A US$15-trillion shift in global revenue across the business process outsourcing industry over the next 10 years should have a great impact on Jamaica’s tourism sector, according to a study conducted by Tholons Inc, a strategic advisory firm for global outsourcing and research.

That’s US$1.5 trillion per year in revenue that the country could capitalise on if Jamaica gets ready to train people in digital software skills for the business process industry.

“That’s a very significant opportunity. This is not an opportunity that has to necessarily come offshore, this is an opportunity that Jamaica can address directly and this is an opportune time to really focus on this industry,” chief executive officer of Tholons Inc Avinash Vashistha said during an analysis of Jamaica’s IT-business Process Management (IT-BPM) Sector.

The event, which brought a number of stakeholders together, was held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston yesterday under the theme: ‘Scaling up the Value Chain – Opportunities for Growth in the Services Outsourcing Sector’.

According to Vashistha, analysts’ estimates that by 2027, US$15 trillion will convert from industry revenue — including employee productivity and supply chain logistics — to technology revenue as outsourcing companies seek to provide more efficient services while attracting new clients.

He added that digital technology is now the fastest growing area of the BPO industry at rates of up to 45 per cent for industry leaders in India, Philippines and Eastern Europe.

“Jamaica is doing very well in tourism and I think it’s a service to be looked at in terms of how we can expand the business of tourism,” he noted while recommending that the country moves quickly to develop four basic skills: social media, mobility, analytics and cloud to be on par with global technology standards.

“We talk about social media; we have to figure how it is applicable to business. Take, for example, if a hotel is not tracking its comments on Trip Advisor, that hotel will go out of business because of 100 people that use a hotel about five will write bad reviews about it. The only comments people like to see are the bad ones, so the hotel for its survival will have to respond to these changes in technology,” he reasoned.

Vashistha also named medical transcription, health information management, contact support services, engineering services, market research, finance and accounting services, HR education and training, creative services outsourcing as areas Jamaica could focus on to exploit the industry shift to digital technology.

He highlighted companies such as Uber taxi service and hotel accomodation company Airbnb which have used technology to transform how business is done in the areas of service.

“Jamaica could look at medical transcription and medical coding. So when the hospital is to submit to the insurance company, someone has to code that form. It’s a very significant business in US and lots of companies in India, Philippines and Eastern Europe have formed this business and this is an area that will continue to grow,” he said.

Over the past decade, successive governments of Jamaica have identified offshore services outsourcing as a key pillar for the country’s economic growth and continue to establish aggressive growth targets for the industry. The latest thrust is to double the industry’s employment numbers to 44,000 over the next three to to five years.

Tholons was recently commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank to conduct a new study on Jamaica’s services outsourcing industry. The new report, Jamaica: IT-BPM Sector Analysis, is currently in the process of being finalised but its core findings have been the subject of stakeholder consultations in Jamaica.

The consultants examined the current state of Jamaica’s services outsourcing industry and have submitted recommendations to improve the country’s capability and outsourcing identity with the region.