Press Statement

In behalf of all the organizations and individuals that are strongly urging His Excellency Benigno Simeon Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines, to restore the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) which was dissolved by virtue of Executive Order No. 47, we are publicizing this list of major accomplishments of CICT as contributed by all the stakeholders this past weeks. These are just among the many accomplishments of CICT.

We are saddened that many individuals including top-level executives are unaware of the works of CICT so as to halt its operations, and with the commentaries of so-called ICT professionals that CICT has not done anything.

As stakeholders, we have observed that ICT events and programs are never as newsworthy and controversial as other stories, that we are not surprised that a big sector of our population are unaware of the extent to the impact that will be caused by the abolition of the CICT.

1. Initiated and supported the formation of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), composed of more than 35 ICT councils of various cities and provinces committed to the vision of transforming the Philippines as the top ideal IT-BPO destination in the world
   
   
2. The 2010 automated elections that was under the guidance and direction of CICT. When the legislature was amending the law to automate the elections, one of the CICT commissioners was chairman of the Senate's Technical Working Group, and another was chairman of the House's TWG. The resulting law (RA 9369) is a law that is tech-neutral and will continue to serve the country and its electorate for many years to come. Sec. Ray Roxas Chua and the CICT TWG did a great job of ensuring transparency in the the whole process from bidding to actual implementation. Because of the automated elections, results were known just within days, and there was general public confidence -- for the first time in recent history -- in the fairness and validity of the poll results. And except for a few places, the elections were also free from the usual violence that marred the actual ballot casting, counting and canvassing.
   
   
3. Initiated and led the creation of the Philippine Digital Strategy 2011-2015 in consultation with various key stakeholders for A digitally empowered, innovative, globally competitive and prosperous society where everyone has reliable, affordable and secure information access in the Philippines. A government that practices accountability and excellence to provide responsive online citizen-centered services. A thriving knowledge economy through public-private partnership.
   
   
4. Assisted and supported formation of iCafe Pilipinas
   
   
5. Oversee implementation of ICT component in JPEPA
   
   
6. Provide oversight to computerization of elections in 2010
   
   
7. Bankroll trade promotion for game development, animation, medical transcription, call center and software development sectors
   
   
8. Formulated and implemented strategy for Next Wave Cities - which enabled the dispersion of IT-BPO investments outside of Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, formulate and implement strategy for Cyber-Corridor - which guided telecommunications investments across provinces that lacked broadband last-mile connections.
   
   
9. Assisted in the formation of more than twenty multi-stakeholder ICT councils in different provinces and cities
   
   
10. Encourage and supported the networking of ICT councils with industry associations such as the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and undertook ICT-BPO road shows to the provinces
    
    
11. Initiated the iSchools program wherein 1,000 public high schools all over the Philippines were provided with a Wireless Internet Learning Laboratories with 21 computers and multimedia tools; an elibrary management system; and trained more than 20,000 teachers in integrating ICT4BE (ICT for Basic Education) towards bridging the digital divide in public school education
12. Developed over 180 Modules converting it into Digital Modules for the Out of School Youth and Adult. This is already available with the ALS BALS of Dep Ed.. This is thru the eSkwela Project and the Content Development Project of CICT-HCDG.
    
    
13. Conducted PC Recycling and E-Waste Management for over 600 public high schools and trained over 2,000 ICT Coordinators and Lab Managers from public high schools beyond those covered by the iSchools Project in 2007 and 2008. Currently conducting PC Recycling 2.0 in 400 public high schools all over the country.
    
    
14. The eQuality program, which is a partnership between the Human Capital Development Group of the CICT and State Colleges and Universities (SUC), seeks to bridge the gap between academe and industry, in the hope of producing FIlipino ICT professionals prepared to meet the needs of emerging ICT industries in the country. CICT has conducted more than a dozen trainer's training to enhance the Human ICT Resources of the partner SUCs. The SUCs have then become the front liners of CICT in implementing flagship programs such as iSchools, eSkwela, Creative Content Development and PC Recycling.
    
    
15. CICT also has initiated the Responsible Use of ICT (an awareness campaign on the responsible use of the Internet; cyber crimes awareness; intellectual property rights and the like..) among students, Out of School Youths and communities, in partnership with Korean ICT council.

Reference:
http://www.philcecnet.ph
http://elgu.ncc.gov.ph/
http://www.ncc.gov.ph/
http://ischools.ph