Peña: The country has an ICT strategy, but the challenge lies in the execution

For every successful endeavor, there lies a certain strategy. And for a country wishing to make a mark in information and communications technology (ICT), the Philippines will be better off mapping out a system that will ensure economic development for the long term.

Virgilio Peña, Executive Director of the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC) — and recently appointed Undersecretary for Information and Communications Technology at the Department of Transportation and Communications — outlined the country’s ICT strategy. The plan is to create an “e-enabled society that would provide better education, job opportunities, government service, and quality of life” for Filipinos.

Not having the financial capability is a major setback for the government in pursuing the ICT work plan. This is the reason why in coming up with the strategy components, first on the government’s list is how to make use of ICT to fuel economic growth while reducing the cost to government. Government will have to spend to put all the components in place. But after everything is in place, the ICT system should be able to generate revenues for the government.

Strategy Components
More than the technology itself, Peña talked about four equally relevant aspects of ICT development – content, infrastructure, legal aspect, and human resource development. These are the factors that the government, along with the private sector, should look deeper into if the country is to be a major global player in the ICT arena. Private sector participation is inevitable in an important undertaking such as this because, as Senior Presidential Adviser on International Competitiveness Roberto Romulo said, it is the private sector that has the resources and the expertise in the industry.

According to an AC Nielsen report, internet penetration in the country is currently pegged at 2% of the population. This accounts for 1.5 million internet users, 900,000 of whom are regular users. But internet usage should go beyond e-mail, and chat rooms if ICT is to become a major economic driver for the country. Peña discussed the three elements of content development: e-commerce (the transaction of business online); e-learning (delivering materials to educational institutions); and e-government (providing government services online). Gearing towards the development of these three elements will lead not only to increased generation of knowledge and services, but increased economic activity as well.

There is, of course, value added to transactions made online. For one, people can avail of services in the comfort of their own homes. But for as long as the legal and regulatory environment for such transactions are not yet firmed up by government, many internet users will continue to doubt the security and privacy of online transactions. Peña has been assigned to the DOTC to specifically prepare for the creation of a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which, in turn, will address these concerns.

The Philippines, however, has a lot of catching up to do in developing human capital through the improvement of basic education. The new basic education curriculum intends to make good use of IT and to put greater emphasis on computer literacy in all learning areas. The use of ICT in schools should be maximized, going beyond the usual basic ICT skills training to the creation of local content.

But more than this, there is a need to strengthen the English skills of students since it has greatly degenerated in the past years. English literacy and proficiency of the population still is a plus factor, but with other Asian countries already gearing up its own students to learn the English language, Filipinos cannot be so complacent if they want to be ahead in the region in the ICT market.

Finding a Niche
This early, the country has started to establish its name in several e-services areas. Customer contact centers have begun to mushroom, now numbering more than 30 companies. And while some groups have downplayed the long-term strength of this sector, government has repeatedly pointed out that these call centers offer more value-added service and therefore should not just be considered as “glorified telephone operators.” July 2002 figures show there are only 6,000 seats filled out of the 24,000 available seats in the country’s contact center industry – something the labor market can really be happy about.

Other e-services that the Philippines can develop competitiveness in are software development, medical transcription services, animation services, and shared financial services, all in all presenting a US$1.4 billion opportunity by the year 2004. The creativity of the Filipino is a known plus in the area of software development, but the sector needs to be further organized if it is to compete head on with another emerging market, India. Today, animation has never been as exciting for the Philippines, with 23 firms already producing for Disney, Hanna-Barbera, and other global companies.

As the country finds its place in the ICT world through these sectors, Peña likewise highlighted the need to pursue e-government strategies, which he said, will take Filipinos “online” instead of “in line” when availing of government services. Peña reported in July that 87% of the national government agencies already have websites. Twenty-seven agencies are already in Stage 3 of the five stages of e-government set by the United Nations, proving some degree of interaction between the agencies and the citizens as users.

Consolidation Needed
With all these plans in place, there really is no question on whether or not the country has an ICT strategy. But all these plans of government will be more effectively implemented if ICT can be properly institutionalized in the government. While ICT is being prioritized by government at present, the effort is being diminished by the fact that is it not centralized in one particular implementing agency.

The National Computer Center, according to Peña, has been thrown to different agencies for the longest time, settling at the Department of Science and Technology at present. The e-commerce initiative is with the Department of Trade and Industry, while communication is under the Department of Transportation and Communications. This is the reason why there is, indeed, an urgent need to establish the Department of Information and Communications Technology that will consolidate all the developmental efforts in the industry and make it move in the same direction.