MANILA -- The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has been focusing on improving the country’s connectivity and digitalization, which are among the top priorities of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

In a press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy said the DICT implemented several e-government projects in its digitalization thrust.

“One is the 'digital marketplace' in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), where we are deploying the online — basically a government e-commerce platform that will provide our MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) with the means to be able to join the e-commerce bandwagon,” Uy said. 

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, many brick-and-mortar businesses closed shop, while those who moved on to the digital platform survived and grew their business, Uy said, noting that they expect the trend to continue.

He added, the DICT’s goal is to increase e-commerce transactions, e-retail, as well as digital payment systems. 

“So we are working with the Bangko Sentral. We’re working with the various banks and payment platforms to provide digital banking services, as well as digital payment services most especially for the business sector MSMEs using the e-commerce platform as well as access of government services,” Uy said.

The department is also addressing connectivity in the country, Uy said, adding this year, the DICT connected many remote islands all over the country, including those in the mountainous regions in both Northern and Central Luzon and in the Bicol Region.

The connections were set up as far as Kalayaan Island, Uy said, stressing that people in those remote locations are now able to communicate directly with the rest of the country, as of today. 

The DICT, he said, is going to pursue a more aggressive implementation of the Broadband ng Masa Program of the President by connecting several thousands more of those connections in the GIDA (geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas).

Uy said the DICT presented to President Marcos its accomplishments for the last six months and also its programs for next year during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. 

Most of the discussions dealt with the primary mandates of the department, which the President mentioned in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) a few months ago. (OPS-PND)