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Thursday, February 26, 2004
NCC gets P100M to computerize local governments
By Cherry T. Lim
THE National Computer Center’s (NCC) project to computerize local government units, the e-LGU, will get funding of P100 million this year.
“This year, we applied with the e-governance fund for P100 million. And with the support of Itecc,” NCC got the approval for the amount, Frederick Amores, group head of the NCC Visayas Office, yesterday told Sun.Star.
The P100 million will be good for two years.
Itecc or the Information Technology and E-Commerce Council is the highest policy-making body on information technology and electronic commerce in the country. It is chaired by President Arroyo.
The “Jumpstarting Electronic Governance in the Local Government Units,” or the e-LGU project was supposed to be a three-year project with an annual allocation of P15 million, but this year Transportation and Communications Secretary Virgilio Peña, who is also Itecc executive director, wanted to expand the project to include community e-centers, Amores said.
The target is to have 100 e-community centers in the country in the next two years. The e-community center would not be exclusive to a barangay but shared by various ba-rangays in a locality.
Peña is also chairman commissioner of the newly formed Commission on Information and Communications Technology.
The NCC is the primary office engaged in promoting information technology in government. It assists both national government agencies and local government units (LGU).
The e-LGU is a nationwide initiative that started last September 2002 with the NCC as the implementing arm and the Department of Science and Technology as the funding source.
The target beneficiaries are 250 pilot LGUs nationwide, including Talisay City, Dalaguete and San Remegio in Cebu.
Last year, the NCC already helped about 100, so there are just 150 to go.
Amores said the NCC was giving LGUs free software, built on open source technology, that would allow them to computerize their real property tax system, business permit and licensing system, and treasury operations as part of the e-LGU project.
In Central Visayas, the e-LGU suite is now being deployed in San Remegio in Cebu, Trinidad in Bohol, and Bayawan City in Negros Oriental, with the database buildup currently ongoing.
Alternative
Amores said the government was not trying to compete with the private sector in making local government software, but merely giving an alternative to poor local governments that cannot afford to buy licenses to use software made by private firms.
A check with vendors will show that local government software sold by private firms can cost anywhere from P500,000 to P30 million, which is out of the reach of small LGUs that have an annual budget of just P20 million, he said.
Considering the limited human resources of the NCC, the center is now forging partnerships with provincial governments, who will get the training.
These provincial governments will then be in charge of cascading this training down to the lower government levels.
“This year, Cebu Province is one of our beneficiaries. They are now drafting their IS (Information System) plan,” Amores said.
The e-LGU project also includes the establishment of websites by local government units and the formulation of standards so that LGUs using their own software can communicate and interact with LGUs using other software, including NCC’s software.
(February 26, 2004 issue)
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