IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Exerting and maintaining control over a vast maritime area is not an easy job. To better cope with the vagaries and challenges, the Philippine Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is deploying a host of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has implemented the Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System (IMEMS) Project. The initiative aims to enhance the government’s capability in the monitoring, control, and surveillance system over its maritime domain while intensifying the campaign against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Around the world, information and communication technologies are transforming the teaching and learning processes. Virtual learning environments are one of the most widely used technologies in universities today. According to literature, the incorporation of any technology into an organisation will have an impact on the various groups within it. As a result, there are numerous theories about how the implementation process should be carried out to adapt the community to the new system.

Even before the digital revolution, various theories about how technology would transform teaching and learning had been proposed. Over the last thirty years, key inventions such as interactive whiteboards, the World Wide Web, Windows ’95 – which encouraged the adoption of the home computer, smartphones, and mobile applications – have been in the spotlight. Each of these technological breakthroughs was expected to alter the face of education as we knew it.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Samar has committed P1.5 million (US$ 27,000) in technical assistance to support Catbalogan City’s transformation into a smart and sustainable city. The funding will be used for a four-year project that seeks to integrate technology and innovative solutions across various sectors, ultimately improving public services and addressing future urban challenges.

The initiative focuses on leveraging technological advancements to enhance sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, resource security, public safety, disaster preparedness, and climate change mitigation.

Almost 20 years later, the bigger an organization is, the more likely it is to embrace e-commerce. However, majority in the business community still has not embrace it – from doing corporate purchases, receiving sales and making online payments to suppliers.

Some people in business do not recognize that they are doing e-commerce at all. This is especially true for those who define e-commerce in a limited manner – only when there is online payment via credit card.

The Philippines still lacks a mechanism to protect Filipinos from cyber attacks and thus a Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) is necessary.

Kent Primor, junior fellow at the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, said among the ASEAN 6, the Philippines is the only country left without a cabinet level ICT department.

"If we're talking about traditional security, we're not prepared. How much more with cyber security? Essentially because we lack the mechanism, we lack the framework to protect us from all these cyber threats and risks. So I think we should be able to set up a mechanism that would protect us," he said in an interview on Mornings@ANC.

This new umbrella program maximizes the effect of Information Communications Technology (ICT) to improve the Filipinos’ quality of life and spur economic growth, declared Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario G. Montejo.

Philippine government agencies are required to supply one per cent of their budgets to the E-Government Fund, which is worth around 1 PHP billion (US$22 million). “But this is not happening”, Ibrahim told a room of 130 delegates at the Pan Pacific Hotel. “Our budget should be more like PHP 12 billion (US$273 million),” he said.

The EGF, which was created to implement e-government projects and to provide financing for high priority inter-agency systems, is being used to support economic development, fight corruption, improve fiscal management, healthcare and agricultural productivity.

If you combine fifth generation (5G) technology with artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML), it would become a formidable force in developing smart and sustainable cities through improved connectivity, real-time data processing, and seamless IoT integration.

With extremely fast data transfer and low latency, Daniel Ode, head of Swedish telecommunication giant Ericsson in Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei, told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview that 5G enables real-time communication and decision-making, crucial for applications like traffic management, public safety, and health care. “It supports a high density of connected devices, facilitating comprehensive data collection and predictive analytics for efficient resource management,” says Ode.

This is part of the Department of Science and Technology’s nationwide project to improve internet connectivity, so that citizens can benefit from e-government services in the long run, Undersecretary Louis Casambre told FutureGov in a separate interview.

The Philippines now has a Department of Information and Communications Technology. It actually came as a surprise to many when President Aquino signed Republic Act 10844 creating the Department on May 23, over a month after his term ended.

A separate ICT department never had the support of the President. In numerous occasions, President Aquino reiterated that he saw no need for such, and that his administration would not support any move to create an added layer of bureaucracy.

According to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., state offices have been directed to source all their common-use supplies directly from the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management or from its regional depots throughout the country.

In Brief

• Blockchain could power smart cities.
• Cryptocurrencies may become the medium of exchange in smart cities.
• Digital Pilipinas aims to tech up the country one city at a time.

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies could help develop smart cities in the Philippines, says an industry panel.

Amor Maclang, the convenor of Digital Pilipinas and the World Fintech Festival, was speaking at the launch of the Digital Pilipinas Innovative Cities initiative.

The pandemic has highlighted the vital role of digital ecosystems in the efficient delivery of services as demand for connectivity rises.

Many brick-and-mortar stores and offices that failed to adapt to the digital world struggled, or even shuttered during the pandemic, while those that turned online found themselves viable, and others, thrived.

On Nov. 7, SGV Clark successfully launched the inaugural publication of Doing Business in Clark: 2023 Edition to key officers of Clark-based organizations, such as the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and Clark Development Corp. (CDC), representatives of embassies, as well as the Clark business community. The publication is an iteration of SGV’s Doing Business in the Philippines brochure series, which highlights the excellent investment opportunities in the country and in various localities.

Clark, which rose from the ashes of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption and became a prime investment destination in the Philippines, is composed of the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) and Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ). Clark is further subdivided into four main districts: the CFZ, Clark International Airport, Clark Global City, and New Clark City (NCC). Administered by the BCDA and CDC, Clark has registered more than a thousand export and domestic market enterprises in manufacturing, information technology and business process management (IT-BPM), aviation, logistics and tourism sectors, among others. The CDC has disclosed on its website that it is a home to key investors from South Korea, the US, Australia, and Japan.

“Cloud technology provides the greatest opportunity for our team because it provides a cost-effective solution for our expanding database. For the next 12 months, we plan to virtualise our seven servers,” he said.

Project NOAH, the Philippines’ key disaster risk reduction and management system which was launched in 2012, has won an IDC award for the top smart city initiative in public safety at the analyst firm’s Smart City Asia Pacific awards (SCAPA).

For the awards, IDC Government Insights conducted a six-phase benchmarking exercise that involved identifying and cataloguing the key projects, online voting for public opinion, and assessment of an international advisory council.

In an interview with CICT chairman Ivan John Uy in Radyo ng Bayan’s Talking Points, Sec. Uy said that the e-Governance project of the agency will serve as the online gateway to all government information and services. As such, the portal could be used by the public (even those in remote areas) as a one-stop shop where they could access information and conduct fast transactions with the government.

The conference, which convened more than 300 participants coming from the national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), research and academic institutions, international donor agencies and other development stakeholders, provided an opportunity to discuss and share recent developments in line with the implementation and applications of the community-based monitoring system in the country.

The national telehealth systems (NTS) will connect hospital-based medical specialists and patients in remote and isolated areas in the country where access to quality medical specialty care is low. This in turn will reduce unnecessary travels and hospitalizations of patients by connecting them to the medical specialists right away. It will also promote stronger local partnerships both for patients and medical practitioners.