The SMX Convention Center in Pasay City served as the venue conference room for local and global companies involved in information and communication technology (ICT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) to discuss new trends and challenges in their respective industries during the 9th e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition(e-Services 2009) last February 9 – 10, 2009.

Organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, Philippine Board of Investments, DTI – Foreign Trade Service Corps, and DTI – Regional Operations Development Group, the event has served as the annual gathering in Asia Pacific where global thought leaders, decision makers and centers of excellence in global ICT and BPO converge and collaborate with one another to discuss trends, issues, and emerging business models in the IT business.

President Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo gave the event’s keynote address. According to President Arroyo, the event came at the time when the global economic situation is clearly an issue for everyone. The President thanked the corporate heads of the international companies who decided to invest in the Philippines and “turn wild ideas into indispensable tools to advance business and the quality of our lives.”

The first day of the conference was filled with plenary sessions on risk management, human resource challenges, and global sourcing. Sector based discussions were also held during the last day of the confab.

The highlight of the event was the annual e-Services Awards, which aims to highlight the contribution of intellectual property creation to the growth of the Philippine off-shoring and outsourcing industry, particularly in animation and game development, back office business process outsourcing, contact centers, software development and maintenance, and transcription. Among the awardees were Advance World Systems and Media Farm for Outstanding Client Application of the Year; Tech Factors, Total Transcription Solutions, and Navigator Systems for Outstanding Consumer Application of the Year; EMR Global and Next IX Systems for Groundbreaking Technology of the Year; and Transprocure, Pointwest Technologies, and PeopleSupport for Most Progressive Homegrown Companies.

The 9th e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition is in partnership with Business Processing Association of the Philippines, Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc., Game Development Association of the Philippines, and Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines Inc., and the following media partners: Business World, IT Matters, Business Mirror, and European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.