Held
in conjunction with the Philippine OpenGov Leadership Forum, the OpenGov
Recognition of Excellence (RoE) 2018 aims to set new benchmarks for government
ICT innovation in the ASEAN and ANZ regions.
This
year, OpenGov recognised and celebrated 7 government agencies and city from the
Philippines for striving towards excellence in ICT strategies, policies and
initiatives.
Philippines
has embarked on an exciting digital transformation journey, seeking to improve
the lives of citizens through the use of digital technology. This year’s
OpenGov Recognition of Excellence award winners (in alphabetical order) are as
below.
Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas
OpenGov recognised Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the launch of two specific Automated Clearing Houses (ACH), the Philippine EFT System and Operations Network (PESONet) and InstaPay during 2017.
As the first prioritised ACH under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS), the PESONeT is a safe, affordable and reliable batch electronic fund transfer credit payment stream.
Using the PESONet, transfer of funds are processed in bulk, making recurring payments convenient and efficient. With government support and industry participation, PESO Net modernises the country’s retail payment system by serving as an alternative to the check system.
Supported by 33 BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs), the PESONet helps the Philippines to shift from a heavily cash-reliant to a cash-lite society with greater financial inclusion. It will make business-to-business (B2B), and customer-to-business (C2B) payments more practical; enable corporations to credit salaries to respective existing accounts of their employees without need for the creation of special payroll accounts; enable the digitisation of government-to-government (G2G) and person-to-government (P2G) collections and payments.
PESONet also provides an opportunity for smaller industry players such as thrift and rural banks to have greater participation in the retail payment system. Other expected gains from PESONet are lowered costs; more efficient budget administration on government’s part; better liquidity management on private businesses’ side; and increased economic activity due to the accelerated velocity of payments and immediate availability of funds.
Another prioritised ACH, Instapay, facilitates real-time electronic fund transfers with its 24/7 service and instant credit to beneficiary accounts. It is a real-time low-value push payment scheme for transaction amounts up to P50,000. This is a new retail payment system designed to facilitate small value payments that will be especially useful for paying for toll fees and tickets, and for e-commerce to enable MSMEs.
Users of InstaPay will be able to accept digital payments in both e-money and bank accounts. This allows financial transactions to be performed simply and quickly through electronic payments. Together with PESONet, Instapay will promote seamless electronic fund transfers and payments between and among accounts in the Philippines.
City of Santa Rosa
OpenGov
recognised the City of Santa Rosa for innovative and disruptive use of
technology through optimisation of government processes, delivering
citizen-centric services and pushing new boundaries.
Department of Finance
OpenGov
is recognising the Department of Finance (DOF)
for its work in developing in the TradeNet
platform. The platform became operational by the end of 2017.
TradeNet
is expected to minimise costs of doing business, shorten the processing time of
import/export clearances, reduce the number of transactions and required documents
to be submitted, and remove bureaucratic red-tape that has plagued businesses
and citizens when dealing with the government.
Initially,
16 government agencies were connected online to TradeNet. It is expected to
have a total of 66 government agencies on-board progressively over the course
of the next two to three years. 20
Philippines government agencies are expected to go online under the ASW
platform between the first and second quarters of 2018.
The
TradeNet Platform will serve as the country’s link to the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) gateway. The ASW is a regional
initiative that aims to speed up cargo clearances and promote economic
integration by enabling the electronic exchange of border documents among the
organisation’s 10 member-states. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand
are already using the ASW to exchange information on customs clearances.
Department of Finance, Department
of Information and Communications Technology,
and Department of the Interior and Local Government
OpenGov
is recognising the Department of
Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG),
and DOF for the launch of the Philippines
Business Data Bank (PBDB).
PBDB
will play a key role in the Philippine Government’s anti-red tape
program (ARTA) to improve the ease of doing business in the country. It
aims to streamline the application and renewal of business permits through
online sharing of information by government agencies involved in the process.
Through the PBDB, government agencies would be able to verify the existence of
a business entity using a single reference document. The PBDB would also allow
the public to verify the existence of a specific business entity. The system
will provide the information by accessing data from various sources. The PBDB’s
web-based application can be accessed via the National Government Portal.
Department of Labor and Employment
OpenGov
is recognising the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) for the introduction of the iDOLE Overseas Foreign Workers
ID Card for returning OFWs, with the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration (OWWA) funding the card production. In recognition to overseas
workers’ sacrifices and contribution to the country, the iDOLE ID card is
provided for free to OFWs.
The
new and free ID allows OFWs to fast track government transactions including
travel tax and terminal fee exemptions, contributions with the Social Security Systems (SSS) and Philhealth, and information related
to overseas employment. The cross-agency
iDOLE system helps to build a more reliable, updated and complete Labour Market
Information System (LMIS) for employment facilitation.
With
the launch of the iDOLE OFWs will no longer need to queue in transacting with
agencies for their overseas employment as they can now access government
services online during the further phases of the iDOLE eServices
implementation.
The
first phase of the system links DOLE with the
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
The
iDOLE system will further interlink the databases of DOLE offices and agencies
with other government agencies for a more reliable, updated and complete Labor
Market Information System (LMIS) for employment facilitation purpose.
Land Bank of the Philippines
OpenGov
is recognising the Land Bank of the
Philippines (LBP) for the launch of a cashless payment facility for
government fees.
The
first Inclusive Banking Center (IBC), housed at the Land
Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) head office in
Quezon City, has two point-of-sale terminals, an automated teller machine and a
cash deposit machine.
IBC
is an interconnected and interoperable facility with Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals
linked to the agency’s cashiering system to enable payment of government fees
through any bank’s ATM or debit cards. Client-payors who do not have ATM cards
for use in paying thru the POS terminal will be provided with pre-generated ATM
cards. The facility also houses ATM machines and a Cash Deposit Machine for
real-time deposits to the pre-generated ATM cards.
The
establishment of the IBC helps to streamline its processes for the ease and
convenience of its payor-clients. Also, part of the agreement is the
establishment of a safe, efficient, and reliable electronic retail payment
system that aims to replace existing cash transactions susceptible to graft and
corruption. This mode of payment enables the use of all bank cards for payment
of fees, penalties, and franchises.
National Privacy Commission
OpenGov
is recognising the National Privacy
Commission (NPC) for defending privacy rights of Filipino citizens and
building public trust in digital economy. Tasked to implement the provisions of
the Data Privacy Act, the
NPC protects the digital lives of its citizens from privacy breaches.
The NPC works to ensure the
personal data protection in the Philippines, both by the Government and the
private sector, is in compliance with international standards of data
protection. By upholding the principles of transparency, purpose and
proportionality in data protection, the NPC is contributing to the building of
public trust in the digital domain.
