E. Action Plan 7. Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
The Philippines faces a massive task of adjustment and catch-up to derive the most from ICT. Hence, the need to further develop and enlarge the ICT sector in order to take advantage of the skill level, availability and comparative costs of the country’s technical skilled manpower (Chapter 18 and Chapter 19). Developments in ICT offer vast opportunities for the country, especially in shared services or back-office operations, animation and software development and technical support.
McKinsey and Company recently identified 11 white-collar services — with an estimated demand worth US$180 billion by 2010 — that the mature economies can profitably outsource, and which the Philippines is well positioned to supply. Through the information highway, Filipinos can help reduce the overhead cost of service industry multinationals without their going overseas.
The possibility of generating wealth from high-end technology (Chapter 1) must be continuously explored, with new emphasis on biotechnology (Chapter 19), as part of the program to build a knowledge economy. Hence, for the Philippines to become an active player in the global knowledge economy, the government, in close partnership with the private sector, including civil society, shall harness the full potentials of information and communications technology (ICT), especially in bringing investments into the country. This can be done through the following:
a. Draw up a more competitive incentives package to further attract investors, more competitive incentives package with focus on ICT shall be made available. Existing or new investment incentives package will be rationalized to attract more ICT businesses and other long-term direct investors and locate their operations in the country.
b. Improve ICT manpower For the five priority areas for ICT services (Contact Centers, Animation and Software Development, Medical Transcription, Business Process Outsourcing, Engineering and Design Services), the industry shall establish a human resource development program to ensure a steady supply and adequate pool of qualified IT executives and workers.
Math and Science curriculum in the primary, secondary and tertiary levels shall be enhanced.
Industry-academe initiatives in increasing number of MS and PhD graduates in Math, Engineering and Computer Science courses shall be encouraged.
State universities and colleges, private universities and technical-vocational institutions shall offer specialized ICT degree programs and shall include specialized ICT courses in their curricula.
Internationally recognized ICT certification programs for individuals/professionals and organizations/ institutions shall also be implemented. Software enterprises will be encouraged to acquire Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) certification to enhance marketability. (Chapter 6 and Chapter 18).
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DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE I. SITUATIONER
The liberalization of the telecommunications sector which started in 1989 provided impetus to the evolution of a multioperator environment in the country. By 2002, there were 74 local exchange operators, 14 inter-exchange operators, 11 international gateway facility companies, seven cellular mobile phone operators, 11 radio paging firms, 11 public trunk radio service providers, 19 satellite operators and 32 value-added service providers. In addition, there were 776 cable TV operators with 1,373 networks nationwide. To date, only four cable TV companies (SkyCable, Home Cable, Sun Cable and Destiny) control about 50 percent of the country’s total subscriber base. Majority of these cable TV operators, however, are willing to offer Internet and voice services but sorely lack thecapital for the purpose. These developments characterized the growth of the country’s digital infrastructure over the past years, as more and more Filipinos gained access not only to telephone lines but also to the Internet. Hence, by the end of 2002, total telephone density reached 28.06 per 100 population and stronger awareness of knowledge and information sharing among individuals and organizations through the Internet was realized. Despite these gains, major policy and regulatory reforms remain to be done to facilitate further growth of the sector. The absence of clear and concise policies allowing innovative and more efficient services at lower costs has discouraged the entry of new players and further investments in the sector. Moreover, the country’s connectivity rates are currently considered among the highest in Asia. This situation is highly noncompetitive, discourages investors, and limits the provision of services to benefit and empower the citizenry, especially the OFWs and their families. In the case of the country’s ICT manpower, the Information Technology and E-Commerce Council, the forerunner of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), reported that as of 2003, the lack of well-trained and competent trainors/educators in information and communications technology (ICT) and ICT-related subjects has contributed to the declining quality of education in general and of the country’s ICT and knowledge workers. The existence of a non-formal training sector operating without adequate regulation further exacerbated the situation, resulting in wide variances in the quality of ICT training in the country. Moreover, the lack of accurate and comprehensive data on available ICT and ICT-enabled skills in the country has made ICT manpower planning and policy-making even more difficult. Clearly, there is need to sustain the momentum already gained toward the building of a digital infrastructure to interconnect the entire country and realize the goal of universal access. Hence, efforts in pursuit of this goal will be further accelerated, with the private sector playing a major role in these efforts. Policy and regulatory frameworks will be reviewed and rationalized to make them more responsive to technological and market changes, as an appropriate enabling environment, which is fair for both market players and consumers, will be put in place. ICT will be fully exploited to improve the knowledge and skills of Filipinos nationwide, and to provide opportunities for employment that will uplift the economy.
