on the right track.”

“I also went to see Isagani Cruz, an influential adviser of DepEd Secretary Bro. Luistro.  When we presented the idea to Bro. Luistro, he said that he would support the initiative as long as we don’t create that divide…”

In the words of DTI Secretary Gregory Domingo, “Data analytics is where you put a lot of intelligence in mining data.  If properly analyzed, it would be put to a lot of productive use, like helping companies make good decisions out of the data.  There is a very good chance we will give it a big shot to make the Philippines the data analytics hub of the world.”

Mariels continued, “On April 22, 2014, ANALITIKA was born as a consortium to enable the Philippines as the Global Center for Smarter Analytics.  ANALITIKA will serve as a governing body that will define, develop, enhance, promote and monitor Analytics as an industry.  It will define and nurture the new professions that will be required by the transformed industries and ensure the needed talent is available.”

ANALITIKA’s advisory council includes Dr. Isagani Cruz, Ms. Vicky Garchitorena, and Messrs. Boo Chanco and LitoGagni.  The heads of DTI, DOST and CHED are government advisors.  The founding members include ABS-CBN, BPI, IBM, IMI, Meralco, Shell, SM Retail, Smart/PLDT, and Sun Life of Canada.

IBM Philippines

I asked Mariels why she’s so passionate about the Philippines.  She said, “My personal vision is for IBM Global to look at IBM Philippines beyond what we are just today.  We were in the past a very strategic country for IBM Global insofar as providing services.  We now have thousands of Filipinos in IBM Philippines managing the process and IT of some large global companies.  But, the question is ‘what’s next?'”

Mariels continued, “I came back to the Philippines and when I saw what we have invested in IBM Philippines and what we were doing here, I thought that truly we can make the Philippines the global center for analytics.  My coming here was a win-win.  I am a Filipino, but my education, experience and reach are global.  With the help of a very senior IBM executive, I was able to get the blessing within the first year to pursue that end.”

But, Mariels looks at this initiative as a big ecosystem.  She said, “We have to have the skills.  In July of 2012, we met with CHED’s Secretary Patricia Licuanan and shared with her our agenda.  She realized that if we started training Filipinos today on analytics, we could soon position the Philippines for higher value jobs. At that time, Gardner said that about a million jobs requiring skills in analytics would be needed around the world by 2015.  Within months after that, the same source projected 4.4 million jobs needing analytics by 2015, but only 30 percent would be filled.  Secretary Licuanan immediately decided to have her team work side by side with IBM to find ways to narrow the gap.”

IBM Global sends out teams of corporate executives to do projects in many parts of the world.  They call it Corporate Service Corps, a CSR program. The Philippines has been blessed with 12 teams over the past several years.  The team that arrived September 2012 worked with CHED and the output was a MOU in December 2012.  By May 2013, CHED sent out a Memorandum Order declaring Analytics as a new profession.  Mariels said, “We helped come up with the syllabus, curriculum, materials, and even helped train the faculty.  We had over a hundred professors and instructors from 37 universities now trained to teach Analytics as an elective for IT and Business courses.  We are in the process of developing the job roles (e.g., Data Scientist, Chief Data Officer, or Chief Analytics Officer) and skills sets that other professions have.”

Promoting Analytics

The more challenging piece of the puzzle is promoting analytics and creating awareness up to the lowest element of the Philippine society.  In the Philippines, parents generally determine the courses their children take up in college. Do we need a “teleserye” so that parents in far-flung areas will tell their kids to learn analytics?  What made nursing and maritime jobs so popular?

By 2015, Analytics will be a 230 billion dollar industry.  We need to make the rest of the world aware that the Philippines is the ideal destination for analytics investment.  But there again, we should look at investment attraction as a big ecosystem that is sensitive to perception, good news and bad news.

Mariels was emphatic when she said, “Analytics is no longer a privilege.  It is becoming a minimum requirement, whether you are in business, government, education or other endeavors.  There is now an emerging compelling reason for organizations to embrace the coming age of analytics.  Analytics will make a difference in education and jobs. Students with skills in analytics will become sought after…”

Mariels looks at challenges as opportunities. She says with optimism, “This initiative has to go on with or without me, or even after me.  It’s a new way of doing business, and it’s exciting because we’re the first … to define job roles and skills sets in ANALITIKA.  When you have a mission to do something, you have to ensure that you make it better than when you first found it.”

Most initiatives die because the leaders soon become centric.  Mariels has altruistic motives about this whole thing.

Mariels’ education and experience are American.  Her perspective and reach are global.  But her heart and soul are Filipino!

(Ernie is the 2013 Executive Director and 1999 President of the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP); Chair of the AMCHAM Human Capital Committee; and Co-Chair of ECOP’s TWG on Labor Policy and Issues. He is President and CEO of EC Business Solutions and Career Center. Contact him at [email protected])