eLGU project starts to lift off the ground

By melvin G. calimag, manila bulletin

When RA 8792, known as the E-commerce Law, was passed in 2000, it mandated all agencies of government to use electronic means in government transactions within two years. Three years after the deadline, it is not clear if the agencies concerned have sufficiently complied with the provision of the law.

But while Manila-based bureaus have yet to make significant strides in digitizing their functions, local government units (LGUs) in the countryside are staging a quiet revolution in their attempt to make electronic transactions a real part of their everyday business.

This momentum was primarily triggered by a program called eLGU (Jumpstarting Electronic Governance in Local Government), an initiative of the National Computer Center (NCC) in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology.

Two components under the program — the Development of E-Government Applications for LGU and the Community eCenter project — are aimed at building up the technological capability and access for the municipalities and the rural folks.

At a recent opening of a Community eCenter in Lubao, Pampanga, these initiatives have started to make its presence felt for the town and its people. The mayor, Dennis Pineda, said the municipality is almost done in converting its paper records to a computerized database.

"We started in January but it’s taking some time because it is a manual process of inputting all our records into the database. But once we finished this, we expect to have a smooth sailing from thereon," said the youthful official, a scion of the ruling Pineda clan.

The database, when completed, would be used to facilitate transactions for Real Property Tax System (RPTS), Business Permits and Licensing System (BPLS), and Treasury Operations Management System (TOMS) — information systems that are revenue-generating in nature.

"We’re eager to implement this program as this would allow us to become proactive in collecting real estate taxes and other fees instead of us waiting for people to come to the municipal to pay their dues," he said.

Pineda said a private software company has offered the same applications for R10 million to R15 million. "We saved that amount because the applications were given to us — and to all municipalities — for free."

But if the e-government applications were meant to "efficiently burden" the people with various fees, the Community eCenter is intended to give them access to various services, particularly Internet connectivity.

Officials from Intel Microelectronics Philippines, led by John Antone, general manager of Intel Asia Pacific, helped launched the eCenter as the chip giant is a partner of the NCC in the initiative.

Intel is providing substantial aid in setting up the eCenters by giving PCs and taking care of distance learning and on-line services as well as other kinds of services and information relevant to the community.

NCC provides each CeC with at least three computer units, a 4-in-1 package consisting of a scanner, printer, facsimile machine and a copier, one Web camera and LAN peripherals. The LGU, as a counterpart, provides the area where the CeC is housed, Internet connection and fixtures needed in the eCenter as well as the staff.

Currently, there are 45 Community eCenters throughout the country, most of them located in "digitally excluded" areas where access to technology is limited. The plan is to put up seven eCenters per region, or at least one in every town, by 2010