Interconnectivity

At times, I suspect, people deploy long words to inflict dread.

In the long history of political and economic discourse, we have seen many of these long words used to make people shudder: Leviathan, Imperialism, Globalization. They do not mean very much, really. But their large footprint on the printed page comes down hard on the reader.

In a world of complex processes and profound concepts, long words are unavoidable. I cannot think of a shorter substitute for the word “intersubjectivity” in philosophical discourse and the sociology of communication.

Sometimes, long words stand for really simply things. But the rules of a language make the long words unavoidable.

Take, for instance, the word “interconnectivity.” In this modern world of digital communications, that appallingly long word denotes something really simple: the mutual accessibility of databases.

Interconnectivity enhances the value of each linked database. The databases could do more when they are networked than when they are not. Because of that, interconnectivity is always a good thing.

All over the world, governments have been actively promoting interconnectivity to ensure the free and open flow of information. It is all about transparency; also about efficiency and effective governance.

For instance, the US Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) maintains a large database of millions of vehicles and driver’s licenses. As a matter of course, that database is shared with all law enforcement agencies to help in the solution of crimes.

It is also shared with the insurance industry which uses the information to properly calibrate insurance premiums for drivers depending on their safety records. A vehicle or a driver with a long record of traffic accidents and violations is, quite reasonably, charged a higher premium commensurate to the higher risk. Insurance premium costs become an incentive for safer driving and a disincentive for bad vehicle maintenance and hazardous driving practices.

Lately, however, we have begun hearing people warn us about interconnectivity. They use the word as if it denotes something sinister, as if it was some lurking danger posed by some invisible conspiracy of malevolent men. To the uninitiated, those who warn about interconnectivity succeed in propagating fear — even if the fear is unfounded.

The warnings refer particularly to the on-going computerization of the LTO — our equivalent of the DMV. The large database of vehicle registration records and driver’s licenses being amassed by the LTO will eventually be fully interconnected with the databases of our law enforcement agencies, the Customs Bureau, the insurance industry and other sectors. The interconnection is stipulated in the contract entered into between the LTO and Stradcom, the information technology provider.

When the interconnection is completed, it will greatly enhance the capacity of our law enforcement agencies to access information about vehicles involved in criminal activities. Surely there cannot be anything wrong with that.

When the interconnection with the insurance industry is completed, this will allow us to flush out the scumbags who sell fake insurance policies that greatly harm consumers as well as pave the way for prorated charging of insurance premiums. Surely there cannot be anything wrong with that.

When the interconnection with the Bureau of Customs is done, we should be able to spot smuggled vehicles that somehow managed to be anomalously registered. Surely there are back taxes to be collected there and a few syndicates to be busted. Most of us should be pleased with that.

When interconnection with the Private Emission Testing Center system is established, we will solve the problem of fake Certificates of Emission Compliance which is the reason smoke-belchers still proliferate despite the passage of the Clean Air Act. Surely that will help alleviate the deadly smog that envelopes the city.

With full interconnection between the LTO and LTFRB, the problem of colorum public transport will finally be solved. For years, colorum vehicles manage to acquire registration because the cumbersome manual process of verifying franchises is vulnerable to corruption. Surely, the legitimate franchise holders will cheer the end of the colorum phenomenon through full interconnection between the vehicle registration database and franchises issued.

We now have MMDA-LTO interconnectivity. That has helped greatly in solving the problem of drivers who file for lost licenses rather than pay fines. Before interconnectivity, it was so easy for drivers to accumulate licenses. It was cheaper to get a replacement license than to pay the fines for violations.

Given all the above, who would want to picture interconnectivity as a specter the public should fear?

I could think of a few: the syndicates in the vehicle registration system who manage to get smuggled cars documented somehow; those who sell the same insurance policy many times over; those who sell fake emission certificates; those who field public utility vehicles without the proper franchises; and those who would rather get replacement driver’s licenses instead of paying the appropriate fines.

Inefficiency has many dubious beneficiaries. All of them have something to lose in a system that is transparent and efficient. They hate interconnectivity and the light this will bring to the crannies of the old manual system that enabled all sorts of rackets to proliferate.

For the rest of us, the dawn of interconnected databases is something to cheer. It helps realize the potentials of information technology to bring about good governance.