Commissioner Angelo Timoteo M. Diaz de Rivera

telecentre.org is finally in its new home. Yesterday, March 3, 2010, international and local dignitaries as well as stakeholders of the Philippine telecentre movement witnessed the launch and turnover of the telecentre.org program from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to the telecentre.org Foundation based in the Philippines.

(3 March 2010, Manila) - The telecentre.org Foundation which improves the social and economic impact of grassroots telecentres around the world is pleased to announce that it has officially opened its doors today in the Philippines. The international initiative is now transferred from Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), where it was housed and grown since 2005, to the telecentre.org foundation, an independent, non-governmental organization based in Manila.

A technical training on Linux, mySQL and PHP was conducted by the League of Municipalities of the Philippines - Mayor’s Development Center (LMP-MDC), Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) and the eGovernance for Municipal Development (eGov4MD) Inc. from February 15-20, 2010 at the National Computer Center – Field Operations Office laboratory in Quezon City.

Finally, a passport to go IT!

The local government unit of Tanauan, Leyte has been cognizant of the increasing number of barangay officials and other professionals in the locality who are interested to undergo ICT– related trainings.

In observance of the 20th National Statistics Month, the National Computer Center (NCC) – Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) participated in the interagency tree planting activity which was conducted in Barangays Capihan and Sampaloc in San Rafael Bulacan, last October 30, 2009.

A great amount of time in a person’s life is spent interacting with the government. The most common interaction with the government starts after a baby is born, when the parents register his birth at the nearest local government unit (LGU). From childhood to adulthood, either his parents or he himself would require an information or a service from the barangay, from the city hall or from the national government agency (NGA). When he dies, the last interaction with the government will be the filing of his death certificate by his loved one.

Bidding 1:   3 units Notebook Computer   Total Budget :   Php180,00.00      Specs Fee:   Php100.00


Bidding 2:  Total Budget Php740,000.00   RFP  Fee Php500.00
 
               10 units Notebook PC                       Php600,000.00
               10 units  Inkjet Printer                              50,000.00
                 1 unit    3-in-1 Color Laser Printer            90,000.00


Bidding 3:   Total Budget    Php710,000.00    Specs    Fee Php500.00

                1   unit  High Resolution DLP/LCD Projector        Php150,000.00
              16   units Digital Camera                                          240,000.00
                1   unit   DSLR Camera                                            80,000.00
                3   unit   Digital Video Camera                                 240,000.00


Interested bidders can acquire the above specs from NCC-FOO Cashier, Edna B. Estigoy   starting July 23, 2009.  thanks.

To sufficiently prepare for the proper administration of the eSkwela Program at the Siay Community eCenter (CeC), Mr. Linmer D. Perolino and Engr. Romeo T. Ojas, Jr. participated in the conduct of the eSkwela Learning Facilitators Training held last June 15-19, 2009 at the Northern Mindanao Institute of Science and Technology in Butuan City.

“The condition, intention and passion of the heart really matters.”

The Department Agrarian Reform (DAR) Regional Office 10 is now online with its new Joomla website. It was officially launched last June 23, 2009 during the 21st CARP Celebration, a result of the combined hard work of the DAR-10 staff, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the National Computer Center (NCC) to successfully establish the DAR online presence.

It’s not only user friendly; it’s certified accessible.

Addressing the 20 and more students straining over the bleachers at the Cabaluay Barangay Hall last June 25, National Computer Center (NCC) Training Coordinator Roderick Cruz asks a general computer question every student knows by heart. “The CPU,” singsongs the group, when asked where the memory of a computer is found. Meanwhile, on the floor, the audience, mostly adults and senior citizens, frantically scribble down the answers on their program. Watching from the sidelines, Rodrigo Macansantos, Training Specialist of the NCC’s ICT Education and Training Unit, reveals that in contrast with the students who had computer lessons in their curriculum, most of the older audience have almost “no experience with a computer whatsoever.”

Over the years, we have seen a lot of significant changes in how governments provide services to their people. We have seen how these governments, all over the world, have used information and communications technologies (ICTs) to provide faster, convenient and efficient services.

In the olden days, going to the library was the easiest and most convenient way of doing research. For easy retrieval of books or materials, a student who is doing a paper work would usually browse over the card catalog to get information about them. He can either give the details to the librarian or look for the materials himself in the library shelves. This method of researching had been pursued by many researchers through the years.

