The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) bared on Monday, June 2, the release of P878.5 million to the Information and Communications Technology Office (ICT Office) of the DOST to support the second phase of the Integrated Government Philippines (iGovPhil) project.
iGovPhil ? a part in the e-Government Master Plan of 2013-2016 ? aims to maximize the use of ICT resources through shared ICT infrastructure, services, and applications for national government agencies.
DBM secretary Florencio ?Butch? Abad said the project harmonize government processes and inter-operability within the bureaucracy, leading to a faster and more efficient delivery of government services to the people.
?We remain committed to harnessing technology and developing relevant mechanisms to improve the way government agencies work with each other. Data security won?t be an issue, since we?ll be using common application systems across the bureaucracy,? Abad said.
?Aside from the savings that we will generate from paperless transactions, we will also save time by linking various government agencies through the shared ICT infrastructure,? he added.
Majority of the P875.5-million release ? P738.6 million to be exact ? has been allotted for the deployment of fiber-optic cables and the establishment and operation of data centers.
iGovPhil has a total project cost of P2.53 billion implemented from 2012 to 2016. The DBM has previously released P164.6 million to the ICT Office in 2012 for the first phase of the project.
The latest P878.5 million funding ? charged against the FY 2014 E-Government Fund ? will cover funding requirements of the second phase of the project.
As of December 31, 2013, 30 percent and 80 percent of government agencies in Manila and Cebu, respectively, have been successfully connected to the fiber-optic network. Meanwhile, 71 percent of the target Government Data Centers have already been established.
?The Aquino administration believes in the power of information technology in transforming governance in our country. It would be a shame if we didn?t tap into ICT solutions when they could make such a huge and positive difference in the way government works,? Abad added.
