Small municipalities get big brother support in ICT

By edison d. ong, MB

Least prioritized municipalities in the country can expect support from their big brother counterparts in the field of computerization and e-Governance.

The assurance was made at the recently held LeGoV (Local eGovernment Ventures) Conference 2005 at the Heritage Hotel. It was funded by the Small Projects Facility of the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP).

The LeGoV conference jumpstarted the availment of local government units of information and communication technology "by setting them up with funding, hardware, software, and peopleware providers, as well as partnering them with more advanced LGUs, in terms of ICT development," said Antonio Kalaw Jr., officer-in-charge of DAP.

He said it aimed to help the so-called "least prioritized" municipalities of the country in computerization and understanding local eGovernance and its benefits.

He narrated that aside from the on-going "Jump-starting e-Governance in LGUs" with the National Computer Center, DAP, this year held the LeGoV conference to promote not just awareness, "but more importantly, adopting eGovernment among local communities.

As early as the 1980s, DAP has been assisting government agencies automate their business processes through interventions such as software development and IT training. Also in the 1980s, DAP even envisioned to establish and manage a sister educational institution on ICT which was then referred to as Network for Information and Computer Education.

"DAP is an advocate of the open source technology for software development primarily because of practical considerations," he said. "Our internal Financial Management Information System and Human Resource Information Systems were developed and are running using the open source technology," he said.

"When fully developed, we intend to sell later the FMIS and HRIS template as a product, our humble contribution to e-Governance," he continued.

Local government executives and representatives who attended were given a Starter ICT Library Kit, which is a compilation of all presentations, ICT materials, and recent legislations in relation to e-Government and LGUs in general, in both hard and soft copy.

For continuity, too, they were encouraged to participate in the LeGoV Marketplace (small, focused meetings to network potential partners in the government and private sectors across the country) and use the LeGoV Portal.

The highlight of the three-day conference is the LeGoV Marketplace where more than 300 local executives and municipal IT officers were given the opportunity to meet with ICT hardware, software and peopleware providers, as well as practitioners/experts.

Angano Mayor Gerardo Calderon, secretary-general of League of Municipalities in the Philippines, said "Since the passage of the E-Commerce Act of 2000, we have come a long way in terms of raising our awareness on the value of ICT in local governance."

He added, "The League of Municipalities is in fact, using the power of ICT to intensify our services to our members. The LMP uses the Wintext technology to spread-up our communication not only with our members but also with our partners.."

He said that they are targeting a 100 percent compliance with ICT by all municipalities in two years.