The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is accelerating the rollout of needed digital infrastructure and wireless broadband technologies
through its flagship Broadband ng Masa Program.
In a statement, Ivan Uy, DICT secretary, said the agency will prioritize the rollout in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
“We need to bring connectivity to all mountainous regions, island groups that the telcos have been hesitant in putting up those investments mainly because of economic considerations… so the government has to come in and bridge that divide by providing first mover connectivity in those areas. Hopefully, when we initially provide that connectivity, the economies in those areas will start improving and the population will start developing better utilization or use cases of that connectivity,” Uy said.
Uy has committed before Filipino and business leaders at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) general membership meeting that DICT will be implementing e-Governance initiatives to promote interoperability and facilitate ease of doing business in the country.
During his keynote address on May 17, Uy said the DICT has taken on a huge task of interconnecting government systems.
“Our people apparently transact a lot online, except with the government. You fall in line many times in order to transact [with] the government. So, we have the unenviable task of bringing all of these diverse, disconnected, silos of governance… What is common in all of them is that there is nothing common. Each of them adopted its own standards, their own data formats, and their own providers. So, we have to find a way of putting them together,” Uy said.
He also shared the strides that DICT has made in connectivity, cybersecurity and digital skills upskilling. – Myla Iglesias
