Internet Society inks MoU with DICT for strong internet foundation in the Philippines

By Digital News Asia July 10, 2018

To guide the development of the country’s National ICT Ecosystem Framework (NIEF) 2022
A roadmap for the management, and development of national ICT data

Internet Society inks MoU with DICT for strong internet foundation in the Philippines

THE Internet Society, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet announced today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to guide the development of the country’s National ICT Ecosystem Framework (NIEF) 2022.

The NIEF -- a successor to the Philippine Digital Strategy initiative from 2011-2016 -- will serve as a roadmap for the management, and development of national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) data in the country’s plans, programmes, and projects.

This initiative underscores the DICT’s commitment to helping the nation access information and communication technologies to promote innovation and development of the ICT sector.

Approximately 67 million people are connected to the Internet in the Philippines, making ICT a key area of development.

The government has focused its efforts on stimulating industry competition with the selection of a New Major Player (NMP) in the Public Telecommunications Market, aided by policies that lower interconnection rates, establish domestic roaming and promote infrastructure sharing.

The National ICT Ecosystem Framework 2022 aims to achieve an environment that includes integrated planning and policy measures to encourage different parties to use ICT collaboratively while promoting accessibility, security and the sustainability.

"DICT’s several plans and programs make up the pieces of the puzzle that NIEF 2022 intends to put together. This multi-stakeholder approach allows different actors to interact in synergy, aimed at increasing the country’s rankings in terms of ICT use and development,” said Eliseo Rio Jr, officer-in-charge, DICT.

Together with Internet Society, DICT will adopt the multi-stakeholder approach for the development of the Framework, which includes conducting public consultations to engage with various sectors throughout the year. Subsequent projects and activities under these areas will also be planned using the same multi-stakeholder approach.

“Just as the Internet is open, interconnected and transnational, the multi-stakeholder approach gathers individuals and organisations from different sectors to share ideas that contribute to policy development, explains Rajnesh Singh, regional bureau director for Asia Pacific, Internet Society.

“This collaborative process encourages inclusivity and a wide variety of inputs that produce well informed outputs for effective implementation.

“The ICT environment is constantly evolving and different stakeholders are affected by specific issues. A collaborative approach is essential and the DICT is leading the way in this bottom-up approach,” said Rajnesh.