UN agency helps boost digital services in Bangsamoro

MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will aid the Bangsamoro region in delivering more effective public services through better technology.

The UNDP and the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government of the Bangsamoro region recently partnered for the Localizing e-Governance for Accelerated Provision of Services (LeAPS) program, which aims to make public service delivery more effective, efficient and accessible in the region and in Mindanao.

The program also seeks to help government agencies and local government unit (LGUs) in using information and communications technology to simplify business processes, improve quality and speed of public services and make it more accessible to the people.

MILG minister Naguib Sinarimbo said the Bangsamoro region has been delayed in terms of development gains and there is an urgent need to catch up not just with the rest of the country, but globally, as well.

“The global experience is that technology can bridge the gap in development,” he said.

UNDP Philippines president Selva Ramachandran, for his part, said businesses would have to continue as the country starts to open gradually.

“Digitalization plays a particularly significant role in the provision of critical public services to make sure that we leave no one behind,” he said.

An initial phase of the program was already piloted in two LGUs.

The program is now expected to be wide-scale in Bangsamoro in a bid to transform local governance in the region through governance decentralization and fostering a culture of innovation in the public service delivery starting this year.

The project will run for the next two years to cover at least 29 additional municipalities and ministries.

It is expected to pave the way for the five-year digital transformation roadmap of the region after 2023 which will cover all 116 municipalities and barangays in the region.

LeAPS aims to transform local governance in the region by accelerating connectivity in communities and opening governance through improved access to services and information, community enterprise development, assisted rural e-commerce, and skills development.

It also targets to overcome the reliance on archaic, paper-based, and manual processes within and among LGUs.