II. GOALS, STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLANS
A. Reduce Cost of Connectivity The government will push for the reduction of connectivity costs by allowing an enabling environment to permit new entrants of various telecom players, including but not limited to ISPs, to provide ICT and ICT-related services, thus, promoting market competition.
1. The government will continue to promote investments that support the provision of physical infrastructure for high-speed connectivity, high capacity and secured network services at low cost. The development of the country’s digital infrastructure will be accelerated through continuously optimizing the participation of/partnership with the private sector. Provision of high-speed connectivity at low cost will drive the usage of ICT in all sectors and more importantly, enable the country to transform itself into a knowledge and software development and e-services hub of Asia. Given the availability of domestic broadband network capacity with international connectivity, more access points will be offered both in the urban and rural areas, to provide the population with equal access to the global economy. Efforts will also be pursued toward achieving the “last mile connection” from the network backbone to the end-user. It will also include the optimal use of existing government networks for public data communication process (e.g. Transco fiber optic transmission lines, TelOf network, etc.). Moreover, possible business opportunities and creative ways to optimize existing or new network and bandwidth capacity will be explored.
2. The sustainability of these investments in physical infrastructure will depend heavily on market demand for broadband, which will be achieved by the provision of market attractive value-added features. The role that government will play is in the development and provision of e-government content. This will allow government service to be delivered directly to the citizens, both locally and internationally through web technologies.
3. A prime market attractive value-added feature of a progressive digital infrastructure is VoIP or Internet telephony. Issues relative to opening the market to VoIP will be resolved and a clear legal regime covering VOIP, convergence of web, email and voice services through Internet telephony will be provided. Simultaneously, VoIP services will be rolled out. This will immensely benefit overseas Filipino workers and their families and ensure the accessibility and affordability of these services for all. On the other hand, other prime public service value-added features that include distance education, e-health and the delivery of elearning to all public schools through the Internet will be pursued and supported through the establishment of community e-centers (CeCs) throughout the country.
4. The private sector will lead the deployment and expansion of digital infrastructure, especially to unserved and underserved areas, as well as the convergence of telecommunications, IP technology, broadcast media, cable TV, and other technologies to realize the full potentials of ICT as a tool for knowledge creation and diffusion. The government will encourage telecommunications carriers that provide cellular mobile telephone services to disperse new cell sites to make their services connect the entire country. Towards this, the government will ensure the interoperability and interconnectivity of all networks.
5. The digital divide within the country will be reduced by establishing more public access points such as CeCs for delivery of e-government and other services to provide universal access to information and communications services in unserved areas, link communities, facilitate trade and commerce, and empower rural communities socially,economically and politically. Seed funding will be provided for the development of public access points, which will support the provision of broadband services by the private sector to all municipalities and the connection of all secondary schools where computers will be provided. In unserved/underserved areas, public access points will be provided to schools, communities, scientific and research centers, health centers and government offices through the establishment of CeCs.
6. Gains already realized in the booming ICT and e-commerce industry will be further accelerated. The government will expand distribution points for ICT services utilizing all available and appropriate technologies like media, print, broadcast and mobile for faster access to and delivery of government information and services. With the ICT service boom in the country, the government will ensure that all authorized public network operators and other providers of telecommunications services will provide full interconnection at reasonable costs to all ICT service providers.
