PLDT Group said Tuesday it is pushing for the continued narrowing of the digital divide in support for the government’s e-governance mandate.
“Governments around the world are now under pressure from rapid globalization, fiscal, social and technological changes to provide services that are citizen-centric, efficient, transparent, and effective. For e-governance to succeed, a country must narrow and bridge the existing digital divide,” Smart vice president and head of regulatory affairs Roy Ibay said.
Ibay, in a recent panel at the Cybersphere Philippines 2023 forum, noted the importance of fundamental structural changes in government to ensure that an e-government platform would be maximized.
“For e-governance to succeed, a government must ensure an organized, clean and corruption-free system of doing and implementing its activities. The cart cannot be put before the horse. Otherwise, digitalizing and expanding government services through a digital platform in whatever current system there is will only magnify the problems or defects, instead of hastening their solution,” Ibay said.