During his 2nd State of the Nation Address last year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. emphasized that โdigitalization is the call of today; not of the futureโbut of the present. It is here. It is needed, and it is needed todayโ.
The government must fully embrace digitalization to provide better services to the people.
Given this, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has implemented programs and projects towards building a more inclusive and resilient digital nation.
๐ฃ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ธ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ผ: ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐
As part of its vision for a digitally inclusive Philippines, the DICT conducted the first leg of the Bayang Digital ang Bagong Pilipinas Regional Roadshow at the National University (NU) Clark campus in Pampanga last March 14 and 15.
The roadshow aimed to encourage citizens and the government to imbibe the principles of Bagong Pilipinas and fully embrace digitalization across governance, public service, industries, commerce, and lifestyle.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy underscored that the agency continues to bring its services closer to the people. It strives to link Filipinos to reliable and secure connectivity and provide tools and information on the responsible use of digital data.
โDigitalization is the way in order to make our country competitive worldwide. This is the way to breach the digital divide because when you have a digital divide, you have an economic divide, a gender divide, you have a generational divide, so we need to breach that. Thatโs what weโre doing in all these digitization efforts,โ he said.
Through the roadshow, the DICT actively engaged with the participants by listening to their concerns on how the government can become a relevant partner in their digital empowerment.
Those who participated in the roadshow were students, faculty members, women, programmers, government employees, local government officials, parents, and other stakeholders.
Offices including the Cybersecurity Bureau; Government Digital Transformation Bureau; ICT Industry Development Bureau; ICT Literacy and Competency Development Bureau; National ICT Planning, Policy and Standards Bureau; e-Government Team; Free Wi-Fi for All Project Management Team; National Broadband Program; National Government Data Center; and the National Government Portal Project also set up interactive booths for the attendees.
Attached agencies of the DICT namely the National Privacy Commission and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center also joined the roadshow.
๐๐ผ๐ฏ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ธ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ผ: ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐
DICT proudly showcased Filipino-made programs during the roadshow. Among these is the eGov PH app that allows Filipinos to access government services online through a single platform.
โWith this app, you will have a government that does not sleep, it will be a 24/7 governmentโฆ This is indeed transformative because through this app, instead of you having to go to the government offices to access government services, this brings government services to you right at your fingertips,โ Uy pressed.
By using the app, citizens may access their various government documents or their government contributions and benefits. It allows access to government services anytime and anywhere, from beginning a transaction and up to payment completion.
The app also contains the Electronic Local Government Unit system which offers local government services such as business permit licensing, notice of violations, notification system, community tax, business tax, and real property tax. It also lets users search jobs.
The National ID system has already been integrated into the app and can be accessed by the citizens.
๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ผ: ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐ง-๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ
DICT taught roadshow attendees how to avoid online harms and threats. The Cybersecurity Bureau and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center in particular gave techniques on how to protect themselves from scammers or phishing attempts.
The agency also provided training opportunities through the digitaljobsPH.
โWe will explore opportunities available for training and related courses through our digital jobs program for you to learn many other skills. On top of IT skills and digital programming, we will teach you digital marketing, entrepreneurship, and many others,โ Uy mentioned.
DICT also provided free WiFi during the duration of the roadshow.
Given this, NU President Renato Carlos Ermita Jr. expressed the universityโs willingness to collaborate with DICT. He also promised that the university will be a source of talent of learners and contributors towards the digital transformation of the country.
โWe strongly believe that this is part of future-proofing the country against everything: from risks to future threatsโฆ We have to make sure that our students are exposed to what is available and ethical, as a way of protecting them,โ he stated.
NU will continue to lay down the fundamentals of ethical digital practices to its students as a springboard for development in the future.
The Philippinesโ quest towards digitalization will bridge the gap between the government and the people. It will set forth a nation which fully embraces digitalization under the Bagong Pilipinas. (PIA 3)
