Digital Governance Awardees for 2020

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), through its ICT Industry Development Bureau (IIDB), in partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) implemented the Digital Governance Awards (DGA) 2020.

The DGA is an annual search for best practices of Local Government Units (LGUs) in using ICT to effectively and efficiently deliver public services to their constituents, and business stakeholders. It shares the vision of establishing indices for local government units across the country in harnessing the potentials of ICT towards raising the bar in delivering public service.

Its forerunner is the Excellence in Governance Through Information and Communications Technology or the annual eGOV Awards for local government units (LGU’s) started by NICP in partnership with DILG in 2012 until 2018.

OBJECTIVES
To highlight and encourage the effective and efficient utilization of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the delivery of services and performance of the duties and responsibilities by local government units (LGUs).

To share and replicate innovative practices, and commend, collate and document LGUs in integrating ICT in their processes to serve as example and benchmarks to other LGUs. It will serve as a good resource material for the Digital Cities Caravan.

To improve the business development, social services and the general ecosystem of the LGUs and motivate the private and business sector to actively participate and/or invest in the growth of the LGUs.

To promote citizen’s responsibility and participation as well as accountability,
efficiency and transparency in governance responsibility and encourage innovation.

For 2020, these are the categories:

Best in Customer Empowerment (G2C) – use of ICT solutions towards providing improved, timely, and relevant delivery of public services directly to the constituent.

Best in Business Empowerment (G2B) – integration of ICT solutions and the commitment of its administration in the LGU’s responsiveness to the needs of business enterprises.

Best in Inter-Operability (G2G) – connection of data and systems with other government offices, both national and local for the convenience of their constituents.

Best in Government Internal Operations (G2I) – development or improvement of its internal systems and adhering to various recognized standards, to be able to provide better service to its internal customers.

Best in Covid19 Pandemic Response (G2P) – extremely adaptable to the unusual circumstances presented by the COVID19 pandemic in the timely delivery of their services with the use of ICT solutions.

CRITERIA
Innovative management (30 points) – This criterion demonstrates the degree to which the entry explored, applied and managed the elements and strategies that brought about the success of the entry.

Impact (30 points) – The project demonstrates the major results (output, outcome, impact), their effects, and benefits to the recipients of the service (public, employees, or business).

Extent of ICT Adoption (20 points)
Interoperability – the valuable impact of an LGU’s initiative to connect data and systems with other government offices, both national and local for the
convenience of their constituents and to improve its public service delivery
Data-driven – the efforts of an LGU in recognizing that good governance through ICT goes hand in hand with the fair and responsible processing of data. Effective e-governance provides constituents with convenience and better services through the free flow of information while ensuring at the same time that personal data is protected
Replication Potential and Sustainability (20 points) – The project demonstrates the model qualities of the practice with the possibility and applicability of replicating it in other localities. It must demonstrate a level of sustainability or that the LGU can continue the project by addressing major disruptions.

SPECIAL CRITERIA for Best in Covid19 Pandemic Response (G2P)

Innovative management (35 points) – This criterion demonstrates the degree to which the entry explored, applied and managed the elements and strategies that brought about the success of the entry, to include:

Impact (35 points) – The project demonstrates the major results (output, outcome, impact), their effects, and benefits to the recipients of the service (public, employees, or business).

Extent of ICT Adoption (10 points)
Interoperability – the valuable impact of an LGU’s initiative to connect data and systems with other government offices, both national and local for the
convenience of their constituents and to improve its public service delivery
Data-driven – the efforts of an LGU in recognizing that good governance through ICT goes hand in hand with the fair and responsible processing of data. Effective e-governance provides constituents with convenience and better services through the free flow of information while ensuring at the same time that personal data is protected
Replication Potential and Sustainability (20 points) – The project demonstrates the model qualities of the practice with the possibility and applicability of replicating it in other localities. It must demonstrate a level of sustainability or that the LGU can continue the project by addressing major disruptions.

Here are the executive summaries of winners compiled by the ICT Industry Development Bureau (IIDB) of the DICT:

BEST IN LGU EMPOWERMENT (G2G) – PROVINCIAL LEVEL

1^ST PLACE – Province of Davao de Oro – 1DdO Helpline

The 1DdO Helpline is a free-to-use hotline and online data storage system that bridges communication gaps between the public and the government especially during the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, which also puts a new spin in the way that Local Government Units (LGUs) and National Government Agencies (NGAs) work together. The 1DdO Helpline, developed and promoted by the Provincial Local Government Unit of Davao de Oro, offers services not only from its provincial offices, but also from the 17 national government agencies such as the Department of Education, Department of Trade and Industry, National Food Authority, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Department of Agrarian Reform among many others.

This digital innovation provides a mechanism to route clients’ concerns to all provincial offices and departments. The 1DdO Helpline helps build an interdependence among all constituents of the government and encourages involvement and participation in providing solutions to public concerns and issues, making more government units work together to solve each problem. Meanwhile, another feature of the 1DdO Helpline is the online encoding of inquiries by the public which expands clients’ options in reaching government offices.

In addition, the 1DdO Helpline conveniently addresses the lack of communication due to the physical restrictions set to halt the spread of the current pandemic. This program turns the current crisis into an opportunity by giving more weight on transparency and accountability among government offices. This innovation also strengthens the promotion of e-participation within the citizens of the province of Davao de Oro which also inevitably leads to future technological advancements that would provide the public a more efficient and convenient mode to interact and do business with the government.

2^nd PLACE – Province of Laguna – Patient Information and Contact Tracing System (PICST)

The response to the overwhelming Coronavirus is defined based on the data analytics and significant information, and whereby data and information is at hand, grasping these intellectually involves a lot of effort. The Provincial Health Office of Laguna seeks aid to advance the comprehension of local authorities pertaining to data analysis. Without in-depth study of the integrated datasets, it is crucial for decision makers to gauge the pace of contagious disease, causing a challenge for them to learn the current standing of winning over the predicament. These circumstances might affect the effectiveness of the measures to be implemented in aims for mitigating Covid – 19 disease and alleviate socioeconomic weights. Moreover, delays and complications brought by compiling the reports were noted and influenced the reporting of provincial wide cases hence, affecting the information acting as the basis for analysis.

In order to help the health authorities analyze the datasets across local government units (LGU), the Patient Information and Contact Tracing System (PICST) was developed to serve a centralized portal consolidating reports and transforming them into a simple and straightforward data visualization that guides the government task force to easily yet comprehensively understand the information and help them impose the best resolution to the crisis. This initiative saves a significant amount of time in examining the pertinent data since the system can give a real time output. The system, as a reporting tool, streamlines the organization of data accordingly and enables data generation aligned to the national standard of public health reportorial.

The creation of the Patient Information and Contact Tracing System was made possible through the Management Information Systems Office of the Provincial Government of Laguna with the initiative of the Provincial Health Office. PICST was launched on April 22, 2020 and was deployed across all reporting government health agencies from the province of Laguna. Throughout the period, PICTS is projected to be utilized continuously while room for improvement through R&D is envisioned. The system might not be only limited to cover Coronavirus but may possibly be modified to a system adaptable to various diseases.

3^rd PLACE – Province of La Union – Wireless Mesh High Speed Local Network Backbone

As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the field of governance has to regard information technology (IT) as a vital tool in the formulation of various development strategies and initiatives. The 1987 Philippine Constitution recognizes that technology is essential for national development and progress. It even encourages the state to give priority to research, innovation, and development. The Local Government Code of 1991 enforces this idea as it mandates Local Government Units to support the development of technologies, specifically Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as it provides an avenue for business process to become faster, easier, and more convenient.

On the other hand, government agencies and the private sectors are expected to foster a safe and secure environment in their communities and promptly respond to emergencies when they occur. One of the vital components in managing emergencies is the Network Enabled Emergency Operations Center (NEEOC). A designed, equipped and staffed Emergency Operations Center (EOC) enabled by a reliable network infrastructure can significantly enhance the situational awareness and decision making of all the responders and the public, enabling a more effective response and quicker recovery from the incident.

