LTO EMPLOYEES TO CONTROL IT SYSTEMS

THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) information technology (IT) system will be run and managed by LTO employees by 2024.

LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Teofilo Guadiz 3rd announced on Monday that by that time, the LTO’s contract with its IT provider would have ended.

“No more outsiders will be running the system. We will be the one who will run it,” Guadiz said as he expressed optimism that a more efficient and fully digitalized agency will be in place, one that can address the needs of the motoring public.

Germany-based Dermalog has been LTO’s IT provider since 2018.

Calls have mounted for the LTO to look for another IT provider to replace Dermalog amid complaints of slow transactions for the application and renewal of driver’s licenses as well as in the processing of vehicle registration.

Aside from the slow processing of documents, other issues discussed were the difficulty in seeking appointment dates and dayslong completion of transactions through the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).

The LTMS is part of the digital shift program of the national government. In 2018, LTO awarded the said IT project, through a Joint Venture Agreement, to Dermalog and three other local companies.

Guadiz reported that when he looked at the number of IT experts at its Management Information Division (MID), there were only 28 of them, and he is looking to have the number increased further.

“We need to increase the number of personnel to handle the MID to adequately address the needs of the different regions,” he said.

Guadiz said that by next year, he will ask for more funding to be able to achieve the increase in IT personnel at the MID.

He explained the need to increase the number of personnel so that by the year 2024, the agency will be able to run the system on its own.

“This is what I envision for the future of LTO, a digitalized LTO with its own IT system. If there will be slowdowns, which I hope will not happen again, we will only have ourselves to blame,” he emphasized.

Next year, Guadiz said the LTO will have a planning session, the first time in the history of the agency for its senior officers.