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Friday, June 24, 2005
Only 5% of Pinoys can use Internet: CICT
ONLY five percent of Filipinos have access to the Internet, according to a government official.
“It’s not too evident because we see a lot of Internet cafes. But if you go outside urban areas, Internet use is very rare. Others have Internet access but don’t appreciate the value of it,” said Virgilio Peña, chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
The challenge for the ICT sector now is to motivate the 95 percent of the country’s population to use the Internet and other technology, he said Wednesday on the sidelines of the 1st International Conference and Exhibition on Business and ICT at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
Fund
The ICT commission has an e-government fund to be used for the development of government systems.
“Part of that fund will be for the putting up of 200 to 250 e-community centers that will serve as Internet centers in local municipalities nationwide, where they can process applications such as property taxes, business licenses; and (for) computers with Internet connection in public high schools for the students and teachers’ educational resources,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
The commission aims to put 5,000 computers in public high schools nationwide.
“We’re almost there. With the help of the Department of Trade and Industry, we have already distributed around 3,000 computers nationwide. The challenge here is connecting them to the Internet,” Peña said.
“Around P200 million is allocated for this project for this year alone. That should be able to cover more areas in the country,” Peña said.
In his speech during the conference, Peña said that while the government is building up its digital infrastructure, priority should also be placed on human capital development. ALC
(June 24, 2005 issue)
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