THE Information Communications Technology (ICT) in Davao City is expecting a 30-percent increase in the number of jobs for 2013 in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, a top executive said.

Lizabel Holganza, president of the ICT-Davao, expressed confidence that the upstream development of the industry in 2012 will continue this year after more BPO players eyed the city to be the host for their next facilities.

She said they are expecting more tie-ups between the academe and industry for this year.

"We see a heightened synergy between the academe and industry as evidenced by frequent engagements in 2012," she said in a text message.

More job opportunities from health IT sector are expected to increase also this year, as the industry will provide space for healthcare and nursing professionals.

ICT-Davao executive vice-president Bert Barriga, speaking in Monday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw, said around 16,000 jobs have been generated by BPO industry players in Davao City in 2012.

The 16,000 industry workers are already a little more than half-way to the 2015 target of ICT-Davao to generate a total of 30,000 jobs for Dabawenyos.

He said the city has immense pool of talents on the supply side, the reason they are doing all they can to provide trainings capability building to meet the requirements of the BPO companies.

Earlier, the executive hinted that major BPO players will be opening for business this year.

Barriga said a new undertaking Smarter Countryside will be launched next month in the city to be attended by more or less 25 representatives from other ICT councils in the Philippines.

Through Smarter Countryside, prospect industry talents can expect more trainings on several discplines of BPO, be it voice or non-voice.

"Making the coutryside smarter," Barriga said about this new undertaking, adding that "after the launching, everyone will be given specific roles."

The Smarter Countryside will complement the Industry-Based Training for Work Scholarship Program (I-TWSP) of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) for the prospective industry workers.

In Davao City, there are accredited institutions for I-TWSP, such as Jobs Academy, Tesda-KorPhil Training Center, Bellmec Training and Assessment Center, Philippine College of Technology, MTC Academy, and Joji Illagan Bian e-Academy.