IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

While some larger agencies operate their own data centres, smaller agencies “don’t have that luxury” and would benefit from a consolidated data hub, said Denis Villorente, Director, Advance Science & Technology Institute, Department of Science & Technology, the Philippines.

“If we had more computing capacity, gone would be the reason why there’s little data sharing between government and the public,” said Villorente. “It’s a chicken and egg situation.”

The system, called electronic Transparency and Accountability Initiative for Lump Sum Funds (eTAILS), digitizes the processing of lump sum funds and supports the timely disclosure of lump sum fund release information on the DBM website (www.dbm.gov.ph).

The module for the priority development assistance fund has been rolled out during the initial phase of eTAILS project.

Monchito was the guest speaker at the e-Government seminar organised by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). He shared with the audience CICT's vision of a society where citizens have access to ICT providing sustainable economic development, efficient government service, quality education, and a better way of life.

The Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology (DOST) launched a Free Wi-Fi Internet Access project during the National Science and Technology Week activities held in Manila on 24 July.

Initially planned for rural communities only, the project budget was increased by the Senate to 3 billion pesos (US$66 million) to include public schools and libraries, state universities and colleges, parks, rural health units and government hospitals, light rail transit stations, airports and seaports, city and municipal halls, and national government offices.

According to NAMRIA Administrator Peter Tiangco, through the strategic planning project, NAMRIA has found its “True North”, which is a vision of a geospatially empowered Philippines by 2020.

US$31.6 million to connect 997 cities to free Wi-Fi.

The Philippines plans to roll out free Wi-Fi to nearly 1000 cities by November, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has said.

This week it tendered for the PHP 1.408 billion (US$31.6 million) project to set up Wi-Fi hotspots in 997 cities.

Together with the telecom firm, Smart communications, DOH will implement the programme called Secured Health Information Network and Exchange (Shine) to boosts the efficiency of healthcare delivery by cutting down the time spent in repetitive documentation of patient data in Iloilo city.

The programme will also aid in recording consultations, filling up and sending of referral acknowledgement and feedback forms, searching for health care specialists or facilities.

Discussing progress made in the agency’s goal to bring ICT to communities, Chairman of Philippine Community eCenter (CeC) Network, Dr Angelo Ramos, told delegates at the FutureGov Forum in Manila that there were many obstacles in the rollout.

“Connectivity is still a challenge for the country especially in providing internet or broadband access to municipalities.”

The project is funded by the Millennium Challenge Account – Philippines (MCA-P), an office of the independent US foreign aid agency created to help developing nations in their fight against poverty by way of implementing strategic threshold programmes.

"If we are able to connect each person in the archipelago through broadband, for example, we would be able to provide quality education even to those in the most distant barrios," Angara said during his recent keynote address at the 1st International Conference on Open and Distance E-Learning (ICODEL).

"We must maximize telehealth potential and adopt international telehealth standards," said Senator Edgardo Angara, in his keynote address read at the first "eHealth & Telemedicine Philippines 2009" conference and exhibition which opened yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Galleria in Quezon City.

GSIS administers a pension fund for Filipino government employees that have the following social security benefits: compulsory life insurance, optional life insurance, retirement benefits, and disability benefits for work-related accidents and death benefits. The GSIS also offers government employees financial services such as loans.

The ASP model may allow impoverished municipalities to start their own computerization initiatives without spending much on hardware and software components.

The IDC hopes to serve as a central repository of digitally encoded information for all government offices.

As a result of the "E-governance for Municipal Development (eGov4MD)" project, municipal officials have agreed to share skills and resources in the development of e-governance systems.

They have also agreed to pool finances to build a community of technical professionals who will assist local government units in implementing e-governance projects.