7. The requirements of major government ICT projects will be met. The efficiency of internal government processes will be improved through ICT. Existing government network infrastructure will be rationalized to enable sharing and interconnection of network resources among all branches of government to facilitate the seamless transfer of knowledge within the government. Where there are gaps between networks that cannot be addressed by sharing of government resources, the services of the private sector will be tapped to establish the necessary infrastructure “bridges” to close the gaps.
B. Develop ICT Human Resource The country is well positioned to become a globally competitive knowledge-based economy. However, the government should continue to support and develop the quality of its human capital especially in ICT by providing opportunities for skills development and training and by adopting a national standards certification system comparable with those of the rest of Asia to ensure the supply of quality ICT professionals and workers.
1. Fundamental to the development of a globally competitive human resource base is the advancement and modernization of education. The schools’ curricula will be consistently designed and updated to equip students with the requisite knowledge and ICT skills. The teaching of Science, Math and English as core subjects and the use of computers will be pursued. Toward this, e-learning programs and technologies will be accelerated to provide alternatives to traditional learning and training methods. Furthermore, wider access to the Internet as a tool for enhancing availability of knowledge will be provided. In addition, industry participation in the form of on-the-job training (OJT) programs will be strengthened in areas such as the restructuring of OJT learning objectives to enhance the training and skills development process (see also Chapter 18);
2. Increasing the quantity and quality of locally available ICT trainors/educators is necessary to meet the fast-growing requirements for quality ICT and knowledge workers. In addition, all trainors/teachers must have sufficient knowledge in the use of ICT as a tool for learning.
3. Internationally recognized certification programs will be implemented to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s ICT professionals and organizations. Likewise, new training courses and certification programs will be developed for the five priority areas for ICT services, which are Contact Centers, Animation and Software Development, Medical Transcription, Business Process Outsourcing, Engineering and Design Services (see also Chapter 18 and Chapter 1, Section 7).
4. The thriving ICT and e-commerce industries hold promising employment opportunities to Filipinos. In relation to this, a sustainable ICT manpower skills survey and tracking system that will provide accurate data on the status of ICT and ICT-enabled skills in the country will be conducted regularly for benchmarking and placement purposes.
C. Pursue Regulatory and Legislative Reforms (See also Part V) Regulatory and legal reforms will be implemented by promoting the independence of the regulator and separate operator and regulator functions and by setting/enforcement of safety, quality, environmental, and legal standards. Moreover, institutional reforms will be implemented to ensure transparency and accountability and to mitigate, if not eradicate, administrative impropriety of respective government agencies, and to resolve conflicting mandates among agencies involved in ICT planning and implementation.
1. The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will be established as a venue to achieve a web-based Philippines, capable of participating in – and contributing to – the global economy. It will also more effectively coordinate and implement the national ICT development agenda, policies, programs, projects to carry it out. Pending such, the President has issued EO 269 creating the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), which is not merely advisory in nature but serves as the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, regulating and administrative entity of the Executive Branch on ICT and e-commerce initiatives.
2. The National Telecommunications Commission will be strengthened and its independence in performing its regulatory function will be ensured, particularly in carrying out decisions and imposing sanctions and penalties for regulatory noncompliance.
3. The passage of the Convergence Bill will be pursued to address current regulatory issues such as Cable Television Classification and Frequency Spectrum Management that will permit the infusion of much-needed investment capital into the industry and enable the development of cable technology for true convergence.
4. The Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines (RA 7925) will be reviewed and Congress will be asked to amend RA 7925, taking into consideration new technological developments, speeding up the realization of universal access goals, achieving adequate distribution of basic telephone services throughout the country and encompassing the needed institutional strengthening, sector reform and ICT expansion goals.
5. Security measures will be implemented to protect the integrity of digital infrastructure networks, as well as of information and communications. Such measures will protect personal privacy and consumer interest, accuracy and completeness of information and all other processing methods involved by enacting, among others, the Cybercrime and Cyberfraud Prevention Law.
