A digital and globally competitive nation by 2040?
Information and Communications Technology Anna Mae Lamentillo said the DICT is working hand in hand with other government agencies to attain a shared goal: to make the Philippines a “prosperous middle class and globally competitive society” by 2040.
“We are creating and implementing both mid-term and long-term plans for digital transformation across government sectors through improved interoperability and collaboration across the government ecosystems,” said Lamentillo in a business forum on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
In order to achieve this ultimate goal, the national government continues to improve the following: digitalization, e-governance, and cybersecurity.
On digitalization
Committed to its goal of ending the so-called “digital divide,” DICT doubled its efforts of providing free mobile and internet services to Filipinos, especially those living in remote areas.
“e are aggressively implementing key programs such as the BroadBand ng Masa Program, which provides free Wi-Fi sites in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.; the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure, which will increase total government capacity to 2,000,000 Mbps in the next six years; and the establishment of the National Government Data Center,” said Lamentillo.
In 2023 alone, the department seeks to finish the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure’s Phase 1 while targeting the launch of at least 15,834 free Wi-Fi sites across the country, believing that this will pave the way for “improved public access” to ICT-related services.
On e-governance
The agency is also pushing for an “efficient,” and “anti-red tape,” administration, which according to Lamentillo, is only going to be achieved through e-governance.
“We have initiated the eGov SuperApp – a single application that any Filipino citizen would ever need to avail of virtually all local and national government services,” she said.
Apart from this initiative, the national government has piloted the Integrated Local Government, a system that enables end-to-end business registration with local government units (LGUs). Through this, communications between government and citizens will be more efficient.
Faster government transactions, processes, and services may also be expected.
On cybersecurity
Cybersecurity will not be omitted in the talks for digital transformation. In a Laging Handa public briefing, Lamentillo said cybersecurity is a cross-cutting issue that affects all Filipinos.
Knowing its relevance, the DICT is crafting a new cybersecurity plan that aims to protect the country from the increasingly complex threats in cyberspace. In line with this, the newly-implemented SIM Registration Law also seeks to curb cybercrimes such as mobile phishing and text scams.
Overall, the ICT systems will open the doors to countless opportunities. This, as explained by Lamentillo, is one of the reasons why the DICT is doing its best to ensure that “no citizen is left behind” and that everyone benefits from a fully digitized government.