The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has laid out its digitalization initiatives to maximize the transformative potential of digital technology and to ensure greater efficiency in the delivery of public services.
“Speaking from a budget perspective, we have fully embraced and are transitioning to digitalization as we are determined to have a more efficient and effective Public Financial Management system in the country. In fact, digital transformation is at the core of the department’s reform agenda,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a speech last week, as she shared the agency’s digitalization plans.
A Digital Transformation Roadmap, which promotes data governance and digitalization in fiscal-related government processes, will soon be launched, Pangandaman said.
This roadmap has a dual transformation feature that will future-proof the entire bureaucracy by institutionalizing all the digital reforms spearheaded by the DBM.
“In this roadmap, cybersecurity remains a paramount concern across various projects and initiatives from software development to infrastructure deployment. For software projects, implementing secure coding practices, regular code audits, and vulnerability assessments fortifies applications against potential threats. Meanwhile, employing strong access controls, encryption protocols, and intrusion detection systems adds layers of defense in infrastructure projects,” Pangandaman said.
The budget chief also discussed Project TINA, or the Technical Innovations in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) Application Project, which aims to resolve pain points across the Budget and Management bureaus, boost operational efficiency and actively promote the digital evolution of the NEP application.
“Through this project, we also aim to create a unified system that will automate the budget process between the Executive and the Legislative Branches of the national government,” Pangandaman said.
Meanwhile, the budget chief said Project Marissa provides an innovative strategy that uses blockchain technology to enhance the management of critical data, such as allotment release orders and other DBM records in public finances.
“Among its features are document tokenization to ensure immutability, tamper-proofing and reliable digital history; a hybrid blockchain ecosystem to address both privacy and transparency needs; a user-friendly interface for document verification and tracking; and a public-facing portal on the public blockchain to facilitate independent verification and promote citizens’ trust,” she said.
“We are also reviving Project DIME or the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation Project, a game-changing initiative that utilizes existing technologies such as satellites, drones and geotagging to compare fund utilization with actual project completion status for monitoring and evaluation of government projects while encouraging citizen dialogue,” she added.
This is especially useful for far-flung areas to ensure that infrastructure development is realized and adequate public service is delivered throughout the country, she noted.
“Further, in recognition of the potential of data analytics in shaping strategic decision-making and fostering innovation, we have the Budget Data Analytics Managed Services Project, which includes the creation of four vital government dashboards,” Pangandaman said.
These will focus on monitoring and analysis of the 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda; inflation for food and non-food items; aggregate allotment per departments, agencies and operating units; and financial performance, operational efficiency and compliance of government-owned and -controlled corporations.
“On a bigger scale, we will harmonize the policies and guidelines in the IT activities of the government through Project MITHI, or the Medium-term Information & Communications Technology Harmonization Initiative,” Pangandaman said.
“Likewise, we have been continuously lobbying and working for the passage of the Progressive Budgeting for Better and Modernized Governance Governance Bill, which aims to streamline the processes of delivering programs and services across all government offices through the integrated financial management information system,” she added.
This will institutionalize the Cash Budgeting System, alongside the Budget and Treasury Management System which shall serve as a centralized database for all government financial operations from purchase to payment and, in turn, allow for real-time transaction monitoring.