The Province of La Union, with twenty (20) Local Government Units (LGUs), has a mountainous terrain which results installation of both wireless and wired network backhaul infrastructure challenging. But, the Provincial Government of La Union (PGLU) ensured that connectivity will be a main component in this system as it aims to make the business of governance transparent, participatory, and accountable. Hence, the operationalization of the La Union Wireless Mesh High Speed Local Network Backbone commenced last 2019.

By establishing a Local Network Backbone, the transmission of data and information from the Provincial Level down to the Component LGUs was faster and more effective. Also, the data generation and transmission will be cost effective and time efficient. To be more specific, the established infrastructure cut across the nineteen municipalities and one city, as well as the five district hospitals, one medical center and other strategic locations.

Installation of radio antennas and relay stations were carefully designed, studied, surveyed and plotted in strategic locations to make sure all radio equipment has a clear line of sight for optimal and efficient data transmission. Connectivity and transmission rate between radio antennas to another antenna were simulated using real-world link simulation software by Technical ICT Personnel to test the integrity of the network design.

Internet connectivity is now running through the Mesh from our PGLU’s Internet servers. When the pandemic happened, coordination and reportage of all EOCs of the Province, as well as the hospitals, coped up smoothly.

For the next phase, the backbone shall pave a way for the deployment of information systems that will greatly benefit government office on their provision and monitoring of projects, programs and activities (PPAs) to improve the quality of life of the people.

BEST IN LGU EMPOWERMENT (G2G) – CITY LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Tuguegarao City Command Center

The improvement of the business and investment climate in any locality necessitates a multi-faceted approach. The rise in economic activities usually results to a concomitant increase in crime. Taking this into consideration (and the vulnerability of the city to natural calamities), the Local Chief Executive established the Tuguegarao City Command Center through Executive Order No. 28-2018.

The Tuguegarao City Command Center is a real-time monitoring center of all incidents occurring all over the city through high-definition closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in strategic areas. It is manned round the clock by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Traffic Management Group, Public Safety and Security Office, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Philippine National Police. Using state-of-the-art ICT solutions and facilities, the Command Center is equipped to respond to any type of incident and emergency 24/7. It is the first in Cagayan, and the most advanced in Region 02.

Before the Tuguegarao City Command Center was established, there is no centralized communication and emergency response system in Tuguegarao City among the LGU, PNP and BFP. Hence, coordination was difficult and response time was longer. In just two years, the Command Center has evolved into the Tuguegarao City’s Central Communications and Emergency Response Center, which currently provides police assistance, pre-hospital care, fire suppression, and search and rescue service.

Incident calls received and addressed by the Command Center have led to lives saved and properties preserved. Its establishment also eased the traffic situation in the city by reducing travel time by 50% within city limits through its intelligent video analytic software that allows the City Government to monitor and manage vehicular and pedestrian traffic along main roads, intersections, entry and exit points of the city, and other populated areas. With the establishment of the Tuguegarao City Command Center, the city recorded zero casualty when it was hit by Typhoon Ompong in September 2018, and when it experienced the worst flooding in thirty years in Tuguegarao history on December 6, 2019 where 56,387 people were affected. There has also been a relative decrease in the crime rate in the city – from Average Monthly Crime Rate of 42 in 2017 (before its establishment) to 39 in 2019. On the otherhand, Crime Solution Efficiency increased from 47.27% in 2017 to 79.92% in 2019.

Overall, the Tuguegarao City Command Center has improved the business and investment climate in Tuguegarao City and promoted public welfare and safety.

2^nd PLACE – Quezon City – iRISE UP

Intelligent, Resilient, and Integrated Systems for the Urban Population (iRISE UP)

The Quezon City Operations Center (OpCen) is the city’s information hub and center of resource coordination during disasters. The OpCen facilitates the city’s adopted Cluster Approach to ensure a more coherent and effective response in mobilizing government agencies, organizations, and private sector to respond in a strategic manner across all key sectors in support of government coordination during disasters.

As stated in the RA 10121, entitled the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, the QC OpCen is tasked to operate a multi-hazard early warning system, to provide accurate and timely advice to national or local emergency response to the QC citizenry through mass media, radio, and landline communication. Being one fourth of Metro Manila servicing to two (2) million resident, innovations through information technology is necessary to have a successful day to day operations.

The OpCen uses several monitoring software used for surveillance and early warning. One of which is the Incident Disaster Management System (iDMS) which is used to monitor the status of river basins within Quezon City. It is integrated with water level monitoring instruments equipped with sensors which measure weather parameters such as rainfall amount, temperature, pressure, humidity, and water level of the river where the instruments are situated.

Further, adhering with the Honorable Mayor’s adopted policy of “Serving with our Hearts and Planning with our Heads,” the QCDRRMO, along with the rest of Task Force COVID-19, acknowledges that understanding and informed action is essential to disaster risk reduction and management amidst a pandemic.

The City Government has been at the forefront of developing policies and practices based on an understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of vulnerability, capacity, exposure of persons and assets, hazard characteristics and the environment. In its effort to understand COVID-19, the city government used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visualize clustering of cases and to strategize the containment of the virus.

Maps that are produced on a daily basis were used to project attack rates, identify Special Concern Lockdown Areas, hot zones, and warm zones. A GIS dashboard, accessed thru bit.ly/QCcovid.com, reflects the daily cases in the city and is used to monitor the spread of the virus. The dashboard is updated and projected 24/7 in the Emergency Operations Center of Quezon City. In the battle of COVID-19, use of GIS is an effective tool to conduct accurate and data-driven situational analysis and risk assessments.

The fight against COVID-19 and other calamities experienced by Quezon City could be combatted with proper planning, information dissemination, and collaborative efforts in between stakeholders from the national government down to the local government units. Quezon City aims to perform seamless, end to end integrated response operations at all times.

3^rd PLACE – Cauayan City – Digital Twin

In 2019, seven (7) typhoons have hit Cauayan City leaving a severe damage worth Twenty-two Million Pesos (P2M) production loss in rice and corn, affecting 335 households. This damage can be attributed to the insufficiency of early warning systems and absence of multi-purpose map which could be helpful for disaster monitoring and hazard mapping, that could have engaged the citizens immediately for possible pre-emptive evacuation, especially those families living in the low-lying areas of the city.

At the start of 2020, Cauayan City, through its partnership with Smart Cities Network and with the assistance of Graffiquo, was able to create the first Integrated Digital Twin System for Disaster Resiliency. The Integrated Digital Twin project is a system which contains a 3D digital map of the flood-prone areas of Cauayan City. The digital twin provides a highly realistic virtual representation of the area which can be viewed in 3 dimensions. It is integrated with artificial intelligence solutions and data analytics which has the capacity to reflect accurate measurements such as height measurement of Cagayan River, the severity of soil erosion, the conditions of road infrastructure and the number of houses in the low-lying portion of the city, number of residents per household and if there is a presence of vulnerable sector in such household, all can be accessed online without the need to actually and physically go in the area, which does not only save time and money, but more importantly, it is safe and efficient. Because of its capability to capture data in a more realistic view, the digital twin provides a proactive alert mechanism and information which will allow the local government to deploy the necessary intervention like the need for evacuation of the people living in those flood-prone areas even before the need arises, to serve its citizens promptly and efficiently, thereby improving the quality of lives.

Overall, the capabilities of the Digital Twin to provide accurate information through artificial intelligence and data analytics and its ability to integrate all kinds of data from all the concerned departments of the LGU will not only help the LGU on disaster resiliency to save lives, but also on recovery and reconstruction after the disaster so that the delivery of public service will never be hampered.

