Chapter 10

The new millennium is almost at our doorsteps. Given this exciting prospect, the Philippines must accelerate and rationalize the

process of developing and deploying its national information infrastructure, the Philippine Information Infrastructure (PII). The responsibility for the initial planning effort for the PII and for directing this gigantic task has been entrusted to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) through the National Information Technology Council (NITC) by the President of the Philippines.

To start the initial planning effort for the PII development process on the right track was also the mandate that was specified by the DOTC for the PII Policy Study Project. Those who assumed responsibility for the project had to take on a major role in determining not only the required policy environment but also the plans, programs and directions that will hasten the development of the PII.

The task of developing and deploying the PII on a timely basis is clearly a massive effort in terms of its impact on the country and the Filipino people. It will take many years and even decades to complete this task. The whole government machinery alone may not be adequate to carry out this monumental undertaking. The concerted and unified efforts of our people are needed for the PII development process. The PII is huge in terms of the magnitude of the capital and the length of time needed in order to attain its vision. The long march to attain PII progress must, however, start with the proverbial first step.

The Final Study Outputs of the PII Policy Study Project represent the critical first steps in this major endeavor for the nation and its people. The PII project, a one-year undertaking, was not an easy course to navigate; it was a long and difficult march up to its very end.

A number of obstacles had to be overcome even before work could really get started. It was, however, the difficult terrain itself that gave

many valuable lessons and eventually pointed the way to the logical end of the project.

It was evident early in the life of the project that the PII was such a very new concept that there was no common platform for understanding what it really is and what it is not. The PII was not even well understood and appreciated. There was a prior need to reach for a consensus among the identified stakeholders who were involved in the project on what the PII really is and what it stands for. The critical need to define the PII in a more expansive and detailed way was apparent.

At the same time, there was also a need to convince the stakeholders themselves that the PII is for their own good. Identifying with the PII was a way to ensure that they will fully cooperate and actively participate in all the efforts for the PII. Ensuring their full understanding of what the PII really is, was a strategy developed to attain this objective.

Work on the PII Framework Proposal, one of the PII project’s output, was focused for some time on looking for the best definition of the PII. The members of PII project teams, in fact, spent considerable time and effort in crafting the words that put together best defines the PII. The result is presented in this policy study. It is evident from their work that defining the PII is a dynamic process that must continue as an integral part of PII development. At a certain point in time, a re-definition may be in order.

One of the initial conclusions reached in this PII policy study is that the Philippines will need more than twenty years before the vision of a nation with full connectivity and full access to information can be realized. It is indeed a moving target but this policy study has nonetheless proposed the year 2020 as the year when the goal of universal service can be fully realized. This can only be attained if there will be a sustained commitment from the national leadership.

Developing and deploying the various components of the PII represent a daunting task but the nation and its people cannot afford to lose heart. As it applies to all countries in the world today, the Philippines must prepare for the emerging information age and one of the fundamental requirements that it must meet is for the nation to have its own national information infrastructure.

As the country aims to be a competitor in the global markets, to play an active role in the new emerging economic order and to make available to the Filipino the benefits of the information age, it must build an information infrastructure. Such is the challenge that the Philippines and the government must face squarely and resolutely.

The PII, as a long-term strategic undertaking, is attractive and promising in terms of the returns and the benefits involved. The government itself ranks as among its major beneficiaries. Its social impact in terms of how it will change the way Filipinos live, play, work and do business is immense. In fact, the sheer amount of the benefits involved, tangible and intangible, is reason enough for government to pursue it with alacrity and a real sense of urgency.

But more than anything else, the PII is about investing in the future. Its benefits cannot be completely quantified at the present point in time. Astute private companies with an eye for good investments will find out that many of the PII projects have the potential for medium to long-term growth and attractive returns.

In fact, many projects involving the development of various components of the PII are already in progress. Most have been initiated and financed by the private sector. While government is expected to play a role in building infrastructure, the private sector will continue to be the primary engine for development for the PII. The PII projects ideally must be considered mainly as business ventures.

Some of the PII’s components, however, can only be developed either by government or private investors or by both as vital parts of the country’s “social infrastructure”.

The essence of the PII is that it will benefit every citizen of the nation but it cannot be an instrument for creating a nation of “haves” and "have-nots”. While the private sector investments will tend to go to the financially viable areas, government must find ways and means of providing the PII components for the remote and rural areas of the country.

