A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) with the Internet Society (ISOC) on multi-stakeholder governance and the co-development of the Philippine National ICT Ecosystem Framework (NIEF) 2022.
The ceremonial signing was held on Thursday, July 5, with Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. and ISOC Asia Pacific regional bureau director Rajnesh Singh.
The MoU covers cooperation activities on the NIEF 2022, including public consultations, to engage with stakeholders to build awareness of and gather inputs to the NIEF 2022.
Together, the DICT and ISOC shall promote the multi-stakeholder governance approach in the development and implementation of key ICT plans, projects and programs.
The MoU likewise defines in scope the role of NIEF 2022 in light of regional and global best practices and models that exhibit the use of ICT in driving the development of communities into economic centers and innovation hubs.
Rio cited the significance of multi-stakeholder policy formulation, a day short of the Public Consultation for the New Major Telecommunications Player (NMTP), “…because this is of paramount national interest.”
Rio said priority areas where infusion of investments are sought after, or where policy issuances will serve as catalysts for the advancement of the sector will also be identified in establishing the Philippine Digital Economy.
“As DICT and ISOC co-author NIEF 2022, it will allow the country to deploy technology applications catering to the consumer demands with industry offerings, in the light of the digital transformation that our government seeks to achieve,” he added.
Singh, in his remarks, said: “The organization values collaborative work — the Philippines’ approach to using the multi-stakeholder model for developing NIEF 2022 is a valuable proposition for other countries to embrace.”
On July 11-13, the DICT will play host to Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) training on Internet Governance, in collaboration with the ISOC. The training will be conducted at Hive Hotel, Quezon City, and discussions will be captured as inputs for the development of NIEF 2022.
