Taming the beast with technology

Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google recently stated, “Can you imagine this crisis without internet?” Without Internet, we would be totally blindsided by this pandemic.

Last week I wrote about the impact of technology – particularly information and communications technology or ICT – in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 and its damaging consequences to society and the economy.

Many countries have demonstrated the impact it has in containing and mitigating the pandemic. If this was the case, one of the most nagging questions I have is, where is the DICT in all of these? First off, they are not part of the IATF. They seem to be taking a low profile when I think they should be front and center. Here are two instances.

On April 3, Karlo Nograles, the IATF spokesperson, announced the implementation of a “Rapid Pass” system wherein accredited frontliners and authorized personnel will be issued the pass which contain a unique QR code containing encoded information about the holder. A QR code is a variation of the bar code that you see in products that your supermarket cashier scans at the checkout counter with a code reader thus speeding up the process. He added that the project was commissioned and authorized by DOST.

However, a banker friend of mine told me that it was DICT who was issuing the pass and it seemed logical to me. But adding to my confusion, my banker friend said his data is sent to BSP, which in turn, passes it on to DICT for issuance. Yesterday I finally had some clarity from DTI and they told me they process the application for manufacturing, logistics providers and retailers. The approved applications are then sent to DICT presumably as central custodian of the data, and then issues the physical card.

Now, for the process to work efficiently, there must be QR scanners at the checkpoint. With Monday the start of the M-ECQ, will there be enough scanners in place by then? Otherwise it will be total chaos with more people now allowed to go to work.

In my last column I wrote “But before we can unlock the promise of digital technology, we have to feed it with baseline data.” Regrettably, the Philippines and six other countries in the region are the only ones who have no national ID, unlike Singapore and Chinese Taipei. The national ID is being implemented by the Philippine Statistics Authority, an attached agency of NEDA, for purposes of policy coordination. Over the weekend, I learned that after two years of effort, a French company has been awarded the second phase of the contract.  It would seem that the bidding process is over. I suggest that President Duterte light a fire under the PSA bureaucracy and whoever else is involved. I hope DICT is involved. If not, it begs the question, why not?

As the country moves towards relaxing its quarantine regime, technology can play a valuable role in determining the timing of such relaxation as the government balances public health with economic dislocation. Strict quarantine enforcement alone – which the UN has characterized as highly militarized – will not counter a pandemic without increased testing, contact tracing, and boosting the capacity of local health systems. Governments around the world, including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong, Israel, Taiwan and China are combining technology with human effort for contact tracing and as a quarantine compliance mechanism.

I understand that our government is just now recruiting contact tracers. In Wuhan, each team had five members and they include a doctor, microbiologists, a nurse, a tech person and a policeman. So contact tracing is a manpower intensive activity. Fortunately, there are technological solutions involving smart phones, data analytics and AI that can make the process more accurate and cost-effective. How can we take advantage of these solutions? The short answer is we need more tech-savvy people in government.

Recently Secretary Sonny Dominguez boasted that he had an excellent batch of young men/women involved in IT, who contrary to the mores of the bureaucracy sport long hair, report to work in jeans and even some in flip-flops.  Perhaps that is the right approach to bring in young 21 to 30 year old, proficient or at least capable of learning the digital technology of today. DICT should find them and have them seconded to the department with a special budget to provide competitive private sector wages and funds for training abroad and even seconded to a tech company or to a Singapore IT agency. These young men/women are the promise of tomorrow beyond the Duterte administration.

Another approach adopted by other governments is to partner with the private sector which can deliver quick and tangible results. That requires a good understanding of technology on the part of government so they can ask private sector or IT developers to collaborate for quick solutions. It goes without saying that these agencies of government work under a regulatory and flexible environment which encourages them to be agile in making policy decisions.

The adoption of innovations from emerging digital technologies are oftentimes hampered by poor infrastructure, inadequate financing and bureaucratic constraints. The existential challenge that a pandemic of this nature presents provides strong incentives to overcome these constraints quickly and put new technology to the test. That is why it is important that the DICT – and the DOST – should be key players in the fight against COVID-19 and deserve a seat at the IATF as should the private sector, particularly those in technology.

COVID-19 has proven to be more than a match for BS – I don’t need to make reference to a particular politician because there are many around the world who scoffed at the virus. But with science and technology we have a fighting chance.