(DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy / File photo from the DICT)
QUEZON CITY, (PIA) --In line with the directive of the President, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) spearheaded various digitalization initiatives that are geared towards the improvement of the country's overall internet network connectivity.
In his second State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said his administration is putting emphasis on nationwide connectivity and digitalizing the delivery of essential government services.
“Digitalization is the call of today, not the call of the future, but of the present. It is here. It is needed, and it is needed today. Government must fully embrace digitalization to provide better service to the people, through its vital frontline services and its back-end functions,” said President Marcos said during the 2nd State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
“Consistent with this transformative policy direction, all government offices must then ensure that their vital services are digitalized immediately,” the President added.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy laid out the range of the department’s internet infrastructure projects that further strengthened the ease of doing business thrust during the post-SONA briefing on Tuesday, July 25
These primarily include the establishment of more common tower infrastructures in partnership with the Anti-Red Tape Authority and telecommunication companies (telcos) from the private sector partners which aided in the increase of the capacity of data centers to deploy connectivity.
Major telcos as well as electricity providers in the country convened last May 19, 2023, to map out the energization processes for telco tower infrastructures amid the anticipated expiration of Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 1 s. 2020 and its revised version that provided simplified procedures to expedite the issuance of permits.
(Telco Workshop for Process Mapping of Telco Towers' Energization)
In July 2023, President Marcos signed Executive No. 32 that anchors the streamlining of permitting processes and regulatory requirements for the construction of telecommunications infrastructure to accelerate the advancement of digital connectivity.
The local government units (LGUs), on the other hand, are also striving to replicate the digitalization efforts through the implementation of relevant programs that aim to reduce the instances of bureaucratic red tape.
Last May 30, 2023, the ARTA recognized seven (7) LGUs from the National Capital Region (NCR) in line with their establishment of Electronic Business One Stop Shop (E-BOSS) platforms to digitalize the business registration processes in their respective cities.
The Accelerating Reforms for Improved Service Efficiency (ARISE) award of ARTA was conferred to the city governments of Parañaque, Manila, Navotas, Valenzuela, Marikina, Muntinlupa, and Quezon City.
(DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy, ARTA Secretary Ernesto Perez, and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin with the ARISE awardees)
On a national level, the DICT meanwhile launched in June 2023 the ‘eGov PH Super App’ which integrates all the online services of the government into one single platform, enabling the public to make streamlined transactions using a citizen-centric application.
(The interface of the e-Gov Super App)
In terms of future prospects, the information and communications department is projecting to integrate the internet connection of North Luzon from Ilocos down to Quezon City towards the end of the year under the national broadband project, Broadband ng Masa, that expects to increase the network bandwidth or capacity by two (2) terabits.
Citing all these successes, the DICT is in great hopes that the Philippines can be an innovative country through the employment of data-driven decisions in terms of policy-making and good governance. (PIA-NCR)