BEST IN LGU EMPOWERMENT (G2G) – MUNICIPALITY LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Guagua, Pampanga – GGIS

Guagua Geographic System (GGIS) started way back in the late 1990s, to respond to the need to come up with an accurate map that will help properly identify our boundaries. Prior to the implementation of GIS project, there were no systematic and accurate spatial base data to be used as basis for the following;

• Exact location of affected lahar area that could identify the possible households whenever there is a lahar flow event caused by Mt. Pinatubo eruption and lahar aftermath.

• Land Database that will lead to an effective administration and asset management.

• Land Registration and Cadastre, transportation, risk management, resource and land use issues and local government level functions.

Innovative Strategies – Acquired necessary data which were encoded for database build up using GIS application, viz:

• Encoded all Lot Data Computation of Guagua (around 30,000 lots)

• Acquisition of Digital Topographic Maps at NAMRIA

• Request Approved Subdivision Plans at Land Management Bureau

• Continuous data base build up

The LGU Guagua opted to venture in the development of a digital land database that can resolved to various local government applications on;

• Land Tax Management – tax information of every parcel lots (e.g. determining the exact figure, area and other data related to land management)

• Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) Map in GIS (e.g. creation of a Digital Spatial Map in the formulation

• Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Planning (e.g. flood maps, vulnerability map, among others)

• Preparation of Various Engineering Planning

To date, the GIS unit is housed in the Municipal Planning and Development Office and personnel from other offices are already using the system. Coordination is done with the Land Management Bureau RO3 for the acquisition of photocopies of new subdivision plans. Likewise, records from our local departments e.g. Municipal Assessors Office and Building Permit & Zoning Units are collated as part of data base build up.

Our office can produce different scaled maps for land use planning, disaster risk reduction maps and even identifying missing lot data, overlapping lots and barangay boundaries with much or reasonable accuracy.

The design and implementation of a GIS us a long term undertaking for LGUs. It is important to note that the data capture and data input are typically the major bottlenecks in the implementation of a GIS. It would be good to ensure that all hard copies of related documents like cadastral maps, lot data computations and the lists of subdivision lots are already available at the local level.

For a GIS administrative system to be useful to a municipality, it must have cadastral data as a spatial reference layer. It is necessary for the locality to identify the land parcels and owners of said land and a better generation of income. Cadastral records in the Philippines are unreliable and difficult to access, and therefore, the capture and cleaning of this data is an essential component of this project.

The Municipality of Guagua is forced by necessity to address this predicament.

2^nd PLACE – Libertad, Antique – Project iComSys

Libertad is the northernmost municipality of the province of Antique, a 5th class municipality with 17,886 individuals and 4,350 households as per 2019 POPCOM Registry of Barangay Inhabitants and Migrants Survey. It has a total land area of 97.00 constituting 3.55% of the 2,729.17 square kilometers total area of Antique.

The concept started in the year 2016 when the multi-awarded Municipal Mayor was re-elected into office after her 3-term (9 years) ended back in 2007.

The town she once helped build was never the same when she came back in 2016. She faced a poverty level (20.9) one of the top 10 among the municipalities in the province, unfinished and delayed implementation of programs and projects making the LGU as one of the poorest implementer in the region, rampant illegal activities in both coastal and upland, further environmental degradation, and poor local governance with unestablished database system and with 98% IRA dependency.

Bringing home the lessons and appreciation of development initiatives in the foreign land, she became a stronger advocate for sustainable development and the importance of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in improving local governance, fighting poverty, and people empowerment.

She once said that Libertad may be a small town and may one of the poorest, but, it should not stop it from facing multi-sectoral challenges and problems with innovative solutions. In fact, it’s pioneering the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in improving its internal management, service delivery, environmental protection and conservation, planning, and fighting poverty.

Mayor Te encourage other municipalities of Antique to look at the Project for this is a crucial opportunity and area of every municipality. To improve and compete with the rest of world then an LGU is to come up with proper Data banking approach in order to stabilize the community. The Integrated Community Information System (iComSys) was created because of the need to stabilize the community data banking. It is easier, more convenient and being used to provide concrete data.

Project iComSys is an initiative innovation towards becoming responsible, secure, tangible, visible community. The Process of the Project would help stabilize community data banking and real-time data updating because of cloud based database technology platform. Data Centralization and Integration brings seamless transactions between LGU, Agency, NGOs, Barangay and Household or community as a whole. Project iComSys provide application to register of every household information with data security protocols.

Mayor Te is grateful for the involvement, great or small which is a gift or challenge to everyone. A bit of the work or of any kind shared became all the more significant in the development process. Definitely important are the outputs reservoirs for the future plans. With the collaborative thinking, feeling and doing Project iComSys successfully hurdled

difficulties, hardships met and reaped maximum success. Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. This is one of the best way to bring people together in harmony and unity.

Mayor Te leads Libertad to an era of digital transformation and ensures a “future ready” Libertad.

3^rd PLACE – Pulilan, Bulacan – PULILAN INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION NETWORK (PICN) PROGRAM

The Philippines has not been spared from the challenges of today’s time, the so called “Information Age” and in this sense, private and government entities including local government units like us have been finding their own ways to keep abreast with the demands of the changing times.

The Municipality of Pulilan, in particular, has been employing its best efforts, working on all possibilities to come up with an efficient and effective communication system to continuously meet people’s expectations and attain success in its service delivery mandates.

Communication in any form is very important. To have updated development in terms of facilities and technologies would mean an efficient, cost effective and technologically advanced communications infrastructure essentials. With the demands of time, wherein almost all are striving harder to have socio-economic growth and meet the increasingly sophisticated and knowledge-intensive requirements, there is a greater need for the existence of an efficient communications network that will enable decision-makers to have access to timely and accurate data to be able to facilitate decision-making and transaction finalities.

With these in hearts and minds, the Municipal Government of Pulilan came up with a more detailed, sophisticated and responsive program named PULILAN INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION NETWORK (PICN). This involves a number of necessary services with primary focus on fast and excellent quality service delivery and ensures client satisfaction and delight by providing them what they want and when they want. PICN shortly means good communication system which provides a service that will positively impact the lives of our customers, paves the way for comforts of ease of communication, improved logistics, and practical and cost savings on transactions ensuring a total-quality environment.

PICN mainly involves the use of fiber optic cables. Realizing and recognizing the advantages of fiber-optic communication, the Municipality of Pulilan vented the door for this technology since 2019. The LGU facilitated the powering of and connectivity of its nineteen (19) barangays, Rural Health Units, Municipal Water Services Office (MSWO), Market Office and Polytechnic University of the Philippines Pulilan Campus through its PICN. This is one innovative shift of its then prevailing program Pulilan Integrated Wireless Network (PIWN) Program, making use of technology updates.

PICN serves as the gateway of ICT requirements of the Municipality with provision of internet connectivity, wi-fi access points and Tech4Ed Centers; functions as a highway for Pulilan-wide CCTV, Pulilan Management Information System, Digital Information System, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), Water Billing System, MWSO Payment Centers, Pulilan Public Market and Information System and MDRRM CCTV Monitoring System. And most importantly, it also serves as a backbone to LGU’s aggressive eLearning which connects students’ households to nearest barangays for free online learning and studies.

BEST IN CUSTOMER EMPOWERMENT (G2C) – PROVINCIAL LEVEL

1^ST PLACE – Province of Laguna – IIS

The increasing trend of positive Covid-19 cases in the Province of Laguna affects many sectors resulted to odd consequences encountered by the government and its people. Thus, it demands the administration to find other ways to continue with government activities with ease while considering health/safety of our people, also including academic undertakings such as carrying out virtual classes and online applications for scholarship programs.

Given the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the Provincial Government of Laguna has not faltered and unceasingly taken various strategic ways to serve the province and its constituents in spite of the contagion, particularly focusing on issues regarding transactions, administrative matters and communication. Well framed strategies are adopted to proceed with regulating services on a regular basis as a significant increase was seen in the number of digital and fully automated transactions.