All these point to the most pressing need for a development strategy to be adopted by government in order to achieve the goals of universal access and, ultimately, universal service for the Philippines. One of the strategies proposed by the PII Framework is embodied in the concept of the Rural Information Infrastructure (RII). It is proposed that one of the strategic initiatives that will have to be given priority particularly by government is the so-called “rural” initiative.

The second proposed development strategy is to ensure that the private sector, given the task of building the new, broadband, multimedia and multi-services networks and their access ramps and connecting lines to the users and consumers, will be able to meet this responsibility and any commitments they make. This is the basis of the second initiative, the “urban” initiative. This infrastructure will serve the needs of the advanced and modern “information society” that will start emerging in the urban centers of the country.

The third development strategy is to ensure that through effective policies and regulatory mechanisms all these networks whether they are built for the remote and rural areas or for the urban centers of the country are made fully interoperable and interconnected with one another. These will evolve the envisioned “seamlessly operating network of networks” that the PII is defined to be.

A fourth development strategy is that for the PII to be part of the worldwide effort to build the regional and the global information infrastructure. This is the “global” initiative proposed for the PII.

The other development strategy is for the government to be by itself be a model user of the PII. Two initiatives have been crafted in order to address this felt need: the “government” and the “e-Governance” initiatives.

The last development strategy proposed for the PII is to support the development of electronic commerce in the country by providing it with an adequate and safe Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

An important conclusion that was reached in formulating these development strategies is that the success of the PII initiative will ultimately depend on the efficient and effective partnership of the government and the private sector. Government must provide the leadership, planning parameters, direction and develop the legal regulatory and policy environment that will enable the development of the PII on an accelerated basis.

Another conclusion is that with the presence of a highly competitive environment, there is a need for government to balance efficient competition with effective regulation. The gains that have painstakingly been made must at all times be protected from both internal and external threats.

Based on these conclusions, it is clear that the development of the PII must be undertaken on a planned, integrated and supported basis. It is also clear that there must be a sustained national effort where government and the private sector work closely in effective partnership, sharing the goal of developing the PII and ultimately, achieving universal service and universal access to information. An important conclusion reached in this context is that the development of the PII must not only be accelerated, it must also be rationalized.

With the private sector entities operating independently of one another, there is a serious need for coordination and integration of various plans, projects and operations.

From this critical finding stems a fundamental recommendation: a strategic national development plan must be formulated. While this would essentially focus on the various aspects of developing, deploying and operating the PII components, it must also serve to complement the country’s over-all national development plan.

The goal of this proposed strategic national development plan for the PII should be the acceleration and rationalization of the PII development process---a recurrent theme in this PII Framework Proposal.

In order for this goal to be realized the Filipino people must be rallied behind it by the national leadership. This is a responsibility that must be recognized by the present administration as well as those which will succeed it. The responsibility is mainly on the executive branch of government but the legislative branch share in it too. The PII vision cannot be realized without a firm commitment and commensurate action from our nation’s executives, decision-makers and lawmakers.

Before this goal of attaining the PII vision can be attained, it is important that a course of action be identified and developed and it is this that will give direction to the march towards the goals set for the PII.

This PII Framework Proposal presents this in the following three carefully crafted “packages of concepts and ideas” for consideration and possible adoption:

· the PII Action Agenda described in terms of seven Strategic Themes and thirty-seven Action Plans;

This set of goal-directed and time-bound recommendations constitute the action-oriented portion of this PII Framework Proposal.

On the over-all, this final study output of the PII Policy Study Project presents a legal, regulatory and policy framework as well as action-oriented, reform-minded and work-directed plans, programs and proposals. Taken together they constitute a consolidated and integrated “action proposal” for the PII. If they are implemented efficiently and effectively, they will accelerate and rationalize the development of the PII.

This is what this PII Framework Proposal – the final study output that the team of Filipino consultants painstakingly worked on for a year - is all about. This proposal when finally considered and approved is envisioned to serve as the core of the “PII Framework for Development.”

A most important final conclusion is that the momentum that has been established for the PII development process must not only be sustained, a broader consensus for it must be developed.

In order to achieve this, it is recommended that a high-level joint government and private sector national council for the PII should be established right after the PII Policy Study Project ends. The national council should be organized in accordance with an executive order signed by the President of the Philippines. It is the national council that should take over from where the PII project ended its work and take it to the next higher level of achievement and accomplishment. This is the context of the final strategic initiative proposal, the “sustaining” initiative.