"It’s imperative that our country’s e-government platform be based on the open source (model)," declared Virgilio Peña, Chairman of CICT. The CICT is an interim body formed by President Arroyo in preparation for the eventual creation of a Department of Information and Communications Technology.
Because of the current fiscal situation in the Philippines, with the country facing a yawning government spending deficit, Peña believes that cost considerations will force the government to look again at the open source alternatives.
Although the government portal (www.gov.ph) is based on a Microsoft platform, Peña believes that open source computing could allow government agencies to deploy more services online at a reduced cost to public finances.
"If we could make e-government service a killer application in the same way that SMS has been to cellular phone technology, then we can increase the number of internet users in the country," said Peña.
The country has 25 million mobile phone users, but only 5 million internet users, according to official estimates.
Quelle: Public Sector Technology & Management, 30.08.2004