Fully Automated Scholarship program is one of the government’s most recent initiatives. Prior to pandemic, the scholar coordinators spend weeks just to collect and validate necessary documents and several weeks for the distribution of allowances to the scholars after processing the payrolls. Since the Scholar’s Team mobilization has been hampered by the wide spread of Covid -19, the scholars’ submission of requirements and financial support distribution were drastically affected. An alternative way of continuing the service, hence the Iskolar Information System (IIS) is launched.

The creation of the Iskolar Information System is made possible through the Management Information Systems Office of the Provincial Government of Laguna with the initiative of the GO Admin Office. The Iskolar Information System was launched on September 08, 2020. The IIS is projected to be utilized continuously while room for improvements through Research and Development (R&D) is also well envisioned. The system is not only limited to respond to the scholars need during the Covid-19 pandemic but shall be possibly utilized in the succeeding scholarship grants processes even when the pandemic is over.

The IIS is viewed to prevent and help in the outspread of virus, particularly for the youth sector in Laguna, launching of the system aims to deliver the Province’s scholarship program beneficial and convenient both on the part of the students and program coordinators as well. The system definitely help saves a huge amount of time, cost and resources since the process of evaluating the scholars are conducted online and is now fully automated.

The information uploaded by the students on the system is confidently secured and can be easily verified by the coordinators as well as accessible for the users in just a few clicks without having to fall in line just like the manual process of submitting the requirements.

2^nd PLACE – Province of La Union – ELYUNITE

“Satisfaction” – a word that the Provincial Government of La Union (PGLU) takes into heart in delivering and providing public services for their beloved people. The degree of satisfaction in every service rendered by the PGLU has been one of the main factors in measuring the effectivity and efficiency of its Programs, Projects, and Activities (PPAs) for the province.

In determining the impact of the public service delivery, local community are encouraged to take part on the survey conducted by the PGLU. After delivering a certain PPAs, the PGLU offices should float a survey/customer’s feedback, and after which, this feedback will be consolidated for the reporting that can be used for policy making and other related decision making.

Consolidating and validating data on a manual process is not that easy, especially when:

• You have a lot of respondents;

• A set of survey questions are left unanswered due to disinterest, lack of time on writing their answers, and poor language problems have prevented individuals from

participating;

Also, the misuse of paper has become one of the main concerns of the PGLU, as different PGLU offices consume a lot of paper.

Hence, this has been eliminated as the Information and Communication Technology Unit (ICTU) developed a system called the “ELYUNITE Community Feedback Information System”; the word “ELYUNITE” means – “La Union Unite”, “ELYU” is read as L.U, an acronym for La Union + Unite = ELYUNITE.

By developing the said system, the creation, consolidation, and validation process of surveys will be much easier and at the same time cost effective and time efficient as the system will automatically consolidate all the respondents’ response; the system was designed also to measure responses using sentiment analysis to avoid biased measures with the responses of the respondents.

The Office of the Provincial Strategy (OPS) and with the helped of the Information and Communications Technology Unit (ICTU), they conducted a study and a consultation meeting on how to integrate all the survey/feedback forms of the PGLU into one system. This system was carefully planned, designed, and developed to make sure of its reliability, accuracy, and validity.

Moreover, as the PGLU strengthens its public service, the PGLU targets to ensure continuous improvement of its organization by addressing the needs and listening to the honest feedback of its constituents through the use of the said system.

For the next phase, the ELYUNITE shall pave way for an unbiased measurement within the responses of the respondents as the ICTU will integrate a Sentiment Analysis into the system. A Sentiment Analysis is the interpretation and classification of emotions (positive, negative and neutral) within text data using text analysis techniques, a tool that will identify customer sentiment towards the services of the PGLU in online feedback.

3^rd PLACE – Province of Davao De Oro – Serbisyo Oro Mismo

Serbisyo Oro Mismo! “neteleradyo” is part of the information and community development program of the Provincial Administrator’s Office- Information Division using the multi-media platform as an innovative way of delivering the primary function of government communication: that is—informing, advocating and persuading (policies and reforms), and engaging citizens.

While the role and importance of communication is increasingly recognized, still communication remains a “challenge” under the ‘good governance’ agenda. Added to that is the onset of the pandemic where the much needed information, education and communication is vital at these times.

With this, the “neteleradyo” addresses the public’s need for easy and inexpensive access to government information. The program deviates from the traditional media in that it incorporates a simultaneous broadcast to radio, television and internet. Hence, the program bridges the digital divide between the public and government information distributing it to 3 different platforms. The IEC is also complemented with TV airings, print media, social media, forums, dialogues and press conferences.

Initially launched as “Aksyon Comval” (from its former name Compostela Valley province) on July 2016, it has since evolved with the challenge for more innovative technology as it made use of all available media not only to inform and educate the public, but also to provide a venue for them to interact with the government.

BEST IN CUSTOMER EMPOWERMENT (G2C) – CITY LEVEL

1^st PLACE – San Juan City – EducationInTheTimeOfCovid19

Despite its current stature as one of the thriving cities in Metro Manila, San Juan’s pain point is the inadequacy of information technology in the poorer areas of the city. Since low-income families cannot afford pricey internet connection, their children are being left behind in terms of school performance.

Likewise, the general public is also having problems with internet connection.

With this, Mayor Zamora spearheaded a partnership with the Department of Information and Communications (DICT) to make San Juan City the pilot city of DICT’s Free Wi-Fi for All Program. He also tapped telecommunications companies Globe Telecom and Smart Communications and forged a partnership with them that will provide WiFi hotspots in key areas in the city like public schools, hospitals, barangay halls, and other strategic areas to fulfil his goal of making San Juan a smart city.

This proved to be really useful for the teachers, students, and every San Juaneño in terms of keeping themselves informed and educated. Everyone can engage with the city’s social media platforms and raise their concerns, ask queries, and be heard by their government.

Mayor Zamora did not stop there. He saw the gap in children’s education between the public schools and private school’s students so he decided to arm the teachers with a powerful tool that will help them become better teachers who will yield better students. The City Government under the leadership of Mayor Zamora procured laptops for all public school teachers in San Juan which was distributed last January 2020.

Everything was going well until COVID happened.

While the entire nation grapples on how to restart the children’s education in a new format – coming up with blended learning (modular and online learning) which left teachers ill-prepared once the school season started, San Juan already trained and equipped its teachers to keep up with the changing times.

Using the laptops given to the teachers, they were able to participate in online trainings and seminars that were done through Zoom, Facebook Live and Google Hangouts. These seminars on distance learning did not only teach them how to transition from traditional teaching, they were also given new learnings on how to handle students and help parents in this new way of educating their kids.

With these initiatives, the city government proves that by giving outstanding ICT solutions to its constituents, their lives will greatly improve.

2^nd PLACE – Manila City – Go! Manila App

Go! MANILA APPLICATION is a unified e- Local Government Services (One-Stop-Shop) with an end-to-end solution from registration, user profiling, scheduling, real time assessment, various payment methods and printing of source documents.

The APP has two different but integrated platforms – the Go! MANILA WEB APPLICATION and MOBILE APPLICATION, both have a single sign-on capability. The WEB APP is composed of online processing and payments of Real Property and Business Tax; online application, assessment and payment for the issuance of CEDULA and Birth Certificate; integrated system for the issuance of Occupancy Permit and Heath Certificate with Laboratory Scheduling and Processing. While the MOBILE APP serves as mobile money that allows you to pay bills of thousands of utilities and institutions, send or receive money, transfer mobile load and access the WEB APP services. Both applications have a CORE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM working behind the user’s applications, transactions and payment.

One of the distinct functions of the app is its end-to–end processes of each e-services not only for application and process but with real time assessment and various modes of payments such as the use of visa/mastercards, Online and OTC Banking, with over 4,000 bills payment centers, also it has own service payment KIOSK strategically located within the area of services.

