DSWD working with Microsoft, ADB on CCT software

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is looking to roll out a software solution with Microsoft Philippines and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) this year which will improve the monitoring of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

“We are working with ADB and Microsoft in developing a program that would assist, empower and build the capacities of NGOs (non-government organizations) and civil society organizations to increase their capacity in monitoring the CCT (program),” DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman told reporters at the sidelines of the Microsoft NGO Connection Day last week.

She said the software, which is targeted for rollout by June, is supposed to help improve the capacity of NGOs working in areas where CCT grants are being distributed, in sending feedback or complaints to the DSWD and for the government to quickly respond to these concerns.

She said that while the DSWD gets feedback or complaints via text messages from NGOs, it takes time for the department to validate and respond to these matters.

With the software, De Lima said the validation of complaints will be done much faster and the department can likewise give a quicker response to them.

The ADB, she said, is extending a $2.5-million grant for the DSWD’s social welfare and development reform program. A portion of it will be used for the software’s rollout and the training of NGOs. Soliman said Microsoft will provide the software and training.

Soliman said they hope to finalize details of the agreement with Microsoft and ADB by the end of April.

For his part, John Bessey, managing director of Microsoft Philippines, said Microsoft is helping in the government’s thrust to address poverty as it is committed to its operations in the country.

As the Philippines is projected to become one of the largest economies in the world by 2050, Bessey said Microsoft wants to play a role in helping it develop its potentials.