The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is gearing up to look beyond the pandemic and prepare for the future as it works on the country’s economic recovery programme. During a recent business conference, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, Karl Kendrick T. Chua stated, “we are focused on two things: the current problem and the future.”
The NEDA chief urged the agency to focus on four major areas to build far better foundations for the future administration to accomplish the country’s ‘Ambisyon Natin 2040,’ in which no one lives in extreme poverty. The ‘Ambisyon Natin 2040’ is a twenty-five-year long term vision developed by the Philippine government as a guide for development planning.
Smart infrastructure, innovation, regional equity, and climate change are the four key areas. Smart infrastructure, according to Chua, would include existing road infrastructure into the concept of smart cities, where principles of urban mobility and development are at the centre of infrastructure.
Transportation, digital communication, planning, land use, and the environment are all included. Meanwhile, innovation will spur the development of new ideas across a variety of industries, allowing the country to compete on a worldwide scale. Aside from technology developments, innovation also includes changes to systems and processes, particularly in essential industries such as agriculture.
Chua also talked about the importance of regional equity. According to him, the government must pay close attention to resource allocation to ensure that the poorest communities, which have the greatest shortages in social services, receive adequate funding. Climate change is the fourth critical subject he addressed, noting that it sets the stage for all current and future development challenges.
Chua emphasised NEDA’s knowledge management programme when asked about the government’s digitalisation efforts and ongoing initiatives. Chua stated that NEDA is forming a data science team to combine all datasets and establish a “single source of truth” within the organisation. “This will enable us to be more productive without working longer hours, just searching or reconciling data from different sources that are crucial for policymaking.”
These are just a few of the initiatives NEDA is implementing to support the next administration’s efforts. These improvements will be included in proposals for the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), he stated. While the establishment of a data science team within NEDA is part of the national digital transformation strategy, it is not just focused on technology, which he believes accounts for only 10% of the strategy. He claims that governance plays a role in these efforts, including the construction of legal and technological frameworks as well as system structures. This is where 30% of the effort goes.
Chua also emphasised the need for the Philippine Identification System, which strives to provide genuine evidence of identity to every Filipino. This will enable the government to efficiently implement its social protection initiatives.
NEDA is lobbying for revisions to the Public Service Act, Retail Trade Liberalisation, and the Foreign Investment Act, among other economic liberalisation laws. These bills will loosen constraints to attract all of the essential innovation, investment, technology management, and technological know-how to provide better products and services at cheaper prices to our citizens.
OpenGov Asia reported the National Economic and Development Authority has stressed the importance of data science, analytics, and digital transformation that would help make better policies and deliver better services in government.
He acknowledged to the participants at the 2021 Analytics Summit PH the importance of digitalisation during the pandemic when social protection programmes must be delivered efficiently using information and communications technology (ICT). “I have always believed and advocated for digital transformation within the government to strengthen policy-making and service delivery. The government and businesses alike need to use data science to make better policies. This has become even more urgent in the new normal,” the NEDA director-general said.
