Chapter 2

Vision and Development

Framework

 

A. Vision

Consistent with the national vision and objectives set forth in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan or Angat Pinoy 2004, government shall harness the full potentials of information and communications technology (ICT) to ensure wider public access to information and the faster and more efficient delivery of government services to the public.

Once the Philippine government goes online, Filipino citizens anywhere in the country and in other shores, as well as current and potential foreign investors anywhere in the world, will have electronic access to government information and services.

To realize this vision, the following shall be the specific goals to guide the implementation of the GISP:

Within five years after approval of the GISP, the government shall have put in place the enabling environment, the policies, and the appropriate institutional structures to allow the full and unhampered implementation of the GISP. Government agencies shall have reengineered pertinent business processes and embarked on the automation of their frontline services and housekeeping systems. Given this enabling environment, the private sector shall have built up its capacity and put up the organization and investments required to respond adequately to the challenge of providing quality ICT services to the government.

Within the first decade of the 21st century, every Filipino, every organization, and every foreign investor and visitor, shall have online access to government information and services in their homes, in community or municipal centers, in foreign posts, in public libraries and kiosks, and in government offices.

Within the first decade of the 21st century, the application of information technology in government operations shall have improved governance with the following key indicators of success:

q Faster and simpler processing of licenses, permits, and certifications;

q Expanded and more convenient access to more and better quality information and services;

q Efficient planning, generation, and management of government resources, in the process adding value to every taxpayer’s peso, reducing waste, and eliminating opportunities for graft and corruption; and

q Highly developed and more responsive public sector organizations with better-informed decision-making, highly transparent and accountable operations, and goal-driven instead of task-driven government employees.

 

B. Goals and Objectives

The GISP seeks to realize a system of governance that will lead to:

q Faster and better delivery of public goods and services;

q Greater transparency in government operations;

q Increased capacities of public sector organizations; and

q Proactive participation of citizens in governance.

These are in support of the broader national development goals as follows:

q A globally competitive economy;

q Accelerated development of human resources and eradication of poverty;

q Equitable spatial distribution of development, economic activity, and population;

q Sustainable development of natural resources;

q Improved peace and order; and

q More effective governance.

These shall be realized through the establishment of an electronic bureaucracy that will link government institutions with one another, with the public, and with private sector institutions.

1. Information Systems Solutions

Government shall harness ICT in developing solutions that directly address and support the country’s development goals.

1.1 Globally Competitive Economy

Objective

 To promote the efficient operation of markets, particularly in the following areas:

q Providing information on business opportunities, credit and technical assistance, sources of materials and information, and linkages;

q Developing sound economic policies and strategies, and monitoring and assessing their performance;

q Formulating and enforcing appropriate rules and regulation; and

q Promoting electronic commerce.

1.2 Accelerated Development of Human Resources and Eradication of Poverty

Objective

To improve the management of social services, particularly in the following areas:

q Upgrading information support so that government can better formulate, implement, and assess policies in education, health, welfare, and labor policy, as well as plan and manage poverty eradication programs more effectively;

q Achieving faster, more efficient, and more responsive social services particularly to the poor, the elderly, the handicapped, the disadvantaged, and victims of disasters; and

q Facilitate access to information on public services, employment and livelihood opportunities, health and welfare services, credit and assistance, and distance education and training.

1.3 More Equitable Spatial Distribution of Economic Development, Economic Activity and Population

Objective

To decentralize decision-making, production and delivery of public services, and enforcement of regulations across the country thereby allowing proximate, equal, and convenient access by citizens and organizations.

1.4 Sustainable Development of Natural Resources

Objective

To promote sustainable use of the country’s natural resources, particularly in the following areas:

q Improving the system of gathering, processing, storage, and retrieval of information on the country’s natural resources; and

q Upgrading government’s capacity to manage the ownership and utilization of those resources.

1.5 Improved Peace and Order

Objective

To build on and support the implementation of the National Crime Information System (NCIS), focusing on systems that enhance government’s capacity to prevent crimes, track down criminals, monitor criminality, and administer justice.

1.6 More Effective Governance

Objective

To improve agency capacity for administration, particularly in the following areas:

q Managing public sector physical, financial, and human resources;

q Promoting transparency and public accountability and reducing graft and corruption;

q Creating customer feedback mechanisms;

q Improving coordination between and among agencies and employees;

q Upgrading the quality and speed of managerial decision-making; and

q Establishing of an environment conducive to continuous education and advancement of public sector organizations.

2. Technologies

Government shall promote the design, development, and adoption of cost-effective technologies.

2.1 ICT Infrastructure

Objective

To establish the appropriate infrastructure, in particular the telecommunication networks, hardware and software, and information systems and procedures in accordance with the following electronic governance principles:

q Easy access — Geographically proximate access to information and services by the public and the provision of online query/guide;

q Reengineered processes — Shorter processing time, "less paper" requirements, nonrepetitive processes and input requirements, simpler compliance and evaluation procedures;

q Networked systems — Local, regional, interagency and public-private networking of related systems and processes;

q One-stop/nonstop shops or windows — For permits, licenses, business and other frontline transactions and services;

q Customer-driven service — Systems that can evolve and keep up with the changing requirements of government customers;

q Privacy protection and security — Protection of the right to privacy and institution of measures to ensure security of access to and processing of information at all levels; and

q Compliance with laws and standards — Compliance by all systems, procedures, input and output requirements with the provisions of pertinent laws, government policies, rules, and regulations, and adaptability of the systems to the changing legal parameters of government.

