THE COMMISSION on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) is bent on building an ICT hub in every province in the country, having seen the importance of ICT in economic development and nation-building.

During the launch of the Next Wave Cities 2009 annual report yesterday, CICT Chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III said the commission would constantly update its list of cities to be assessed under the Next Wave Cities program, identifying urban centers most suited for business process outsourcing operations.

“We’ve already evaluated 40 cities, but we’re just promoting the top 10 cities,” Roxas-Chua said. “By November, we’ll be releasing a new top 10 list. Our plan is to continuously update the list of cities we assess. We plan to increase the number of cities we evaluate.”

According to Business Processing Association of the Philippines chief executive Oscar Sañez, it is important to establish Next Wave Cities, as potential BPO firms are now looking at cities, rather than countries, in deciding where to locate.

“Metro Manila is actually the biggest BPO city in the world with 240,000 workers,” Sañez said. “We need to build more ‘Metro Manilas,’ and we have to push forward the emerging cities outside Cebu. They have the potential to be the top BPO cities in the world. We just need to develop communities outside Metro Manila.”

The current list of Next Wave Cities include Metro Laguna, Metro Cavite, Iloilo City, Davao City, Bacolod City, Metro Pampanga, Bulacan East and West, Cagayan de Oro City and Lipa City.

According to the Next Wave Cities annual report, Metro Laguna is the best place for IT-BPO operations outside Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, with its more than 7,000 graduates each year, proximity to available workforce in Metro Manila, and excellent power and telecommunications infrastructure.

Metro Cavite ranked second overall, and was touted as the emerging urban center outside Metro Manila. Iloilo City rounded up the top 3, being the most cost-efficient city in the top 10 list.

CICT Commissioner Monchito Ibrahim said the agency had completed recently the assessments of more cities, including Tuguegarao in Cagayan Valley and Balanga in Bataan.

“When before we had some trouble introducing the concept of Next Wave Cities to local governments, now local government units are lining up to have their areas assessed. They want to be part of the list,” Ibrahim said.