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B. Improve the competitiveness of the country’s knowledge and S&T workers
Knowledge creation shall entail the improvement of the educational system and the system’s ability to meet industry requirements. The challenge of a knowledge-based society, which is reshaping the world with rapid change and growing uncertainty, is the creation and maintenance of qualified workforce with creativity and flexibility. Hence, training and capacity building shall be provided to its direct beneficiaries to ensure local support and program sustainability. Strategies to continuously create and maintain a highly skilled workforce shall be pursued to develop the competitiveness of the country’s knowledge and S&T workers and remain competitive in the globalized market. Efforts shall be directed towards the following:
3. Promote the use of ICT in all sectors of the society, as a tool for people empowerment
The establishment of CECs shall serve as public access points for distance learning, health, training, livelihood, entrepreneurship, market, communication, e-government, and other social programs. The CECs shall be tapped by the Tulay Program, as access facilities where OFWs can communicate with their families using e-mail, video conferencing, and instant massaging. These CECs shall be managed by local communities. Meanwhile, ICT shall be used as tool for teaching and diffusing technologies in all levels of
education. The boundaries between school, home and working life are diminishing. These require new
methods in teaching (e.g., use of ICT resources) in which collaboration and sharing are essential in
providing students with learning skills in net-based environments. Changing learning environments
requires combining educational expertise and collaborative methods in teaching. In this regard, the
following activities shall be undertaken: promote e-learning and information literacy; and establish
e-learning competency centers.
The government shall also continue to exploit the use of ICT as a tool to improve access to and delivery of government services and promote a culture of performance, results and accountability in public sector institutions. This effort shall be supported by enacting laws and policies such as the institutionalization of the e-Government Fund to meet the requirements of major information and communication technology projects of the government. The government shall enhance access to government information and services through electronically enabled government frontline services using various technologies. LGUs shall be ICT-enabled down to the barangay level by 2010. Knowledge management and productivity frameworks shall also be institutionalized in the bureaucracy.
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II. GOALS, STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLANS
To improve the quality and efficiency of public service, the government shall adopt institutional improvements in the bureaucracy, deactivating irrelevant functions, consolidating duplicated functions
while reinforcing the most vital functions. It shall establish a professional bureaucracy that maintains a
healthy independence from political influence. A bureaucracy that is relatively well-paid (which matches private sector initiatives) and has a strong sense of merit and integrity. This independent bureaucracy would ensure public services to flow continuously despite occasional political storms. It would allow merit-based promotion and other best practices to take root in the bureaucracy. Legislation will be passed on government reengineering with a silver parachute. The compensation package of those that will remain will be upgraded, together with the institution of a sustained capability building program and promotion of meritocracy through recruitment of the “best and the brightest.”
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The government shall also continue to exploit the use of ICT as a tool to improve access to and delivery of government services and promote a culture of performance, results and accountability in public sector institutions. This effort shall be supported by enacting laws and policies such as the institutionalization of the e-Government Fund to meet the requirements of major information and communication technology projects of the government. The government shall enhance access to government information and services through electronically enabled government frontline services using various technologies. LGUs shall be ICT-enabled down to the barangay level by 2010. Knowledge management and productivity frameworks shall also be institutionalized in the bureaucracy.
1. The establishment of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will more effectively coordinate and implement the national ICT agenda and strategy, as well as the needed policies, programs, projects to speed up the growth of the ICT industry. The President has recently issued Executive Order (EO) 269 creating the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), which is not merely advisory in nature. It will be the primary policy, planning, coordinating,
implementing, regulating and administrative entity of the Executive Branch on ICT and ecommerce initiatives. It will also be a venue to help achieve our vision of a web-enabled Philippines, capable of participating in and contributing to the global economy.
2. The institutional strengthening of the National Telecommunications Commission will include prescribing fixed terms for the members of the Commission, and ensuring its independence as a regulatory body in carrying out its decisions and imposing sanctions and penalties for regulatory noncompliance. Regulators must be equipped with clearly defined mandates and the necessary resources to carry out their responsibilities.
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