The Department of Agriculture (DA) has issued a special order (SO) creating support groups for the implementation of the agriculture sub-sector indicators system (ASSIST) project.
SO No. 1061 series of 2023 signed by Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban on August 29 will empower the establishment of the ASSIST project that aims to generate and organize relevant and real-time data on various parameters crucial for informed decisions on policy making, planning and support to various activities and interventions in the sector.
The issuance also creates a steering committee, technical working group (TWG), information and communication (ICT) support group and secretariat for the project to address issues and challenges related to supply, demand and prices of agricultural and fishery commodities,
The SO added that ASSIST is being arranged to develop and establish a data repository system with advanced analytics where the identified data holdings and information of concerned DA agencies and other sources are gathered and organized into a cohesive system.
The DA added it is designed to make informed decisions to sustain the development of a sub-sector or priority commodities to optimize resource allocation in order to achieve higher yields as well as contribute to supply chain efficiency and transparency to provide better prices and fair access to markets and generate valuable insights that can be shared to farmers, fisherfolk and policymakers.
The SO said the steering committee will set the strategic direction and goals to support the organization’s data management and decision-making needs while also implementing governance policies, procedures and framework for ASSIST.
The TWG will be focused on establishing and maintaining governance policies, procedures and framework for the project while also determining required resources, including budget, workforce, technology and infrastructure, among others.
The ICT group will then handle the provision of assistance and technical support in the review of datasets for standardization, integration and report generation as well as capacity-building activities in support of the project and the identification of technology requirements.
The SO said tthe technical secretariat will act as an overall facilitator of project activities as well as provide administrative and technical support by coordinating the conduct of meetings, workshops, training, invitations and related events as required, aside from preparing and keeping of reportorial requirements.
