APD | Stable and supportive policy environment needed

By APD writer Melo M. Acuña

Information and Communication Technology Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II said while Filipinos are innately digital and tops in terms of internet usage and long hours spent on social media, the economic potential should be harnessed through a stable and supportive policy environment.

“We have a young intelligent work force now being tapped by a vibrant BPO industry that could further expand to new spaces like software development, creative digital arts like game development, content development for online streaming platforms, digital post-production services, online marketing campaigns and e-commerce that are now taking over the retail sector,” Secretary Honasan said in his keynote address on a forum on “Innovative Philippines” at New World Hotel in Makati City.

He added even the country’s archipelagic geography is not a deterrent to the borderless power of ICT.

He vowed to deliver fast internet connection to 104,000 access points across the country which is envisioned to give free WiFi services to about 25 million users in unserved areas.

“This will be a game changer that will radically reduce costs and boost connectivity speeds of our whole government and enable the adoption of cloud-based solutions to automate operations at all levels of government agencies,” he added.

Secretary Honasan, a former member of the Senate of the Philippines said they have developed its priority infrastructure projects which includes the National Broadband Program (NBP) to deploy broadband connectivity to distant, remote places of the nation utilizing and converging public-private sources.

Within the next three years, Secretary Honasan said, would activate 111 nodes using National Grid Corporation’s spare fiber to enable growth in the three main islands of the country. The National Grid Corporation is a consortium of three corporations which include the State Grid Corporation of China. They also plan to build at least 20 cable landing stations with more than a thousand kilometers of submarine cable laid out to bring more links to the international gateway.

He also stressed the need for the national Identification system to have baseline data management to seriously leapfrog into the digital age.

Lastly, Secretary Honasan said the country is stuck in self-inflicted medium-term development planning and would break the cycle through policy intervention, public-private collaboration and convergence.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)