MANILA, 30 April — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s decision to accept the chairmanship of the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC), upon the recommendation of Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II, signals the full commitment of her administration to develop the IT and e-commerce sectors. The president believes that IT is where the Philippines can compete in the global market.
Its skilled and English-speaking workers could help develop the country’s knowledge-based economy. Constituted as an agency to coordinate all information technology and e-commerce public initiatives, ITECC is composed of several government agencies with IT-related functions and representatives from the private sector.
The government agencies in ITECC include the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Transportation and Communications, Department of the Interior and Local Governments, National Economic and Development Authority, National Computer Center and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports. There are six private sector representatives in ITECC.
With the president heading ITECC, IT investors are assured of transparency and level playing field, Roxas said, adding that “the president can mandate agencies to move with greater speed and to devote more resources in harnessing the potentials of IT.” The emerging consensus is for the government to provide the correct policy environment to private investments in IT and related sectors, to be a lead user of IT services and to stimulate economic activities.
“Government must formulate clear policies that would allow the private sector to map out their long-term business strategies. It should establish such policies with clarity and conviction to ensure a positive, creative and optimal response from the private sector,” said an IT investor.
Certain quarters have urged the Arroyo administration to seriously address the issue of graft and corruption. They said graft and corruption is prevalent in many government agencies where huge amounts of money and resources are allocated, particularly in large government projects.
Technology, they said, could help stamp out graft and corruption in the bureaucracy. “If government adopts and institutionalizes electronic bidding, all transactions will become transparent and above board,” they said.
Some sectors, in fact, want the Arroyo administration to create a Department of Information Technology and Communications, integrating all functions of government agencies dealing with IT and communications. In batting for a separate IT department, proponents said the Philippines is lagging behind other Southeast Asian countries in the development of IT.
“It’s about time the government seriously considers this proposal. Among the countries in the region, only Singapore has a department of IT and communications,” they said, adding that a market-oriented approach would create a favorable environment for a more affordable, reliable and efficient access to information and communication services in the country.
Competition in these services would encourage the improvement and enhancement in the delivery of services, proponents believe.
Even without an IT department, this sector has become the driving force of the economy. Board of Investment (BoI) figures showed that in the first quarter alone there were 21 IT projects approved by BoI, with total investments of 6.35 billion pesos. These IT investments came after government completed an IT investment guidelines, where IT is included in the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).
The inclusion of IT in the IPP means that major IT projects are entitled to certain incentives, including a six-year income tax holiday. The IT projects that fall under this category include software development projects such as systems software and applications software. IT-enabled services, knowledge-based services, and other related services also get government incentives.