Partnership to promote e-governance

Microsoft Phils. and Stradcom International Holdings Inc. (SIHI) recently signed a memorandum of agreement that will enable the two companies to promote e-governance initiatives in the Philippines.

Under the MOU, Microsoft will provide SIHI with updates in technological advancements as well as certification and training programs such as Microsoft Certified Professional and Microsoft Office User Specialist for its personnel.

Microsoft will also assist SIHI in acquiring the necessary software licensing requirements, and in the integration of Internet and e-business technologies in e-governance projects.

SIHI will, in turn, adopt Microsoft technologies in its operations. It will also promote and endorse Microsoft technologies, licensing and training in its various e-governance solutions.

Both companies will be working together in joint marketing and branding, positioning themselves as the premier partners in e-governance.

SIHI is a holding corporation indirectly owned by principal shareholders Strategic Alliance Development Corp. (STRADEC) and Comfac Corp., through United Information Technology Inc. (UNITE), and ePLDT Inc. and International Finance Corp. (IFC).

The partnership will initially pursue the Land Transportation Office’s Information Technology (LTO-IT) Project, which is being undertaken by Stradcom Corp.

Stradcom Corp., wholly owned by SIHI, is the project company of the consortium that won the contract for the LTO-IT Project in a public bidding in1997.

The LTO-IT Project, the government’s first nationwide computerization project under the build-own-operate (BOO) scheme, aims to streamline LTO operations, including the issuance of driver’s licenses and registration of motor vehicles.

It involves the development and customization of front-end and back-end applications to support the transactions, as well as LTO’s financial and logistical operations; interconnectivity of all of the agency’s offices, creation of a data warehouse, and provisions for operations and maintenance services.

"This strategic partnership, in a way, shows how the private sector and business community are more than ready to help the Philippine government in (developing) the IT economy," said Richard Francis, Microsoft Phils. managing director.

The MOU is in line with the government’s vision to transform the country into a center for information and communications technology (ICT) and resource.

To achieve this, the government’s three-point agenda is geared toward developing the national ICT infrastructure, enhancing policy and ICT legislation, and creating a pool of globally certified and competitive IT professionals.