President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has tasked the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to enable local government units (LGUs) to adapt to the e-government system as part of the government's digitalization initiative.

DIGITALIZATION EFFORTS - President Marcos meets officials from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in Malacañang on May 23, 2023, to discuss the country's digitalization efforts. (Malacañang photo)

Marcos said this in a sectoral meeting with DICT officials regarding its pending projects and cybersecurity concerns in Malacañang on Tuesday, May 23.

During the meeting, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy explained to the President that with the system, the local governments would save a lot of money and boost income generation.

In response, President Marcos said LGUs should start adapting to the new system.

"Let's capacitate our LGUs so they can adapt to the system," he said.

In addition, the President directed the DICT to conduct regular upgrades as this was the essence of digitalization.

"It all boils down to that. That's really the essence of digitalization. Let's be sure that we are able to upgrade this system," Marcos told Uy.

"Set it up to get them (LGUs) ready so they know how to operate it," he added.

The e-Gov system, announced by the DICT in December last year, includes the e-Gov Super App. This platform ensures the digitalization of government systems in the Philippines, including LGUs.

Included in the government's e-Government Priority Projects include:

• Centralizing government cloud services
• e-Report, for citizens' feedback and complaints
• e-Gov App, which will integrate all government services into one platform
  
  

The e-Gov Super App is set to be launched early next month.

Aside from the e-Government Priority Projects, DICT's Priority Initiatives include:

• Broadband ng Masa
• National Broadband Plan (NBP)
• Free Public Internet Access Program
• National Government Data Center (NGDC)
• Enhancing ICT competency through upskilling and reskilling
  
  

In 2022, the Philippines ranked 71st out of 131 economies in the global Network Readiness Index, a significant jump from the 85th ranking in 2021 due to good performance on e-commerce legislation, high-tech exports, and ICT services exports.