Dell presses gov’t to invest more funds in infotech

MANILA, Philippines—Governments in emerging markets like the Philippines have underinvested in information technology (IT) equipment, resulting in inefficient state agencies that are unable to keep up with the ever-growing demands of their constituencies.

But with the recent drive to be more efficient and accountable, policy makers are starting to see the value of IT, US-based technology giant Dell said.

“Governments now need to be more efficient. There has not been enough investment in innovating government services in the past few years,” Dell South Asia managing director Andreas Diantoro said at a recent briefing.

The result of the chronic underinvestment in IT was poor record keeping in almost all government agencies, slow processes and an unhappy civilian population.

Another problem Dell is looking to help governments resolve is the presence of “silos,” or isolated pockets of data that each agency maintains on its own instead of having information in a single data base that can be accessed anytime, anywhere and from any part of the country.

“There are a lot of inefficiencies,” Diantoro said, adding that a significant portion of the little money that was invested only went to waste.

He said the public sector was currently one of the company’s biggest areas for growth in Asia-Pacific countries like the Philippines.

“Public service to the people used to be a ‘luxury’ in many countries,” he said. “But now, officials cannot be complacent.”

“We’re getting a lot of interest from state agencies and local government units as well,” he said.

The public sector segment of Dell’s local business, which is bundled with its enterprise segment, is expected to grow as much as 62 percent this year.

To do this, the company said it would set up its first marketing offices in both Visayas and Mindanao areas to capitalize on the aggressive growth seen in the areas outside of Metro Manila.