Launched last May 2020, the app was originally developed by the City to address the current problems in providing its basic services. With these demographics, problems in the queuing, limitation in location, time consuming, fixers, and physical presence to the City Hall. Moreover, the limitation and safety protocols brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic amplify the need for the online processing and online payment.

These problems were finally addressed with the use of app. The customers of the City, here and abroad, have the option to transact and pay at the comfort of their homes or offices with portable access by using mobile phone and computers. Unifying systems in silos and eliminating circuitous processes through integration giving customers a single direction in acquiring services with SMS notification. Customers can avoid queuing and has additional time to process and pay their obligations even on weekends and holidays.

The implementation of the APP was timely. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, customers have the advantage to process and pay their obligations at the comfort of their homes. This will augment the lack of transportation and the possibility of being infected by the Covid-19 Virus.

The app is supported by the City Council Resolutions Nos. 149 and 209 mandated the City of Manila thru the Local Chief Executive in establishing smart city platform and web service development for e-services and integration and in compliance of the City of Manila to the E-Commence Act of 2000, the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018. This also strengthens the campaign of the City to eradicate corruption in business permit processing, eliminate the fixers and give ease of doing business to taxpayers here and abroad.

3^rd PLACE – Cauayan City – E-Patrol

The E-Patrol Complaint Tracking System is a web-based system which monitors the progress or status of the complaints of the constituents. This system is integrated in the official website of the LGU as well in its official mobile app, the Cauayan City Connect. Once a complainant raises his issue through whatever channel of the City’s Constituent’s Relations Management System, be it by hotline or online, he will be given with a tracking number. The complainant will just enter the tracking number in the search button then he will be given a dashboard showing the progress of his complainant including the date and time of its referral to the concerned office, the representative of the office who received the complaint and a remark of the status whether still pending or successfully resolved already. The LGU likewise has a dashboard with all the records of the complaints, which can be categorized per topic. With all these data, the LGU can then identify the common complaints or issues being faced by most of its constituents, which is helpful to come up with regulations and policies to address these complaints.

Allowing the people to monitor the progress or status of their complaints, the E-Patrol Complaint Tracking System then enables the LGU to improve the delivery of its public service. It brings out the trust and confidence of the people in the government because these people can see that their concerns are brought to the attention of the government, and that the LGU is acting on them and is doing its job. This promotes transparency and accountability in the local government which are important factors to encourage active participation of the people to work hand-in-hand with the government.

BEST IN CUSTOMER EMPOWERMENT (G2C) – MUNICIPALITY LEVEL

1^st PLACE – San Fabian, Pangasinan – Tech4ED Center

The world becomes a global village.

The 21st Century is an epoch of technological advancement. Its impact to the lives of the people is unprecedented. It has greatly affects their lifestyles and decisions. It has shaped every aspects of discipline and almost control their actions and activities.

As we face the great challenges of this century, we are confronted with the difficulties of fulfilling the challenges that “no one will be left behind” and “how to respond to the needs of times.”

Technological savviness is more likely to be related with today’s millennial generation. The mission to make this technological advancement programs be reachable to the marginalized communities is truly a gargantuan task. However, the San Fabian Tech4ED Center is finding its way to make digital literacy palatable even to the most ordinary citizens of the community; something that they can always remember because it becomes part of their lives.

How did the Center respond to the call of the times? Who were those individuals or groups that became digitized through the programs of the Center?

• Farmers – Bringing technological literacy was really challenging most especially in conducting trainings within their doorsteps. They were taught how to use the computer or their mobile phones to access the Tech4ED platforms in order to explore techniques and strategies to increase their production and to market their products.

• Senior Citizens – They are perhaps the hardest sector to teach because of their reluctance. However, in due time, they have learned to love it because they believed that this will help to busy themselves, connect with their loved ones and oftentimes relieve their stress.

• Persons with Disabilities – They are the vibrant ones. Their eagerness to learn in handling the computer seems not just for fun but could also be a means to increase their livelihood.

• Students and the Out-of-school Youth – They are the easiest sectors to teach because of their dexterity to the technology. Some of them are probably using it for fun but for some, they are using it as an instrumental aid in their academic studies.

• Women Empowerment- They proved that they can also sing along with the sign of times. Their digital literacy experiences proved advantageous in their workplace and at home especially in teaching their children.

• Public Offices, Schools, and Barangays -They are not the least of trainees for they form part of the groups serviced by the Center. Computer operations and applications down to the digital platforms to access the different services of the government form part of the offered services. Digital literacy is also geared towards paperless communication and information dissemination system.

Innovating and engaging the community in the development through digital literacy is indeed a rewarding experience. We envision to have a Tech4ED Center that caters quality ICT services responsive to the needs of the community. We hope to reach out more sectors of the society and to make the center conduit for transformation and development in the locality.

2^nd PLACE – Bayambang, Pangasinan – Market System

In order to empower the customers, a Local Government Unit must start by empowering its own people. This is a feat that can be done by LGU-Bayambang through the implementation of relevant projects and the development of necessary systems to improve productivity among the employees. This is especially true for those who regularly generate income for the town, specifically for the stall owners of the Public Market.

The market stall management with handheld device collection system is an IT solution of the Municipality of Bayambang for the easier, faster, more transparent and more systematized management of the Public Market stalls in town. Initiated by Municipal Mayor, Dr. Cezar T. Quiambao, the project is in line with the vision of Bayambang to become a globally competitive smart town with a transparent and accountable leadership that promotes anti-corrupt practices within the LGU and the local community.

Considering the income being generated by the municipality through the Bayambang Public Market, the system would help boost the revenue of the town while at the same time encourage locals to delve into the business sector and further boost the economy and create more job opportunities – allowing the locals to thrive as the LGU generates more income for the completion of social, agricultural, environmental, economic and infrastructure projects around town.

This system, designed through the close collaboration between the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Office and the Special Economic Enterprise (SEE), is another step towards the realization of the vision for Bayambang.

3^rd PLACE – Baras, Rizal – B-BOSS KIOSK

The Municipality of Baras, Rizal have been introduced to automation system since 2009; some of our office and employees have already been adapted the technology and system that we are using. Even some of the few “matatanda”, but now we would like to cater the new and improved version of our Business and Licensing Office System with a basis to Republic Act No. 11032 known as the “Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Governance Service Delivery Act of 2018” and with the goal of making a big leap to no contact policy and to give a convenient transaction to our fellow barasenians and other entrepreneur. We would like to introduce the “Business One Stop Shop Kiosk” or BOSS KIOS.

The said system had been launched last March 20, 2019. And now the system is being used by our fellow barasenian and other entrepreneurs. There’s a lot of benefits for our clients and employees, our employees can now focus more on processing and releasing the permits with much more efficiency and accuracy.

It is very vital to our client to have a basic knowledge when it comes to using a computer, we have encounter some of our client that have very little knowledge and have fear in using the computer, but we think we just need a little push and perseverance so that they can adapt to the system and appreciate the convenience that is has to offer.

Through this system we believe that we are giving our clients the most efficient and good governance and achieving the vision and mission of our municipality in giving them convenience and transparency.

BEST IN GOVERNMENT INTERNAL PROCESSES (G2I) – PROVINCIAL LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Province of Davao De Oro – FUMS

The Funds Utilization Monitoring System (FUMS) is a Management Information System which provides decision support tools to planning and budgeting. It enables financial managers, administrative officers and program coordinators to access account information anytime anywhere as long as they are connected to the internet.

The system had reduced the tracking of fund utilization from hours to seconds. Prior to its implementation, tracking of fund utilization entailed making queries on the Budget, Accounting and Treasury offices, and browsing to ledgers and logbooks. With FUMS, users simply access the information via their mobile devices and computers. In this pandemic period, FUMS provided real time status reports on the balances of appropriations, allotments and expenditures to support redesigning of programs and activities for pandemic response. Data is visualized through tables and charts.

