BAGUIO CITY – The Summer Capital is now officially into digital governance and no-contact transactions after Mayor Benjamin Magalong, and John Paul Miranda, president of the Pampanga- based Information Technology Business Solutions Corporation (ITBS), inked a pact, ushering in a multipurpose smart phone app and web portal that would make entering into government transactions as easy as a touch of a finger.
Dubbed “Smart Baguio City in My Pocket” (Smart City), the app offers quick-access solutions to local government information and transactions; and, emergency and calamity notifications.
Smart City will be launched after concerned city offices and the barangays have been trained on the management of the app.
Magalong explained that the new technology will rationalize management of basic city services, enhance monitoring of peace and order, and facilitates the delivery of a wide-array of government services to residents, among others.
He said, that while the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) still poses a threat, Smart City will be a medical self-assessment and reporting tool, and will provide quick access to emergency services, and become a contact-tracing tool, all of which are designed to prevent spread of the virus once carriers are identified.
It will also keep a record of all Baguio locals for purposes of better delivery of needed government, medical, peace keeping and police services, while giving residents real-time interaction with the local government in promoting participatory governance.