By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines
July 5, 2010

Building the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry from the ground up, establishing a stable private and public sector relationship, and proving to the Filipino people that ICT can be an effective enabler for the government are just some of the legacies the Commission on ICT (CICT) is leaving behind, a commissioner remarked recently.

The CICT, created by virtue of Executive Order No. 269 signed by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004, is a transitory commission tasked to oversee ICT projects, policies, and agendas of the government.

The agency was meant to be a transition team that will precede the creation of a Department of ICT. Bills filed in the Congress to effect this measure, however, have failed to prosper.

Commissioners of the CICT are co-terminus with the President, which means the agency may be abolished because of lack of an enabling legislation for a full-blown department. The new Aquino government has not made any decision yet regarding this matter.

Still, Commissioner Monchito Ibrahim believes the commission was successful enough to effect change in the government, especially in terms of policy and projects. “We’ve proven that even if your budget is small, there are other ways of pushing your initiatives,” he said.

Ibrahim likewise touted the close ties the agency built with its main stakeholders, which he said is part of their projects’ success. “We’ve shown the other government [agencies] that there’s another model of making our agency more relevant, especially with our public-private partnership model,” he explained. “Everyone knows that BPA/P (Business Processing Association of the Philippines) sometimes hold office with us, and we also hold office with them, that’s how close we are.”

Though not largely credited for it, the commission was actually one of the enablers of the BPO industry in the Philippines by stimulating the ecosystem through economic grants and building infrastructure that encouraged foreign investment in the country.

Ibrahim, meanwhile, said he was hopeful the new administration would continue what the commission has already done. “I just hope they retain it, and hopefully strengthen CICT [further],” he related.

Still, he maintained, the creation of an ICT body is especially crucial if the administration wants to leapfrog other Southeast Asian neighbors in terms of economic development. “We need to look at ICT as an enabler for competitiveness and development. We need a single ICT body to actually move us to the global digital economy,” he reiterated.

ICT Stewardship
Establishing a central body to oversee ICT implementations in government is likewise the thrust of CIO Forum and the CIO Forum Foundation, groups of current and former government CIOs who have come together to fortify ICT’s relevance in the public sector.

Comparing the leadership of ICT to a conductor in a symphony orchestra, Toto Magsino, president and CEO of DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) Data Center, said during the first e-Governance Forum in the country that the need for someone to orchestrate ICT in government is a fundamental need to further growth.

“We need somebody up there in front orchestrating,” he explained. “You can have the best musicians, the best equipment, and the best score, but without someone leading the way, [you won’t get good results].”

Magsino, also the vice president of CIO Forum, said the recent automated elections showcased what ICT in government can do, and potentially what can be done better. “We need not just the hardware and the software, we also need to take into account the processes, the efficiencies, the rules, and the maintenance of the system,” he added.

Getting the Act Together
Ivan Uy, incumbent president of the CIO Forum Foundation, meanwhile said the government has to get its act together in pushing for ICT, especially now that each agency has its own IT projects.

“Currently, ICT projects in government are just like the Philippine archipelago—there are islands and silos of information that have to be pooled together,” he shared.

Uy, also a former CIO of the Supreme Court, added that the Philippines is an integrated nation, not just a bunch of islands, so the approach to ICT should be in a similar vein. “We need to deliver ICT as a single point. The agencies should be together, otherwise we lose our global competitiveness,” he said.

Leadership
“Leadership has everything to do with it,” remarked Esperanza Espino, current president of the CIO Forum, in reference to neighboring countries leapfrogging the Philippines in terms of economic development.

Espino cited the example of Singapore, which has a central body in the form of the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) laying out the roadmap for ICT in government. “In the IDA’s setup, the IT agenda is discussed in the cabinet level,” she shared. “That fact needs to be recognized [by the Philippine government], since we’re the only country in Southeast Asia that doesn’t have it on that level.”

Espino added that having an ICT champion who is accountable and in charge for all ICT is necessary, since “IT use among the population now is changing the ballgame, shifting from just simple automation of projects in government.”

“This is a leadership issue. We need a paradigm shift,” she stressed, adding that institutionalizing the ICT champion would ensure that projects would push forward even if there is a sudden or legislated change in government.

Updating the Roadmap
Newly elected President Benigno Aquino III won the elections on the premise of having a daang matuwid (straight road) towards governance, but Espino believes that in terms of ICT, an updated road is more necessary.

“The GISP (Government Information Systems Plan) is quite dated, it was drafted way back in 2000,” she explained. “It lacks components on priority listing and a timetable for implementation of the projects.”

The GISP is a framework for bringing public services closer to the people through the use of ICT, drafted under the administration of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Espina, calling the current GISP “a museum item” for its old age, said the plan needs a review and an implementing agency to deploy the projects contained in the draft. “We need to establish a leadership structure and a time-based roadmap that is sustainable [if we want to push for this],” she said. “There’s a lot of efficiency to be gained by simply centralizing our systems.”

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