La Union goes hi-tech

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — This city has joined the information technology revolution. And its mayor now regularly communicates with foreign-based people through videoconferencing.

Mayor Mary Jane Ortega revealed that through the newly-established Philippine City Network, they can now talk live with officials of various international agencies through telephones connected to video screens.

Recently, Ortega met with World Bank (WB) officials for two hours. She was in her office here while the 30 WB officials were in Washington D

The conference was conducted with the use of the Direct Subscription Lease (DSL) line of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. It focused on the impacts of the city’s development strategy and future directions of knowledge sharing and partnership building among cities in East Asia Pacific.

The videoconference was the first part of the technical assistance provided to San Fernando after it was chosen as Information Technology City by the WB. — Vic Alhambra Jr.