The FUMS maintains a database of appropriations, obligations and expenditures. Its desktop and mobile versions access the same database hence providing its users the same real time information. The desktop version captures the transactions in the Budget, Accounting and Treasury offices. The mobile version only provides viewing features for the funds utilization status. Data visualization through tables, and charts are also provided by the system.

The FUMS is a locally developed application by the IT division of the provincial government of Davao de Oro. It is a web based system using PHP and MySQL and deployed last 2017. The system employees’ encryption for its data as level one protection. It has three user classifications: Administrator, System Owners and Office Users. Accounts access restriction is implemented. An office can view only its accounts. The system owners (Budget, Accounting, Treasury) can access accounts of all offices. Names of payees are not displayed at the Office users level to protect privacy of individuals.

The implementation of the system utilizes existing hardware and subscribed ICT services of the province. The direct cost of its development and implementation include cost on the purchase of computers and man hours for the development and maintenance. Other LGUs can easily replicate this since the processes for the fund management is the same for all LGUs and the platforms used for the development and implementation are open source technology.

2^nd PLACE – Province of Bohol – PGBh-US

The main driving force of progress and reform is science and propagation through information and communication technology (ICT). People depend science and technology in all aspects of life, and reform the use of creative elements are very important in everyday life. As Information and Communication Technology has been the catalyst for change and a game changer in delivering of effective and efficient services to Bohol’s constituents.

Not only that, the role of information and communication technology allows us to deliver faster and quicker response to both internal and external clients and stake holders as well as generate income.

Ever since the Provincial Government of Bohol is using multiple Information Systems in providing services to internal clients but all this Info-Systems are operating independently though directly correlates ones functionality like the following:

a)  e-Budget for budget preparation;

b) Disbursement System for payments of obligation like among others;

reimbursements, salaries,

c) Financial Tracking System (FiTTSys) for tracking financial paper trails relative to payment voucher for salaries, recording of transaction of payments and nature of payments;

• Electronic National Government Accounting System (eNGAS 2.0) recording of transaction, nature of transactions and Journal Entry Voucher.

Additionally, it is very hard to administer when the sources of data come from different systems both given or administered by the National Agency like the:

1. eNGAS from the Commission on Audit;

1. eBudget from the Department of Budget Management Office;

1. FiTTSy from the Provincial Accounting Office (PACCO);

1. Disbursement System and;

• Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) with payroll system and Daily Time Management from the Bohol Information and Communication Technology Office (BICTO)

The Provincial Government of Bohol – Unified System (PGBh-US), a modular based Information System approach that connects all component of the necessary operation in providing services to internal clients relative but not limited to Financial transaction but also caters the tracking of paper trails with a purpose in mind to effectively and efficiently manage as well as deliver the services immediately.

This in-house system is brewed and conceptualized within the realms of Bohol Information and Communications Technology with approval from the Commission on Audit and Department of Budget Management Office for the extraction of data from their system, also in close collaboration between Local Finance Committee stakeholders like the Provincial Accounting Office, the Provincial Treasurer’s Office, the Provincial Budget and Management Office, the Human Resources Management and Development Office. To bring forth not only quick but also effective and efficient services in support to the Ease of Doing Business Act, as well as maximizing the use of Technology in addressing the bureaucratic processes in the agency.

3^rd PLACE – Province of La Union – i-Track

Digital transformation is now imperative to increase productivity and to run business processes efficiently. Being in the age of technology advancement, government agencies and private sectors are embracing digitization with open arms.

The Provincial Government of La Union (PGLU) was formerly using the manual tracking of incoming and outgoing documents circulating within the offices of PGLU causing them a long time to retrieve and track required files. Managing documents with the use of logbooks made their routine difficult. Manual processing has been proven to be the cause of data loss, slow processing and requires space for storage.

With today’s rapid developments in technology, the Provincial Government of La Union knew how technology can aid their processing and tracking of documents. Hence, the idea of coming up with an iTrack Information System was developed as a solution to improve the efficiency of filing, retrieving and storing documents online at any given time. The movements of documents will be traced from the origin to destinations which enables easy monitoring of status.

The implementation of the iTrack information system undergoes through 7 steps:

1. Planning – The Information and Communications Technology Unit (ICTU) conducted a consultation meeting with the concerned office.

• System Analysis & Requirements – The Information and Communications Technology Unit (ICTU) analyzed and determined the requirements and objectives of the system.

• Systems Design – Developer’s Manual was made with the following components; a)

Name, b) Description, c) Manual Process Flow, d) Logical Flow Diagrams, e) Data Dictionaries, f) Database Schema, and g) ER Diagram

• Development – This is where the actual development starts and the product is built.

• Integration & Testing – The system defects were reported, tracked, fixed and retested until the system reaches the quality standards needed.

• Implementation – The system was deployed last September 16, 2019.

• Operation & Maintenance – It is a constant checking and monitoring of the iTrack Information System.

In transition from manual process to automated system, it will be a big help to deliver high quality, timely and cost-effective services to its internal customers.

BEST IN GOVERNMENT INTERNAL PROCESSES (G2I) – CITY LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Legazpi City, Albay – AutoBPSystem

For the last two decades, most local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines have barely simplified building permit processes for the convenience of applicants. This continuing unresolved issue consistently contributed to the country’s poor ranking in the World Bank’s competitiveness reports highlighting an average period of twenty days to a month just to issue a single building permit per applicant. As a last resort to improve the country’s ranking globally, the DILG-DPWH-DTI-DICT issued a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) in 2018, which mandated all LGUs to streamline construction permitting processes. Even though the policy was an aggressive call to action, it was limited to utilizing a manual process considering the interoperability transition phase of LGUs since approval of building permits involves at least three city government offices and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to work with the Office of the Building Official (OBO).

On November 2019, Legazpi City officially launched its automated building permit system and presented it to Legazpenos, adjacent LGUs and the cities of Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, General Santos, Puerto Princesa, Tagbilaran and Zamboanga. The system of Legazpi City was developed through thorough analysis of experiences of the applicants and limitations of various government offices that review and approve building permits. It is a manifestation of the city government’s commitment to provide a business-friendly environment to its constituents, developers and investors. Once exposed to the system, any applicant will feel how valued he or she is because it is easy to use, transparent, coordinated and reliable.

The automated building permit system integrated all building permit-related operations of the City Assessor’s, Zoning Office, Treasury, and even the BFP under the stewardship of the OBO. There are no more complicated and separate procedures since the OBO is the main actor of the process. Coordination between regulatory offices including the BFP is seamless because their assigned personnel are connected through one system. A monitoring dashboard tracks the compliance of these offices vis-à-vis evaluation procedures and standards. All applicants receive immediate feedback on the status of their applications through electronic mail and text messaging. Recognizing the threat of COVID-19, applicants’ exposure is minimized given the application pre-registration, and online payment option to settle all fees and taxes manifested in the unified Order of Payment that is sent automatically by the system. More importantly, once an application is approved and paid, this triggers the system to send advance copies of the signed building permit, locational clearance, certified land tax declaration, fire safety evaluation clearance and official receipt to the applicant.

What started as a dream in 2018 during the assessment and planning of the city government, is now a reality and those that use the system attest positively to its very purpose and are overwhelmed that it is possible that an LGU outside of Metro Manila can develop such.

On September 11, 2020, Legazpi City was graced by the virtual presence of Atty. Jeremiah Belgica, Director General of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) during the city’s virtual orientation on the system. During the open forum, he said…

“… the entire thrust of the government is for us to shift into a digital platform, and to make things better and faster, especially that the president now has a directive for us to start migrating our systems and bureaucracy online using e-governance systems. We do believe that this effort by the local government of Legazpi signifies and shows that kung gugustuhin ay kakanin, meron po tayong kasabihan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan pero kung gusto maraming paraan.”

“Natutuwa po ako at madami akong gusto i-discuss pa, i-point out na napakaganda sa inyong pinakita and I have always been strong in my position that the one-stop-shop really is a three-step process and ito na po yun. I don’t see any major issues in this system.”

