The Valenzuela City government launched on Tuesday, Feb. 21, the "DotBot," a Facebook Messenger chatbot for applicants of social welfare services in the city.
“Isa po sa suliranin natin dito sa city hall ay ang mahabang mga pila, kaya naman po pinapakilala ko sa inyo si DotBot, ang bagong state-of-the-art project natin sa CSWD Office para maging paperless na ang CSWD Office at mabawasan ang pila dito sa munisipyo (One of our problems here in the city hall are the long lines, that is why I am excited to introduce to you DotBot, the latest state-of-the-art project under CSWD Office to make the transactions paperless and to lessen the queue here in the city hall)," Valenzuela City Mayor Weslie "Wes" Gatchalian said during the virtual launch on Tuesday.
DotBot is an artificial intelligence (AI) messaging platform on Facebook Messenger that residents can message through chat for CSWDO inquiries.
It is managed by four social workers who were trained for three months.
Roxanne Abadiez, a City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) officer, said the city started programming the DotBot in 2021 after noticing the inconvenience in the financial assistance application process.
The city government said the platform houses all the CSWDO information for application concerns, which will reduce the foot traffic inside the headquarters of CSWDO.
DotBot's logo was inspired by Valenzuela's CSWDO head Dorothy Evangelista.
The user-friendly chatbot was made through the partnership of the Valenzuela City local government and the New Zealand government.
It was first presented and discussed during the Philippines-New Zealand Government Innovation Exchange Showcase held at the Allied Evacuation and Emergency Response Team (ALERT) Center in Barangay Malinta, Valenzuela City last Sept. 13.
Among the services offered on Dotbot are medical, burial, and transportation assistance, application for indigency certificate, and social case study.
Gatchalian encouraged the Valenzuelanos to utilize the platform efficiently.
"Inaanyayahan ko po kayong gamitin ang makabagong teknolohiya para mas maging epektibo at mabilis pa ang serbisyo ng pamahaalaang lokal (I am inviting everyone to use DotBot to make our services more effective and efficient)," he said.