2.2 Interconnectivity

Objective

To adopt interconnectivity solutions, plans, strategies, and systems that will successfully interconnect the various government agencies with one another and with the public. To this end, the following shall be established:

q Electronic collaborative support system operations that share basic resources, equipment, and other ICT facilities;

q Intergovernmental sharing of databases and exchange of information to eliminate duplication of functions and redundancies, and ensure responsiveness in reporting, coordination, cooperation, monitoring and service delivery, among other functions; and

q Interoperable electronic messaging and communication system for government agencies.

2.3 Adoption of Best Practices

Objective

To identify pilot projects or strategic initiatives that will lead to the adoption and widespread use of electronic governance technologies and principles in government.

3. Enabling Environment

To ensure the smooth and speedy implementation of all programs and projects, the appropriate enabling environment in the government, private sector, and ICT industry will be promoted and supported.

3.1 Policies and Institutions

Objective

To put in place the necessary policies, standards, guidelines, rules and procedures that will speed up establishment of the necessary information systems and ensure their high quality.

To reengineer the organizational setup and clearly define the roles, functions, authorities, and accountabilities at oversight and agency levels in relation to the various aspects of implementation, and provide the needed resources.

3.2 Industry Capacity

Objective

To promote the growth of the local ICT industry, improve its capacity to provide quality services in the development, implementation and maintenance of the various information systems networks to be put in place. This will be pursued through adoption of:

q A set of criteria for private sector participation;

q Procurement policies that allow partnerships, tie-ups, and consolidation of efforts and resources of participating companies and organizations;

q Competition policies that ensure a level playing field between big and small enterprises; and

q Policies that encourage innovation and creation of new products that respond to the unique requirements of government.

C. Development Framework

The government shall implement the GISP in three phases, as follows:

PHASE 1: Setting Up the Enabling Environment

 

q Formulate and adopt, within five years after GISP approval, policies to establish funding; streamline procurement; provide incentives and guidelines for private sector investment and participation; establish technology standards and benchmarks to ensure interoperability, networkability, and security; and set up systems functionality standards and guidelines that will improve public services, promote efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in government operations, and upgrade public sector management capacities.

q Improve and strengthen, within five years of GISP implementation, existing institutional structures and capacities, including those of the NITC, NCC, DBM, COA, DILG, CSC and implementing agencies and local government units. Such capacity building effort will include, among others, a proper definition and delineation of roles, authority, and accountability, training of users and ICT people in the government, conduct of advocacy and culture change programs, infusion of adequate financial, material and other resources.

q Generate the necessary investments from the private sector, government, and other funding institutions in accordance with the scheduled implementation of the various GISP information systems projects.

Phase 2: Building the GISP information
infrastructure

 

q Develop, within five years of the GISP implementation, the necessary information and communications technology infrastructure.

Adopt guidelines on hardware and software platforms in all participating government agencies to ensure compatibility, interoperability, and sharing of applications and to achieve savings through economies of scale.

Set up shared nationwide telecommunications infrastructure for use by all government agencies. A shared facility will not only reduce total cost to the government, but also allow smaller and/or less sophisticated agencies to benefit from networking and interconnection.

Accelerate implementation of the Philippine Information Infrastructure (PII) and RPWEB and promote e-commerce and Internet technologies to improve public access to government and make government transactions easier, more convenient, and more transparent.

q Identify and prioritize the various systems networks and anchor projects within each systems network.

Identify, design, and establish crucial databases and data warehouses to improve the following: enforcement of regulations provision of vital information on markets, opportunities, sourcing of raw materials and production inputs, and assistance; managerial decision-making; and policy formulation and assessment.

Establish priority strategies for GISP project implementation in accordance with resource availability and learning capacities of implementing agencies and their publics.

q Reengineer the various mission-critical and public sector management business processes and develop clear definitions of the functional specifications and technological requirements of the systems network and its building blocks.

Review and reengineer business processes to do away with redundancies, duplication, and red tape and to prepare them for automation.

Review and reengineer housekeeping processes and establish common functional and workflow standards across the bureaucracy.

Clearly define the functional specifications of the various building blocks comprising the information systems network.

q Design, install, and operate the various systems network.

Program the installation of the various applications in accordance with the learning and absorptive capacities of the participating government agencies, like transaction processing applications in the first phase, executive decision support systems in the second, and expert systems in the third.

Phase 3: Sustaining the GISP

q Clearly define ownership and management responsibilities, authorities, and accountabilities for each information system.

q Develop benchmarks and indicators for evaluating overall and individual project performance.

q Establish a mechanism for continuing learning and development of the various participating institutions.