Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said he will push for “Go Manila,” a digital data infrastructure that is expected to solve the capital’s lack of reliable data as Manila advances to the final round of the 2021 Global Mayors Challenge.

Domagoso said he is “hugely honored” that Manila has been selected among Bloomberg Philanthropies' 50 Champion Cities.

Manila was among the eight cities in Asia-Pacific to advance to the final round of the 2021 Global Mayors Challenge which is an “innovation competition that identifies and accelerates the most ambitious ideas developed by cities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“On behalf of the more than two million residents of the City of Manila and indeed on behalf of every Filipino wherever they are in the Philippines or around the world for whom their national capital occupies an outsize role in their hearts and minds, we are hugely honored that Manila has been named as one of 50 select Champion Cities for the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2021 Global Mayor’s Challenge,” Domagoso said.

"This prestigious accolade belongs to every Manileno and every Filipino," he added.

Domagoso said the accolade will not make the city government to stop and just rest on its laurels.

"We don't stop here. We're committed to the next phase of the competition," he added.

The 50 selected cities, including Manila, will go through the final phase of the competition which is being held from June to October. During the four months, the finalists will have to “refine” their ideas or proposals with the help of experts from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Out of the 50, only 15 cities will get the grand prize of $1 million and “multi-year technical assistance” for the implementation of their respective ideas.

Manila proposed “Go Manila,” a digital data infrastructure that aims to solve the city's “lack of reliable data.”

“Go Manila” also aims to “upskill the city government and uplift Manila residents – particularly its poor – in a city-wide program of digital education, engagement, analytics, and opportunity while improving policies and programs for good governance.”

The city, in its proposal, also underscored that without comprehensive data infrastructure, the city will be “trapped in a cycle of under performance.”

“Through innovation – leveraging the best digital technologies, collecting and analyzing data no Philippine city has done before – Go Manila transforms not only how we govern and manage our capital city – but creates meaningful and positive 21st-century impacts for every Manileño. This is our challenge: to win our future and rejoin the roster of the world’s greatest cities,” Domagoso said.