DOST adopts 5-yr digital strategy

THE DEPARTMENT of Science and Technology (DOST) has vowed to pursue the goals of the five-year Philippine Digital Strategy formulated by the now-defunct Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo on Wednesday assured ICT industry stakeholders, particularly members of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, that ensuring Internet access for all and enabling government agencies with technology would still be a vital part of the administration’s agenda.

“The DOST is at one with the stakeholders and the broader ICT sector and it fully intends to push forward with the implementation of the newly crafted ICT road map that is the PDS,” Montejo said in a statement.

“It is an impressive body of work and we support the many that were involved in its creation,” he said.

The PDS was crafted by the CICT after nine months of consultations with the private sector and other government agencies.

It aims to provide a guide for social and economic development in the Philippines by harnessing ICT. The ultimate goal is a stronger society with empowered Filipinos at its helm.

The PDS’ major thrusts are e-Governance, Internet access for all, digital literacy and ICT sector development. Each of these has a set of objectives for 2016 and a set of corresponding actions that respond to these objectives.

“It is an ambitious but doable strategy with success hinging on strong cooperation between the different ICT sectors for its implementation,” Montejo said.

The PDS was unveiled on the same day President Aquino’s Executive Order No. 47, which dissolved the CICT and turned it into the ICT Office under the DOST, was made public. The order was meant to streamline the government bureaucracy. Under the law, all science and technology initiatives should be under the DOST’s supervision.