IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Plans to make Pasig and Caloocan into “smart and sustainable” cities were turned over by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to their respective local governments on Monday.

The plans were created by technical working groups in collaboration with the Pasig and Caloocan governments to focus on science, technology and innovation (STI), DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said in his keynote address at the 2025 celebration of National Capital Region (NCR) Science, Technology and Innovation Week in Quezon City.

The social welfare department has proposed to use biometrics in areas where corruption has affected the beneficiaries of the government's poverty alleviation scheme that provides health and school allowances to poor school children, a senior official said.

"We are studying the cost of biometrics in Maguindanao where armed village leaders reportedly get a portion of the money being received by beneficiaries of the government's conditional cash transfer," said Social Worker Secretary Dinky Soliman, adding the proposal will help her department succeed in implementing the so-called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Programme (Bridging Needs of Filipino Family Programme).

PLDT, INC. will complete its data centers in Makati City and Clark, Pampanga by mid 2016 and will expand the Cebu facility as it targets to digitize government operations in the next administration.

“We’re doing the final touches for the completion of [the] Makati [data center]. It’s financial grade, good enough for banks. Clark is not very far behind,” PLDT Executive Vice-President Ernesto R. Alberto told reporters on the sidelines of Friday’s TechIsland 3.0 conference at Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila.

PLDT, Inc. said Thursday that it partnered with the Cavite local government through its business arm PLDT Enterprise and wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. for the rollout of a fiber network for the province’s digital roadmap towards becoming a “Smart City.”

“The PLDT Group is extending its support in laying the groundwork for Cavite’s vision of becoming a Smart City. We are delighted to commence this advancement which is a massive move for the development of Cavite,” PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement.

MITHI, which was launched in January this year, is designed to synthesize ICT operations among all government departments and agencies, as well as ensure the consistency of the government’s ICT platform with President Benigno S. Aquino III’s Social Contract with the Filipino People, DBM said.

Senator Grace Poe has filed a measure seeking to institutionalize e-governance to allow Filipinos to avail of government services without having to physically come and wait in line inside various agencies.

Poe filed Senate Bill 1683 or the proposed E-Government Act of 2020 in a bid to enable the public to file and receive personal claims or loans as well as business-related requirements with ease through an interconnected online government system.

In this time and age, almost all political parties have an extensive databank of voters’ names that they color code according to whose party each voter belongs. They would spend millions to update this databank periodically.

Even before the election, the data can already reveal their level of confidence in winning. The same data becomes very crucial in deciding whose votes to buy and what sitio or barangay should they allocate their budget to ensure victory. Seasoned politicians and political parties don’t leave anything by chance. There is simply too much at stake.

Lawyer John Paul Martin, city election officer, said the departure from the old manual process would decongest the Comelec offices of voters having their biometrics taken along with first-time registrants.

“The poll body is trying to avoid overcrowding during the deadline of registration this October,” he said.

City Comelec Election Officer II Ona dela Rosa said the last batch of voter's identification cards they distributed and turned over to different barangays were the 2003 IDs.

"We have no idea as to when Comelec Manila would resume the printing of new IDs. We just have to wait for any memorandum," dela Rosa said.

"(T)his bill intends to… assure that members of media, as citizens like us, are able to exercise their rights of suffrage," Senator Aquilino Martin "Koko" D. L. Pimentel III, electoral reforms and people’s participation committee chairman, said in his sponsorship on Wednesday of Senate Bill (SB) No. 1198, or the advanced voting for media personnel covering the elections.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary Eleazar E. Ricote served as a resource speaker at the workshop on “Exploring Strategic Collaboration Between Finland and the Philippines Through Smart Technologies in Smart City & Infrastructure” on October 24, 2024, at the Fairmont Hotel, Makati City. This workshop brought together stakeholders from both countries to discuss collaborative opportunities in infrastructure development, focusing on transportation and mobility advancements in the Philippines.

In his opening remarks, Asec. Ricote highlighted the role of PPPs in attaining the country’s developmental goals. He stressed the enactment of Republic Act No. 11966, or the PPP Code of the Philippines, as one of the main drivers of the Philippine government to expedite infrastructure development and economic growth in the country.

PRC chairman Teresita Manzala, in a news release posted, said that the PRC’s ‘e-Services’ is going full swing, enabling the agency to provide faster, more secur, and more cost-efficient frontline services to its clientele.

PRC chairman Teresita Manzala said the “e-Services’ is going full swing, enabling the agency to provide faster, more secure and more cost-efficient frontline services to its clientele.”

These include the online verification of rating, which allows examinees to check their rating or grade in any licensure examination; verification of eligibility system, which enables government entities to verify records of professionals; online verification of room assignment before and during licensure tests; confirmation of academic records from schools whose graduates are about to take the licensure tests; and professional card availability verification, which enables professionals to verify the availability of their PRC cards.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is expected to attend the National Information Communications Technology (ICT) Summit 2018 at the SMX Convention Center in SM Lanang, Davao City.

To be held on June 21 to 22. The National ICT Summit will gather around 700 delegates composed of government executives, ICT practitioners and stakeholders from the private sector. The summit holds the theme “Empowering the Filipino through Digital Transformation”

With the upcoming implementation of the Philippine Health Information Exchange (PHIE), private hospitals have committed to comply with the Data Privacy Act (DPA) of 2012 and are implementing data protection measures in their data processing systems to protect sensitive personal information of their patients.

This was revealed at the first general assembly of Data Protection Officers (DPO) of Private Hospitals.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. is keen on partnering with interested parties to develop the properties within the 360-hectare SM Smart City in Pasay City, according to its executive committee chairman Hans Sy Sr.

“It’s a five-year project. It started two years ago, so we still have three more years to go. When we say five years by that time, you’ll see some other structures going up,” Sy told reporters on the sidelines of the National Retail Association’s National Retail Conference and Expo 2024 at the SMX Convention Center on Friday.

Mayor Abby Binay ties up with Cisco to roll out more digitalization programs

From the time she was elected mayor of Makati in 2016, Abigail Binay has envisioned to transform the city—home to about 600,000 residents and a premier central business district with a daytime population of a few million people—into a “smart” city.

By this time, Binay thinks she is halfway through the digital roadmap. The fiber optic infrastructure for connectivity has been put in place since 2017, allowing the city to provide free internet to students.

A ;emorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the City Government of Baguio and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) was signed, paving way for the provision of free public Wi-Fi in the Summer Capital's establishments.

At the Baguio Convention Center, DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan Jr. reiterated the need for faster information and communication based system to give officials of local government units (LGUs) in Baguio City and the Cordillera Region the decision-making needed in approaching problems not only with the coronavirus pandemic but with other problems that may face an LGU.

The eGovernance award is conferred by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippine (NICP) on local government units for good governance, especially in using information and communication technology (ICT) in its day to day business.

Quezon City is set to host the Smart Sustainable Cities Summit scheduled 17-19 October 2018.

Mayor Herbert Bautista said, Quezon City was chosen to host the annual executive meeting for being an active member of the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization, an international organization of cities and local governments that pursues sustainable urban development based on e-Government and ICT.