IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) ICT-enabled services has reached over 90,000 Filipinos through its more than 2,000 eCenters in far-flung areas of the country.

According to the DICT website, 91,017 people have used the Technology for Education, Employment, Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (Tech4ED) Project’s services to date, more than double the 35,834 recorded in 2016.

The Department of Information and Communciation (DICT) has established 1,258 eCenters in 2017 under the Technology for Education, Employment, Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (Tech4ED) Project, up 163 percent from 2016, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said on Saturday.

In a statement, Roque said the DICT's Tech4ED project has seen the launch of 1,258 centers last year, higher than the 774 centers established in the prior year.

Digital divide, inadequate information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, and outdated laws have hampered the delivery of an efficient electronic government system, according to study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

These factors need to be addressed as a sound e-government system is crucial to the efficient delivery of services in the ‘new normal’ amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital technology is transforming our professional and personal lives, fast. It links us on social media, opens the world’s knowledge online and builds a shared economy that opens more opportunities for everyone, not to mention the effect of machine learning, artificial intelligence, sensor technologies, and other digital disruptions. Digital is morphing the character of business and corporate behavior and, of course, our lifestyles. And it’s forcing digital businesses to understand their positive impact on society.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is helping countries in Asia and the Pacific leverage digital technologies for development, while implementing digital reforms within its own institution, said ADB President Mr. Takehiko Nakao during a 2-day forum being held at ADB headquarters.

The Digital Development Forum 2018 provides a venue for high-level discussions on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) for development in region. During the forum, leading technology experts will give presentations and workshops to more than 300 participants from development institutions, government agencies, academe, and the private sector, as well as to ADB staff.

The chief of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA), Hans Leo Cacdac, would read messages aloud from his computer screen posted by OFWs from different parts of the world. He replies to questions regarding scholarships and business loans, while also taking the time to greet overseas workers who are happy to see the OWWA administrator waving to them online. By leading his institution in its digital journey, Cacdac has transformed OWWA into a modern, responsive agency, much to the delight of many of its members.

Unfortunately, we don’t see similar initiatives in other agencies, including departments that have so many services that few people know or understand. Hopefully, this will soon change based on the presentation given by Assistant Secretary Alan Silor of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) during a recent conference on “Digital Transformation for the OFW Sector” organized by the Blas F. Ople Policy Center.

"The private sector has always been a valuable and reliable partner to the government."

Digital transformation, connectivity, power and energy, and good governance are among the interconnected essentials that must play in sync to successfully pull out of this protracted state of crisis and start a momentum of sustained prosperity.

The eagerness to get out of this pandemic rut was palpable from all the government, industry, academe, and civil society thought leaders that shared their analyses and strategic solutions during the deep discussions in the sessions of the 2021 Pilipinas Conference organized by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi).

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is all set for the implementation of the nationwide free wi-fi Internet access in all public places nationwide.

Undersecretary Louis Casambre of the Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) said here Saturday that the total number of beneficiary-municipalities now stands at 1,435.

The P1.408-billion project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) that would provide Internet connectivity to almost a thousand unserved or underserved fourth- to sixth-class municipalities in the country is finally pushing through.

DOST Undersecretary Louis Napoleon Casambre, executive director of the department’s Information Communications Technology Office (ICTO), said they had come out with the tender for two major components of the Free Wi-Fi in Public Places project.

It will now be easier for sole proprietors to register their business names.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has partnered with online payment platforms GCash, PayMaya and LinkBiz to enable businesses to transact with the agency online.

Leading industries have turned to technology to survive the economic pivot to the “new normal” with the Philippines’ largest and only integrated telecommunications company PLDT aiding organizations and businesses to adapt and thrive in the current challenges of the pandemic.

Discussed during the second virtual Tech Talks forum streamed in partnership with OneNews, PLDT highlighted key solutions and services that have helped catalyse digital transformations of e-Industries including e-Learning, e-Banking, e-Commerce, e-Government, and e-Health.

The Duterte administration aims to fully automate all government procedures and processes by the end of its term in line with one of the targets under the 2017-2022 Philippine Development Plan (PDP), economic planning officials said on Monday.

“The President [Rodrigo Duterte] doesn’t want people queuing [for government procedures], and how will you achieve that? Then you have to go for automation of many of these procedures,” Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

The data center to be housed at the Globe facility is the second National Government Data Center, the government’s main information hub for all government agencies that is being built by the iGovPhil.

Globe Business, through its IT-Enabled Services Group (IG), said their Data Center will be the co-location of iGovPhil project’s files and resources.

The data center to be housed at the Globe facility is the second National Government Data Center, the government’s main information hub for all government agencies, being built by the iGovPhil.

Public corporations expect a significant improvement in their operations and the delivery of their services with the use of fiber optic technology and systems currently being developed under the Integrated Government Philippines (iGovPhil) project of the Information and Communications Technology Office (ICT Office) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) of the DOST.

ANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will step up efforts to provide a “legal framework” for the digital transformation of government and private transactions to “foster economic recovery and spur growth.”

Speaker Martin Romualdez gave the assurance, saying the House committee on trade and industry has already approved a consolidated version of the proposed Internet Transaction Act or E-Commerce Law, which is among the 20 priority measures President Marcos mentioned in his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Lizabel G. Holganza, president of National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), told reporters they are looking for various measures to engage rural communities participate in the ICT sector, and one of these ways is through rural impact outsourcing, where some sectors of the community. such as the out-of-school youths or the women or those who did not finish proper schooling -- can be taught simple but internet=driven ICT work like image tagging.

In receiving the “2014 E-readiness Leadership Award” last June 18, Taguig and Makati joined the cities of Cagayan de Oro City, Cebu, Mandaluyong, San Fernando, Balanga, Angeles, Batangas City and Valenzuela which were recognized for adapting information technology in local governance or “e-readiness.”

The plan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct voting in shopping malls in 2016 has received a boost from Robinson’s Land Corp. (RLC), which offered yesterday to host the elections in its 42 Robinson’s malls across the country.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said the poll body is considering mall elections to “enhance the voting experience and to speed up the voting process” for voters.

“I made a preliminary study in respect to these issues and what I’m told is that you can move precincts that are near the malls to vote within the malls. Instead of voting in a public school in the vicinity, we can transfer the polling precincts to the malls,” Bautista said during the opening of the satellite registration in Robinson’s Place Manila yesterday.