Cebu City Council to go 'paperless'

The implementation of the codification of city ordinances to realize an effective legislative tracking system will also allow the Cebu City Council to work on a paperless atmosphere.

The Management Information Computer Services presented phase one of the codification of city ordinances during the council session yesterday afternoon.

This after having noted that the council has been using volumes of bond paper in providing its 18 members copies of the agenda of its regular Wednesday sessions.

The codification would mean that laptops will be utilized during the conduct of council sessions, making the meeting virtually paperless. Councilors will be able to access tabled proposed resolutions and ordinances from a database or an archive where loads of data are processed into information.

However, Loida Antonio, a staff of the MICS, cautioned that minor problems will be possibly encountered in the first phase of the implementation of this electronic format. According to Antonio, minor problems would include delay in the browsing of information, as users are limited to 10 people only.

Part of this electronic storage project is the conversion of all ordinances from 1945 to 2005 into digital images. The database has reportedly the capacity to store 10,000 pages of text and 100 million captured images of objects.

The driving force behind this initiative is the desire to increase electronic services and reduce paper use in the council, according to legislative staff Carey Baoas.

The codification system was introduced out of a technical exchange program between Cebu City and the City of Kitchener in Canada when then mayor Alvin Garcia and other city officials visited Canada in 1999 to study Kitchener's management system and information services. - Garry B. Lao