DoST assures ICT sector of full support

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said it would be a more capable office in pushing for the development of the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) agenda given its more established links with the industry and academe.

The DoST said the President’s decision to dissolve the Commission on ICT (CICT) would streamline the government’s efforts in modernizing the delivery of government services to the public.

“The decision affirms the President’s commitment to align the government’s ICT infrastructure,” DoST Secretary Mario Montejo said in a statement.

He said turning the CICT into the ICT office under the DoST ensures the immediate implementation of steps needed to further develop the sector.

The CICT was formed in 2006 mainly to support the country’s booming business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, which now accounts for about 600,000 jobs and $10 billion in annual revenues.

But under the law, all science and technology efforts of the government should be under the DoST.

Raymund Liboro, head of the DoST’s Science and Technology Information Institute, assured that the DoST would “continue to put a high priority on e-governance and the highflying BPO industry.”—<strong><em>Paolo G. Montecillo</em></strong>