The initiative, dubbed “Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders”, was launched on Thursday at the CICT office in Quezon City, with top executives from the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Center for Information and Communications Technology for Development (UNAPCICT) attending the event.
The National Computer Institute (NCI), the training arm of the CICT, will implement the program in partnership with UNAPCICT. About 100 government officials from all over the country attended the launch and kick-off seminar about the program. Top officials of PC maker RedFox Technologies, which provided the equipment at the CICT lab, were also present.
The IT training initiative is a flagship program of the UNAPCICT, a regional institute of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which was founded in 2006 and based in Incheon, South Korea.
The program is a comprehensive ICT for development (ICTD) curriculum aimed at equipping government officials and development stakeholders with the knowledge and tools to fully leverage ICT solutions for development.
Dr. Hyeun-Suk Rhee, director of UNAPCICT/ESCAP, said that there is a need to equip high and mid-level government officials to ensure present and future development goals of government to be realized.
“By building human and institutional capacity for the use of ICT, APCICT aims to strengthen the efforts of member countries to achieve their socio-economic development goals,” said Hyeun.
Hyeun pointed out that, at present, the success rate of ICT projects in the government is only 15 percent globally. She attributed the low percentage to the lack of understanding and use of ICT in enhancing poverty alleviation and human development programs in governments.
Hyeun said that most of the time, project implementers do not know the proper technology to use and how to maintain the system. She stressed that without the requisite skills, knowledge, and understanding of the use ICT, such goals will be difficult to realize.
The need for forward-thinking policy makers and ICT capable government officials and development professionals is indisputable in the success rate of IT implementation, added Hyeun.
According to Anshuman Varma, program officer of UNAPCICT/ESCAP, the academy covers an extensive range of ICT related topics from basic to technical principles of ICT applications.
Varma said the program currently has eight modules, but two new additional modules are now in the final stages of development.
The eight modules are:
- linkage between ICT applications and meaningful development;
- ICT for development policy, process and governance;
- e-government applications; trends
- for government leaders;
- Internet governance;
- network and Information security and privacy;
- ICT project management in theory and practice;
- and options for funding ICT for development.
The two new modules are focus on ICT disaster risk management and on climate change, green growth, and sustainable development. The additional modules will be the Philippines’ contribution to the academy program and will be included and adopted by member countries of the ESCAP.
Varma explained that the modules are stand-alone yet interlinked and can be offered via face-to-face and or online distance learning platform. Each training module works through its designated subject matter in a pedagogical manner, inclusive and participatory, to provide a sound and practical understanding of ICT within a variety of development contexts. It is also designed to have the flexibility to address local needs.
Initially, the NCI will facilitate the training of “trainers” of the program and will rollout the programs to regions, state universities, and colleges and among government institutions and agencies in the Philippines.
Juli Ana Sudario, OIC and deputy managing director of the National Computer Center (NCC), explained that even if the program is not mandatory for government personnel, the NCC will push for its adoption to government agencies, especially those who are tasked in meeting the country’s millennium development goals (MDGs).
Sudario said that the utilization of the program is a must for the government to meet the targets of the MDGs which have become the standard of international development efforts in measuring the progress and effectiveness of development programs.
“The academy is a game changer. It is transformational because it is designed to promote and strengthen institutional managerial capacities which are significant in assuring sustainable and equitable socio-economic development,” said CICT chair Ivan Uy.
Uy said the program will be helpful in setting the direction and strategies towards a transparent and effective delivery of public service, adding that NCI and other partners of the program are committed to help facilitate and provide efficient ICT trainings to promote ICT expertise in the country and human capital to support the government’s thrust on good governance.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jane Tadili
Quelle/Source: Newsbytes Philippines, 26.03.2011
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