The Philippines’ Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) industry is experiencing tremendous growth and is set to capture twice its current global market share by 2016 according to Alejandro Melchor III, Deputy Executive Director, Industry Development of the Information and Communications Technology Office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ICTO), who made the projection during a recently held membership meeting of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA).

Melchor added that the Philippines is currently “one of the lowest cost destinations for IT Outsourcing,” has a workforce with extensive IT work experience, has a considerable range of available IT skills and has “a growing global branding.”

“We have the tools and the talent to be a major player in IT Outsourcing,” Melchor said. “ITO is growing fast and is driven by converging global megatrends such as the growth of the knowledge economy and the global technology revolution.”

The DOST-ICTO is the lead Philippine government agency on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) related matters. The agency’s primary thrusts are in ICT Industry Development, ICT policy development, eGovernment, Cybersecurity and Internet for all.

The Philippines is currently the third largest annual supplier of technical talent for IT in the Asia Pacific – next only to China and India. And based on surveys by US-based Meta Group, the Philippines also consistently ranks near the top when it comes to the availability of knowledge based workers worldwide.

According to DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo, Filipino workers in the IT sector have a wide range of skills, including knowledge in programming, development of software, proficiency in database platforms, skills in mainframes and expertise in mobile platforms. He added that the country’s ITO industry is one of the top performers in 2011, growing by 37%, creating about 50,000 full time jobs and generating revenues of almost a billion dollars.