Imagine these scenarios: A civil servant who is about to retire accesses his file in the computer and downloads a complete record of his whole tenure in government. A Human Resource Officer accesses the database of its agency and generates the manpower inventory report with just a click of a mouse. An agency responds within minutes to the request of another agency for a statistical report of its human resources.

Introduction
Can the sugar content in a can of cola drink be known?
Can the amount of fabric shrinkage be measured? Can the total length of a yarn in a thread holder be determined?
Can the manager of a gasoline station be assured that the tanker of gasoline which states that it carries 40,000 liters of gasoline is delivered exactly as stated?

Food gives our body the nutrients we need to stay healthy. Good nutrition means eating the right types of foods in the right amounts to keep us healthy. Today, however, more people are at risk of malnutrition as food prices rise. This means that people, especially those living below the poverty line, would be more vulnerable to disease and other problems brought about by malnutrition.

The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Cagwait, through the leadership of the Municipal Mayor Hon. Bonifacio G. Ondona, in partnership with the National Computer Center-Field Operations Office (NCC-FOO), conducted the Website Upgrading Workshop (WUW) last March 3-5, 2009.

It was two years ago when this Community e-Center first opened. It was a fresh concept then – connecting the people from far flung municipalities like Alegria, Cebu to the world thru the information superhighway. With just a dial-up connection and a borrowed nook from the Municipal Health Center, the center plowed on.

The National Computer Center, in partnership with the Association of Progressive Communications (APC) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), has successfully implemented the piloting of the Gender and Evaluation Methdology (GEM) in two Community eCenters in the Philippines. The workshops were conducted by the Molave Development Foundation, Inc.

Upi is a municipality in the province of Maguindanao. Upi Community eCenter was the first eLGU CeC to be established. Since the CeC’s birth in 2004, the Municipality of Upi became globally competitive in terms of technology. It was months after Upi CeC started operating that Smart Telecommunications saw the need to extend their SmartBro services to Upi to cater to the rising demand for ICT-based services. Now they are serving five Internet cafes, 200 private residences, and several private and public schools in the locality.

Tanauan, Leyte  -- True to its being known as a people responsive local governance, the Local Government of Tanauan has just acquired a Greater Modular Access (GMA) Jobs Center Kiosk where its job seekers could find available local and overseas jobs and where they could apply right there and then.

Last February 23, 2009, the town of Tabogon, Cebu was filled with excitement.

(AP MANILA) - The computer network of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has been infiltrated by a cyber spy network based mainly in China, Canadian researchers said on Saturday.

Based on the latest Global Information Technology Report 2009 released by the World Economic Forum, the Philippines ranking slipped further in the race for global IT competitiveness. Compared to its 81st ranking in 2008, the Philippines has fallen four notches and was placed in the 85th spot in terms of Network Readiness. (In 2007, the Philippines had a good ranking as it was ranked 69th among 122 economies surveyed).

Some prospective bidders for the automation of the 2010 national elections expressed concern over the eligibility requirements for bidding of the machines to be used in the elections.

The comprehensive cybersecurity legislation currently in development in the US Senate aims to bring high-level government attention to the serious problem of cybersecurity by giving one White House official oversight of critical network infrastructure. Yet the proposal in the draft legislation to give the national cybersecurity adviser the ability to disconnect federal or "critical" networks under threat of cyberattack may create more uncertainties than solutions, at least initially, cybersecurity experts warn. Full Story

MANILA, March 26, 2009 (AFP) - Internet usage in the Philippines is on the increase but rarely for doing business online -- most people are using the web for social networking or to play games, according to a survey Thursday. It is the first time such a survey has been conducted in the Philippines, where only around 20 million people -- 22 percent of the country's 90 million population -- have access to the internet. The survey by Yahoo! and consumer information group Nielsen found that most of those going online are between 10 and 29 and are educated and techno-savvy. It showed that 53 percent of internet users play online games, and only 24 percent read the news online. In stark contrast, "online transactions or commerce remain low," with only three percent conducting banking activities or making purchases online.

THE SENATE will start plenary deliberations on a bill seeking to create a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) once it resumes sessions on April 13. Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chairman of the chamber’s committee on science and technology, said at the weekend he would sponsor the measure in plenary once Congress returns from its Lenten break that started on March 6.

Last February 6, 2009 the Department of Trade and Industry conducted a public consultation on the proposed certification scheme for the implementation of digital signatures in the government.

Interconnected helplines of all government offices may be the wave of the future. The Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) gathered last March 11 government officials, including information technology (IT) managers and public information officers, for a forum on interconnecting current and future public assistance systems to improve the delivery of services to the public and to cut red tape.