THE Government plans to appoint former e-Services shareholder, Patrick Casserly, as Ambassador/Special Envoy with responsibility for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC).

Yesterday, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Chris Tufton made the announcement. At the same time he declared that “ICT investment attraction will be a top priority of the Government over the next 12-18 months”.

“JAMPRO will mobilise its resources to attract more ICT entrepreneurs and corporations to invest in Jamaica with a view to doubling the number of jobs held predominantly by young Jamaicans in this expanding sector,” Tufton said. “It is our position as a Government, that the local ICT/BPO sector presents the greatest opportunity to create jobs in the shortest possible time; jobs which will in turn increase the multiplied effect in the economy.”

According to the minister, the local Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry comprises approximately 26 firms and accounts for nearly 11,000 full-time jobs, ideally suited for high school and university graduates.

“Sector analysts conservatively estimate that Jamaica’s ICT/BPO sector must grow at a compounded annual rate of 20-21 per cent over the next four to five years in order to remain competitive in the Caribbean, Latin American (CLA) market,” he added. “The size of the BPO sector in the CLA region is approximately US$2.5 billion and is expected to grow to US$5 billion by 2013. The size of the young Jamaican BPO market is approximately US$145 million, just six per cent of the CLA market; and global industry watchers have all said that Jamaica is well positioned to address the growing needs of the near-shore market business.”

The BPO sector ranges from basic sales to more technical support in areas such as health care, finance, and logistics.

“Time is not on our side,” Tufton declared. “Jamaica must seize the moment!”

The Government will complete and unveil a five-point plan over the next few weeks to drive expansion in the sector focusing on:

* Market/client segmentation and targeting;

* Infrastructure build-out;

* Policy and legislative framework to stimulate and protect industry;

* A cost-effective approach to addressing training needs for the industry; and

* Financing to support ICT activity.

Casserly’s main role will be to assist in the refinement and execution of the Promotion Strategy for the ICT sector with a view to converting ICT investment leads to prospects, and ultimately landed investments.

“He will be integral to all activities relating to the development and promotion of the ICT sector in Jamaica, and will work closely with JAMPRO to execute a discrete programme of promotional activities specifically geared towards the attraction of investors in this sector and the expansion of existing companies within the local industry,” said Tufton.

Casserly is widely acknowledged for revolutionising the local ICT/Business Process Outsourcing industry, arising from his trailblazing work in creating the e-Services brand in 2000. He grew the e-Services Group from 35 employees to well over 4,000 contact centre professionals serving 17 Fortune-1000 clients from outsourcing centres in Montego Bay, Portmore, Kingston, and St Lucia. In 2009, he sold the e-Services Group to Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a global leader in BPO and IT Outsourcing, which itself was later acquired by the Xerox Corporation.