Information technology (IT) and communications officials from ten Asean member-states and ?dialog partners? from China, India, Japan, Korea, the European Union and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are meeting in Mactan, Cebu for the 13th Asean Telecommunications and IT Senior Officials Meeting (Telsom).
Delegates at the conference will discuss the region?s progress in ICT relative to the Asean ICT Masterplan and map out policy directions for Asean?s ICT initiatives for the coming year.
The meeting is coinciding with 12th Asean Telecommunications and IT Ministers (Telmin) meeting also being held at the Shangri-la Mactan.
Leading the Philippine delegation and this year?s Telsom chair is Louis Napoleon C. Casambre, executive director of the Information and Communications Technology Office of the Department of Science and Technology (ICTO-DOST).
The Philippines is proposing setting quantifiable targets for the Asean ICT Masterplan 2015, the development of data sharing, and interoperability standards for the region and increased cooperation on cybersecurity.
?If unsafe or untrustworthy or unreliable, the connectedness among us we aspire for would be severely impacted. We therefore urge our fellow Asean member states to shift into high gear cooperation on cybersecurity, to build awareness amongst our people and institutions, and to raise our response capabilities to address the numerous threats within and outside our borders,? Casambre said in his opening remarks.