NSO e-Census tops 1st Philippine e-Government Awards

The National Statistics Office (NSO) garnered top marks at the recently held 1st Philippines e-Government Awards by winning the Overall Excellence Award for e-Census (www.eCensus. com.ph), the online service facility of the NSO-Civil Registry System (NSO-CRS) project.

The recognition is bestowed on the government agency that best accomplishes its functions using electronic data messages or electronic documents. NSO obtained this honor upon the unanimous decision of the Board of Judges, led by Abet dela Cruz, co-chairman, legal and regulatory committee of the Information Technology and E-Commerce Council.

e-Census also won in the e-Filing category, an award given to the government agency that shows exemplary performance in the creation, filing, or retention of government documents in the form of electronic data messages or electronic documents.

Carmelita N. Ericta, NSO administrator and civil registrar general, received both awards for the agency. Erica said: "This award is a proud moment for everyone in the NSO and everyone who worked on the computerization project. We hope that this will encourage other government agencies and organizations to pursue their own computerization projects and to fully use the technological resources available to improve further the government’s delivery of services to the public."

In line with the vision towards e-governance, e-Census started serving the public lasst year as an alternative channel for requesting copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates online – anytime and anywhere. After confirmation of request submission and payment, the request is processed and the courier delivers the document at the requester’s preferred address.

The requester can use the request status query feature that allows users to inquire for an update on the status of the requests made through the e-Census website. The web component of the NSO-CRS project was developed by Unisys Philippines, through a tripartite agreement among NSO, Unisys, and Pilipinas TeleServ, Inc.

Aside from civil registry services, e-Census also provides general information on the NSO-CRS project as well as vital statistics reports and NSO publications. The future e-Census service will include requests for certificates of no marriage record or CENOMARs.

NSO recently adopted the PayPlus+ online payment facility to provide an e-payment scheme for document requests made through the e-Census website. The PayPlus+ online payment facility, which is operated by Yehey.com, conveniently allows a client with an ATM account in a BancNet-member bank to complete the payment process online without the need to physically go to the bank.

The Philippine e-Government Awards are given by the Philippine Internet Commerce Society (PICS) in recognition of government agencies’ relevant IT projects complying with the e-Commerce Law. Held during the annual e-Commerce Congress and Exhibit at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati, the 1st Philippine e-Government Awards served to cultivate the development of excellence in governance with the use of information technology.