Global technology speakers converge in the 1st Philippine e-Governance Forum

Public and private sector promoting ICT in the government and the entire country

(Manila, Philippines, July 5, 2010) – Renowned technology speakers and industry experts converged in the first e-Governance Forum and discussed timely issues in local e-governance, as part of the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) month and to promote ICT in the country

The theme of the first e-Governance Forum is: “Public Service 2.0: From e-Government to e-Governance,” organized by the Chief Information Officers Forum (CIOF), the CIOF Foundation (CIOFF), the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), and the e-Governance for Efficiency and Effectiveness (E3) Project.

“The CICT is aggressively pushing e-Governance, among other strategic objectives to promote and improve the ICT landscape of the country. By taking action on our ICT objectives and policies, we as a nation can move forward in improving government services. This forum is the start to attaining that progress,” said CICT Chairman Ray Roxas-Chua.

This progress could be assisted by assigning a government CIO to enable government efficiency and accountability, according to CIOF President Esperanza Espino.

“The Philippines needs to catch up with other Asian countries that have their respective government CIOs (GCIO) that manages and oversees the country’s ICT department, as they can create a strategic direction for the government in terms of ICT,” added Espino.

Moreover, the success of e-Governance relies on how the public and the private sector could collaborate.

“To successfully implement e-governance in the country, the public sector should recognize the importance of public and private sector partnership, since it allows the government to tap resources that they have no access before,” said CIOFF Chairman Daniel Pabellon.

One of the distinguished international speakers that illustrated the importance of the GCIO in the government is New Zealand Government CIO Laurence Miller. Miller has spent more than five years in developing and implementing the country’s e-government strategy. Moreover, he has been instrumental in driving and developing the all-of-government portal, www.govt.nz, growing it through three major release cycles. He has pushed a major IT investment portfolio worth US$2 billion while supervising the New Zealand’s ICT expenditure.

One of Miller’s biggest contributions to New Zealand’s ICT is the National Broadband Map, which complements the strategies of the central and local government and previews the nation’s broadband landscape, thus allowing the government to address demand through infrastructure planning. The technology received a World Summit Award under the e-Government and Institutions last year.

Professor Toshio Obi from Waseda University provided key learnings on Asean nations through his talk on Global Asean Trends in e-Governance. Waseda University is one of Japan’s top universities and houses the Institute of e-Government. Headed by Obi, the university leads the Waseda University International e-Government Ranking, which recognizes countries excelling in e-governance based on specific metrics.

The local government unit (LGU)-focused track included a Geographic Information System (GGIS) discussion by Elsa Perez-Pantino, the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator in Guagua, Pampanga and e-Governance for municipal development, as detailed by Li-Ann de Leon, Executive Director of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines. (PINOYPRESS.NET)