P-Noy renames CICT to ICTO

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has renamed the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) and transferred it from the Office of the President to the Department of Science and Technology.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Executive Order 47 placed the ICTO under Science Secretary Mario Montejo.

Aquino named IT expert Ivan John Uy chairman of the CICT in August 2010.

Uy vowed to implement reforms and use e-government projects to achieve good governance.

He said the agency needs to put up a web portal where a single form can be used for all transactions with public offices.

Uy said a project called e-Bayad (e-Payment) will serve as a single payment gateway for government agencies with frontline services.

“As of now, the government is still made up of islands of information,” he said.

“For instance, if you want to put up a business, you still have to go to different agencies. We want to eliminate that and make it easy for investors to start a business here.”

Uy said his 15-year stint as chief information officer of the Supreme Court and his previous role as president of the CIO Forum Foundation have given him a good overview of the problems that need to be addressed in the bureaucracy.

As a lawyer, Uy is also expected to tackle a host of legal issues currently confronting the IT sector.

“We need to set clear-cut policies on data protection and formulate appropriate standards on electronic evidence which we can recommend for the courts to adopt,” Uy said.

He is a former lecturer of IT subjects at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

Uy said he is supporting the passage of IT-related bills currently pending in Congress, which include the proposed laws on cyber crime, data privacy, and the establishment of the Department of ICT.

As the second largest contributor to the local economy after overseas Filipino workers, the IT industry deserves to have its own department, he added.

Uy said the CICT intends to help various IT organizations market the Philippines in untapped areas such as Europe and some parts of the US.

“For us to maintain our competitiveness, we need to build up our human capital,” he said.

The government should bridge the digital divide between the urban and rural communities to generate jobs and pave the way for reverse migration, he added.

The National Telecommunications Commission is an attached agency of the CICT.

As gatekeeper of the P1-billion e-government fund available to all government agencies, the CICT chief said he is also working hard to protect the budget from being reduced by also implementing cost-cutting measures being undertaken by the administration.

Meanwhile, Malacañang announced the appointment of two ambassadors and officials for the Land Registration Authority, National Transmission Corp. and the National Economic and Development Authority.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio dzRB that Wilfredo Maximo was named new ambassador to Cuba with concurrent jurisdiction over Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.

Constancio Vingno Jr. was appointed ambassador to South Africa with concurrent jurisdiction over Angola, Botswana, Kingdom of Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Kingdom of Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  – With Aurea Calica, Lawrence Agcaoili