MOVING TOWARDS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

THERE is but one direction all sectors of the community must be heading - digital transformation.

Recognizing this, the Department of Information and Communications Technology will be staging the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) summit in Davao City on June 21 and 22.

The summit, the culminating event to the ICT month of June, carries the theme “Empowering the Filipino through Digital Transformation.”

In Memorandum Circular No. 45, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said heads of government departments, bureaus and offices must authorize their respective ICT executives, chief information officers, and other key personnel to attend the ICT summit.

“The National ICT Summit 2018 will be the venue for information sharing, presentation and discussion of programs, initiatives, policies and innovative solutions, as well as resolution of ICT issues and concerns, with particular emphasis on empowering government ICT executives, managers, and policy makers to fully support and implement the ‘Build, Build, Build’ Program of the President,” the circular read.

ICT Davao president lawyer Samuel Matunog said in an interview with SunStar Davao that the summit is necessary in achieving a common goal.

"It is significant in the sense that it highlights the role of Chief Information Officers (CIO), particularly in the public sector, in the digital transformation of the government bureaucracy," he said.

He emphasized that key issues like e-payments, open data, and blockchain technology.

Meanwhile, to ensure the success of the summit, Malacañang has called on government agencies, including government owned and controlled corporations, to support the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) summit in Davao City next week.

The circular, issued last June 8, also enjoined local government units and state universities and colleges to participate in the programs and activities related to the ICT summit.