ICT Department pushed before Arroyo term ends

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) hopes that the bill that seeks to establish the Department of ICT will be approved before the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ends next year.

CICT commissioner Monchito B. Ibrahim said that this direction has to be implemented before the Arroyo term ends, in order to continue the projects and programs being started by the Commission.

The bill that seeks to establish the Department of ICT is still pending in the Senate, which was transmitted to the Upper House after the House of Representatives approved it August last year.

The CICT was created in 2004 as a transitory measure to a DICT (Department of ICT) but five years have passed, and this has yet to become a reality.

“Hopefully, before the end of this administration, the CICT will become a Department of ICT,” Ibrahim said.

   Ibrahim said the ICT industry will expect more support from the government, in case the bid to make the Commission a Department will be pursued.

“This will put more ‘teeth’ for the government to pursue ICT programs, and put as in the same level as other developed countries,” he said.

In Asia, the Philippines is the last remaining country, of which the ICT support agency is not yet established in the ministry level.

Despite this, the Philippines is still leading in terms of ICT growth in Asia, “how much more if we become institutionalized.”

In an earlier interview with CICT secretary Ray Roxas-Chua III he expressed apprehension that the Commission would be abolished when a new President assumes office after the 2010 elections.

Roxas-Chua said that the bill that seeks to establish the Department of ICT is still pending in the Senate, which was transmitted to the Upper House after the House of Representatives approved it in August last year.

“The passage of the bill will ensure the sustainability of the CICT’s programs. While we are still hopeful that it can be passed, time is quickly running out and campaign season is just around the corner,” Roxas-Chua said.

At present the CICT functions under an executive order issued by President Arroyo.

Roxas-Chua pointed out that considering the size and importance of the ICT industry in the country, it “makes no sense” for the country to be among the four countries in Southeast Asia that do not have a department or ministry for ICT.

Aside from the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar also do not have a DICT.

If the Senate will not be able to pass the DICT bill, Roxas-Chua feared several projects of the CICT will be put on hold, or worse will not materialize.

These projects include iSchools, which aims to improve the computer literacy of high school students.

Under the program, CICT will provide all public high schools computer laboratories—equipped with computers that have Internet connections—by 2010. Priority will be given to next wave cities for the ICT industry.

Based on the CICT’s latest data, Roxas-Chua said 360 computer laboratories out of 640 laboratories have been established so far.

Another project, the eSkwela, targets out-of-school youth and adults as beneficiaries of an alternative computerized learning system. One of the pilot sites for this project is the Tejero Elementary School in Cebu City.

Likewise, Roxas-Chua is also pushing for the passage of another bill that will provide the legal and regulatory framework that will ensure data privacy and provide penalties against those who will breach data security.

If approved, the data privacy law is also expected to boost the ICT industry.