Citing lessons from the pandemic, Sen. Bong Go refiled in the 19th Congress the E-governance bill to make government more responsive to the changing times.
The measure, he said, would institutionalize the transition of the government to e-governance in the digital age as he cited lessons the country has learned from the pandemic.
The bill also mandates the government to establish an integrated, interconnected, and interoperable information and resource-sharing and communications network spanning the entirety of the national and local government, an internal records management information system, an information database, and digital portals for the delivery of public services.
The measure likewise pushes for the digitization of paper-based and other traditional modes of workflows for a more efficient and transparent public service.
Go noted that the transition of the government to the digital age has been a long time coming.
“The government must use the information and communications technology to better serve its purpose and get closer to the people in an era where practically everything can be done online and through other digital channels,” Go said.
The senator also mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic “highlighted gaps, both foreseen and unforeseen, in the delivery of government services in the country.”
At the height of the pandemic, Go noted, long queues and physical appointments with government agencies, financial institutions, and other public offices burdened the public.
He added that major government social services and programs were also forced to shut down, limiting the public’s accessibility to public services at a time when the same was needed the most.
“This bill takes into consideration what we have learned from what has been and is being done, drawing from the experiences of technologically-advanced countries and the best practices of those who have started the push for e-governance, to initiate the country’s first big step to an institutional and whole-of-government approach to digitizing governance for a better government and a safer future,” Go mentioned.
Under Go’s proposed measure, the heads of government agencies are mandated to comply with the requirements of the proposed E-governance roadmap, including related standards for all Information and Communications Technology infrastructure, systems, equipment, designs, and other technologies promoted by the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
The DICT will also be mandated to harmonize and coordinate all national ICT plans and initiatives to ensure knowledge, information and resource-sharing, database-building, and agency networking linkages among agencies, consistent with e-government objectives.
The bill also provides for the establishment of the Integrated Government Network (IGN) which will act as the primary means for the sharing and communication of resources, information, and data through digital and electronic platforms across the government.