2^nd PLACE – Manila City – OPHCis

The Occupational Permit and Health Certificate Integrated System (OPHCis) is a one-stop-shop Online Application under the GO! MANILA APP that unifies the processes of securing working permit with scheduling and processing of laboratory examination. Launched last May 2020 and originally developed by the City of Manila to address the city employee’s current problems brought by the 102,000 work force from the 60,000 businesses that renews annually.

The main function of OPHCis is the integration of the different processes on the issuance of working permit. Compose of three different Offices and locations: Bureau of Permits (BP) for the issuance of Occupational Permit, Manila Health Department (MHD) for the issuance of Health Certificate and Public Health Laboratory Office (PHLO) for the processing of laboratory test.

In the old process, the PHLO must conduct laboratory test located outside the City Hall premises. The laboratory does not have any system for processing. They manually manage the results literally with pen and paper. Applicants flock instantly for lab test without prior notice while MHD and BP for have their respective manual process. Both have their own manual forms to be filled up, personnel who receive the forms, validate, encode the information and print the document. Also both have separate payment needing different tellers.

Now with the OPHCis, the three processes have been unified into one integrated system with a single assessment and payment system. With Core Management System that manages the status of the applicants with one single form of online application. PHLO has the access to set schedule to control the number of applicants. When a worker applies for an OPHC, the system displays the list of applicants to the core users. They have also have the access to start the assessment of the application that means the specimen submitted will be tested. Once the test passed, they will now tag the applicants as satisfactory signaling to MHD and BP that the applicant is fit to work. The applicant will received an SMS that client’s test has been satisfactory and will directed to the next step. The health certificate can be printed by the MHD and again clients will receive SMS directing to go to BP to print their occupational permit. The cycle is now completed. Based on the above process, the applicant has now the visibility on the status of the application. The core users also have the visibility on the statistics as well as to track the status of each applicant.

The OPHCis is supported by the City Council Resolutions Nos. 149 and 209, provides the mandate to the City of Manila thru the Local Chief Executive in establishing smart city platform and web service development for local government’s e-services and integration and in compliance to the E- Commence Act of 2000 and the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 to strengthen zero-contact policy, unified application processes to complete transactions within the prescribed time in securing working permit.

3^rd PLACE – Alaminos City, Pangasinan – BHWIS

The leaders of Alaminos City’s avowed by their sworn duty to deliver the best public service and bring the quality of life equalities to its constituents, explored and continuously exploring innovations in the field of Local Governance. The City believes that Local Governance can only be achieved if its people will actively participate in the determination and discussion of issues and problems they faced with. To make this happen, there is a need for reliable information that should be made readily available and accessible, thus, the City Government decided to put up its own system. The goal is to develop an Information System that could be used by the City to surface the needs, problems and issues of various sectors in the city using a participatory approach. Hence, the Barangay Health Worker Information System (BHWIS) was born.

The Barangay Health Worker Information System (BHWIS), a system developed by LGU-Alaminos City in 2015, carefully designed to achieved a fair and responsible processing of data using an in-house system for convenience, better planning and service delivery through the free flow of information while ensuring the demographic data is protected. We believe that this consumption of information produces knowledge. This knowledge can be used to make decisions, set policies, and even spark innovation.

BEST IN GOVERNMENT INTERNAL PROCESSES (G2I) – MUNICIPALITY LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Bayambang, Pangasinan – iLGUs

The Integrated Local Government Unit System (ILGUS) is a software solution that aims to provide a simplified processing system from data input to the creation of reports for all revenue-generating offices, including the Human Resources Management Office and the Accounting Department, of the Local Government Unit of Bayambang. As what the title implies, the solution is to provide an integrated system wherein several modules from different departments connect through a common repository and undergo a centralized process in order to be able to generate informative and useful reports.

The ILGUS is made up of several modules: Treasury, Real Property Tax Administration System with Tax Mapping, Accounting System, and Human Resource Information System. These modules, equipped with specific purposes and functions, significantly affect the productivity of several offices and improve the overall internal processes within the LGU by ensuring better connectivity and coordination among the different departments.

Administrators from the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Office ensure the sustainability of the ILGUS by offering technical assistance to the end users and ensuring that the system is up-to-date and keeping up with the changes of the public. This way, the municipality can achieve its goal of becoming a smart town with empowered citizens.

2^nd PLACE – Taytay, Rizal – AutomatedSystem

Problem

Large time-consuming for manual processing of municipal documents, taxes. and services of different office/department that cause the local government unit less productive.

Solution

Automated   System.   Proper   monitoring   of   income   and                   expenditures, fast  and

efficient retrieval of information, timely reports for management use. With the power of automated systems, maintenance, processing, and analysis of data for decisions are readily available as they are needed. This automation enables one to have on-line monitoring of activities in each department/office in the LGU,

BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE AUTOMATED SYSTEM Improved Decision Making

When pertinent data are fed into the computer, the customized systems in each department will allow the generation of comprehensive reports at the time they are

needed. With information contained in these reports, better decision can be made by the department heads or any personnel in-charge of the operation.

Optimization of Staff and Time Saving

Since most of the processing are automated speedily performed by the computer, tedious manual man-hours largely reduced, leaving the staff with enough and tasks time computations are are minimized and for other functions

Greater Accuracy / Increased Revenues

The Automated systems will greatly reduce the occurrence of computational errors which is one of the major problems of a manual systems. The feature that will help maintain accuracy is the system ability to detect errors, automate assessment & appraisal and tax computations resulting to increased revenues.

Data Integrity is Insured

Control features and audit trails are present in all the departmental systems that will be adequately developed and installed. The system makes use of passwords which are used to control unauthorized access to the package. Generated reports that list all the data entered in the files allow verification of all data input.

Up to Date Files

The individual system has the ability to accept change or delete basic data on the master files and up-date the master files and the history file being maintained by the respective departments. This allows proper file maintenance.

Convenient to Operate

The packages are easy to use because they are fully menu driven. This means that the various options and commands are all listed on the screen and the user will just have to press the appropriate keys for the computer to execute the desired operations.

Processing Becomes Routine

Once all records have been entered into the computer memory banks the office concerned will be able to utilize the following features of the system; Automatic Report

Generation; Automatic Posting of Record update; Routine File Maintenance; Automatic System Back-up and Support.

AUTOMATED SYSTEM PER OFFICE

1. REAL PROPERTY TAX ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM (RPTAS)

• BUSINESS PERMIT & LICENSE TAX ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM (BPLTAS)

• TREASURY OPERATION & INCOME MONITORING SYSTEM (TOIMS)

• INTEGRATED-GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (I-GIS)

• GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATION & ACCOUNTING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (GAAMS)

• PUBLIC TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PTMS)

• MARKET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (MMS)

• PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND PAYROLL SYSTEM (PMIPS)

• BUDGET MANAGEMENT & MONITORING SYSTEM (BMMS)

1. GENERAL SERVICE AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (GSMS)

1. ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (EMS)

1. EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ES)

1. EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM (EIS) WITH WEBSITE

1. INTEGRATED-GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GS MANNING)

1. BARANGAY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (BMS)

1. BIO-ID ATTENDANCE MONITORING SYSTEM

3^rd PLACE – Bacnotan, La Union – Auto-BAC

Integrated Real Property Assessment System (RPAS) and Real Property Tax Management System (RPTMS), Point of Payment System (POPS), Cash Collection System (CCS)

Bacnotan is a service-oriented local government unit that values its constituents, clients and partners by effectively addressing their needs at all times. Thus the dynamic and pro-active leaders of this Municipality continually seek ways to craft, implement and sustain innovative programs in governance, service delivery, organizational development and community development.

The Auto-BAC is anchored on the pledge of dedicated service to the public. It is a computerization project whose goal is to automate and integrate the Revenue Generating Office, Assessor’s Office and Treasury Office. The system was designed according to the required Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) Forms and Government Manuals.

