Tuesday, November 04, 2008 CICT hampered by lack of funds, status from helping developers
ITS status as “temporary” agency has prevented the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) from putting up software centers outside Metro Manila and help Filipino developers.
CICT Commissioner Angelo Timoteo Diaz de Rivera said the CICT does not have enough financial resources to partner with software companies and put up software centers in key areas, like Cebu, to encourage more users.
Diaz de Rivera said, though, that CICT’s information technology (IT)-enabled services are extended to various public and private sectors throughout the country.
CICT was created by President Arroyo in 2004, through Executive Order 269, as a transitory measure toward the creation of a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Its component agency is the National Computer Center (NCC).
Arroyo recently certified Senate Bill 2546, which creates DICT to supersede CICT, as requiring immediate enactment. This makes the CICT a sort of “temporary” agency.
Diaz de Rivera, also NCC director-general, told Sun. Star Cebu that CICT has been contemplating of putting up in strategic provinces centers—like the open source interoperability laboratory similar to the one that Microsoft Philippines will launch next month in partnership with CICT and NCC. This kind of laboratory is expected to boost development of open source technologies.
Laboratory
Microsoft’s interoperability laboratory in the country, located at the NCC, is targeted at students, IT professionals, software developers and organizations interested in testing the performance of their open source applications on the Microsoft platform. It is considered as the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region.
Bonifacio Belen, executive director for Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology, noted that Filipinos are equipped with technical skills, as far as OSS is concerned, but lack the infrastructure support like an OSS center to test their creations.
Diaz de Rivera disclosed that the Philippines still does not have a real physical center that is dedicated for OSS development and promotion. But he said it is feasible to have one due to the growing awareness and demand for OSS applications.
He cited Hong Kong as being among the very few areas in Asia with a well-equipped OSS center. The Hong Kong Open Source Software Center (HKOSSC), which opened last year, provides services like software porting, system testing, solution demonstration, technical support and software certification, among others.
HKOSSC is managed by the IT Industry Development Division of Hong Kong Productivity Council, whose principal consultant Gordon Lo sits as chairman of the Asia Open Source Software Center (AOSSC).
Diaz de Rivera said that while CICT represents the country in the association, its policy has always been “freedom of choice” when it comes to the use of OSS in the country. (NRC)
