The Philippines has been recognized by the United Nations' (UN) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for its free internet access program in Western Mindanao.
It received the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prize during the WSIS forum held in Geneva, Switzerland from May 30 to June 3.
The country was recognized for the “#FreeWifi4All Program for Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi (BASULTA)” project initiated by the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) under the Information and Communication Infrastructure Category.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the project provided connectivity to the entire BASULTA with 275 hotspots linked via the Zamboanga-Basilan Broadband Network.
It was able to provide two million residents of the region internet access for education and crisis communication services.
Director Maria Teresa Camba of the DICT accepted the award. She was joined by DICT Directors Evamay Dela Rosa, Cheryl C. Ortega, and Amelia Dean as well as Ambassador Evan Garcia and Jeffrey Valdez of the Philippine Mission in Geneva.
Last year, the “Enabling Teachers on Remote Learning in the Time of the Pandemic” project of the DICT and the University of the Philippines (UP) Open University was shortlisted as a “champion project” under the Capacity Building Category.
The World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2022 is the largest annual gathering of information and communications technology (ICT) for development community.
The WSIS Prize was developed as a mechanism to showcase projects that leverage ICT to advance sustainable development.
The ITU is the United Nations (UN) specialized agency for ICTs.