The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), together with the University of the Philippines Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry (UP TCAGP), has launched a new system to improve governance and public services in the country.
Called the Smart Metro or the Modern Geospatial and Collaborative Solutions for the Development of Smart Regions, the system aims to address issues on disasters and emergency responses, traffic, mobility, land use, flooding, health and environmental concerns, and economic planning.
The system was launched during an event held in Iloilo City on April 17.
The system has four platforms: Connect, which is used for citizens to report issues directly through mobile phones; Command, which is used for local government units to receive reports, track issues, and monitor responses; Collab, which is used for sharing tasks and announcements within LGUs; and Codex, a data and mapping platform that supports better city planning and data-based decision-making.
The system was developed by the UP TCAGP in partnership with the Metro Iloilo–Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) and DOST Region 6.
DOST-PCIEERD funded the project, amounting to P28 million.
Through Smart Metro, UP TCAGP will implement the system across multiple LGUs, with varying levels of technological readiness, to test how it can work under diverse needs and local conditions.
Among the LGUs that are set to implement the project are Iloilo City, Zamboanga City, Bayugan City, Cabanatuan City, Leganes, Oton, Pavia, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara towns in Iloilo, and Guimaras province.
According to Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum, the DOST is now creating a support mechanism to “catapult and accelerate smart city initiatives in the Philippines.”
“To govern such a nation has always required not only vision but also the ability to see clearly across these distances, and to act with a shared understanding. Today, we are given new ways of doing exactly that,” said Solidum.
Dr. Czar Jakiri Sarmiento of project Smart Metro said that the new system is not just a technology project, but a governance ecosystem built through consultation, collaboration and actual local government needs.
PCIEERD Deputy Executive Director and Officer-in-Charge Niñaliza Escorial said that they see Smart Metro as part of a “broader movement toward innovation-enabled development nationwide.”
“In this sense, today’s launch is not only a celebration of a completed project milestone. It is also a model, a learning platform, and a signal of what is possible when research is designed with utilization in mind,” Escorial said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Red Mendoza
Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: The Manila Times, 30.04.2026
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