BEST IN BUSINESS EMPOWERMENT (G2B) – PROVINCIAL LEVEL

SPECIAL CITATION: Agusan Del Sur – Hatud App

The onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic has not only brought drastic challenges to current health policies but has also changed the face of the country’s economic arena. These economic challenges are more prevalently felt in places such as the province of Agusan del Sur—a land-locked rural area with an economic profile mostly reliant on commerce, agriculture, and forestry.

With the imposition of community quarantines, the business and transport sectors of the province suffered greatly with the closure of businesses in its commercial centers. Along with restrictions and limitations on public and private transport, simple access to basic necessities such as food and household supplies have become a gargantuan feat. Small passenger transportation groups (tricycles, single motorcycles), which is one of the main means of mobility and source of income in the province, also experienced an immense decline.

In order to help small businesses and public transportation service providers transition into the “New Normal” and to provide them with alternative means of income, the Provincial Government of Agusan del Sur through its Provincial Information Management Office in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry – Agusan del Sur conceptualized, developed and deployed Hatud—a mobile web application that would serve as an integrated platform for e-commerce and e-logistics that would operate within the province.

Taking a nod from existing e-commerce platforms but a with a local flare, “Hatud”, a Manobo term which means “to deliver”, aims to bridge consumers and businesses in the province through the following core features:

1. An integrated user interface for Customers, Merchants (sellers), and Agents (curriers) featuring an easy to navigate registration and validation process, profile and product maintenance, inventories and sales performance, and secure payment channels.

• Location-based store recommendations for customers to ensure the best user experience in terms of delivery timeframes and applicable fees.

• Real time order and delivery status.

• Product and service review (rating) capability for all user groups.

• Reports on sales, user statistics and preferences, and overall system performance.

• Government- sanctioned charges and fees based on prevailing fare tariffs and suggested retail prices of goods.

The web application for customers and merchants can run online on any current operating systems while a dedicated android app for Agents is compatible with Android phones and tablets with software versions 5.0 and up. An Android App is currently being developed

and is set to launch on October 2020 to make Hatud more mobile and accessible to more users just by using their smartphones.

The program is currently focused on food orders and deliveries participated by local franchises of major food chains such as McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts, as well as on-trend and thriving local cafes. The Provincial Government of Agusan del Sur and DTI Agusan however, envisions the expansion of Hatud into other commodities such as fresh produce from farm to market, grocery items, and eventually into transporting local furniture, crafts, documents and more. The possibilities and innovations for the enterprise are endless.

1^st PLACE – Valenzuela City – Paspas Permit

Simple, speed, service excellence — throughout the years, Valenzuela City has been merited in its ‘smart’ options in local governance through the 3S Plus in Public Service Program. With continuous improvements in infrastructure, enhanced peace and order, exceptional economic and social services, and comprehensive programs in investments for Valenzuelanos, the City never stops to deliver its core strategy to reach above and beyond quality services with innovation, levelling up the game with 3S Plus Valenzuela City Online Services or the “Paspas Permit” in its competitive automation process platform.

The 3S Plus Valenzuela City Online Services is an integration of online application, billing and payment of Business Permit, Real Property Tax and Certification, Building and Construction Permit and Certified True Copy of Birth, Death and Marriage Certificate using only one (1) login account at the www.valenzuela.gov.ph.

Living out with the ease of doing business, taxpayers can also choose their preferred mode of online payment – Visa, Mastercard, DBP, LandBank credit or debit cards, Bancnetor PayMaya – for paying the fees.

The online Business Permit application allows for the registration, assessment, billing and dues payment of business establishments. From filling out application forms, Valenzuelanos can now have their application forms filled out online, receive assessment, upload requirements, and pay for the fees real-time. Upon confirmation, provisional businesspermit will be issued for as fast as ten (10) seconds.

After payment, a provisionary permit will be issued instantaneously through email. Delivery options are available through Grab Express and W Express. After the onlineapplication, a post-audit assessment will be done to ensure efficiency in the business transaction.

Utilizing automation and technology in the entire business process, this new innovation manifests Valenzuela City as a renowned Business-Friendly City and a champion on e-Governance. Projects and programs will be sufficiently funded to improve the lives of everyValenzuelano.

With 3S Plus Valenzuela City Online Services –- Valenzuela City carries out transparency, boosts local economy, eliminates graft and corruption and sustains taxpayers’ confidence and support.

2^nd PLACE – Cebu City – eOBO

eOBO is a new version of the OBOIS (Office of the Building Official Information System) which was launched in 2019. This system establishes and adopts the “Efficient Use of Paper” in the application process for building permits in the Office of the Building Official (OBO). eOBO facilitates the acceptance of online applications and the submission of digital copies of building plans and other supporting documents. It also allows online payments for relevant permits and other fees.

eOBO allows all section heads to simultaneously check/review building permit applications immediately after submission. Processing time of applications for building permits has now been considerably reduced from a minimum of 15 days to only 3 days. Likewise, occupancy permit issuance is now automated with the computation of fees done by the system, including the printing of occupancy permits. With the automation of the occupancy permit issuance, information is now promptly shared with the City Assessor’s Office for them to see building data as input to their real properly tax assessment system.

eOBO offers the following features:

• Allows applicants to apply online and submit digital copies of their building plans and supporting documents. Instead of submitting five (5) hard copies of the building plans, they only need to submit one (1) hard copy with the rest in digital form.

• Allows inspectors and evaluators to simultaneously view and check all applications in a first-come-first-serve approach, which helps reduce incidents of certain applications being given preferential treatment over others. Inspectors and evaluators then assess scanned documents and plans if they are in compliance with the National Building Code, note any deficiencies/violations, and levy corresponding assessment fees.

• Automates the assessment of fees according to the National Building Code, plus, the issuance of certificates of occupancy. Moreover, it provides an online payment portal.

• Includes a feedback mechanism for clients to check on the status of their application. This interactive inquiry:

• Is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;

• Supports improved client service through greater transparency;

• Enables cost savings on the part of the clients as they don’t need to go to city hall to follow-up on the status of their applications;

• Increases professionalism through a uniform method in the assessment of fees;

• Promotes less paper waste management, largely, through digitalization.

In compliance with RA 10173, or the Data Privacy Act, the application ensures that any personal information of building owners or applicants is protected and is kept in a secure environment, thereby meeting the legal obligations stated in the act.

eOBO is Cebu City Government’s service provided to you (clients):

without leaving your workplace ……

without leaving your homes………

without calling city hall …….

without calling any obo personnel…

and most importantly, without you paying for someone to follow up ….

BEST IN BUSINESS EMPOWERMENT (G2B)

3^rd PLACE – Tagbilaran City – e-TAGB

Automation played a big role in Tagbilaran City’s sound fiscal management. Three years ago, the business permitting system in Tagbilaran City was a long and tedious process, business establishments got accustomed to the month-long processing and long queues. But this scenario changed dramatically when the Business Permits and Licensing Office, City Treasurer Office, and the Information Technology Department merged and came up with a streamlined system. A system which harnessed the power of information technology dubbed as e-TAGB. The Enhanced Tracking and Assessment for Business or e-TAGB is a platform which integrated the e-TRACS with the streamlined business permitting process.

After the e-TAGB was put in place, the collection of business taxes in Tagbilaran City rose by 30% or Php59 million worth of local income. Tagbilaran City surpassed the collection targets given by the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), earned the Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping, won the Most Business Friendly LGU award in 2018 and 2020, and exponentially increased its ranking in the Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index (CMCI). But, the most pressing impact of the e-TAGB was the increase of the City’s local income which paved the way for local projects to be funded.

The availability of funds intensified the delivery of social services. The hospitalization subsidy, BASKOG SA BARANGAY Health Card worth Php20,000 to indigent families were implemented. More than 5,000 patients benefitted amounting to more than Php51 million of hospital bills paid by the City Government. 3,553 City Scholars have received Tuition Fee Subsidy from the City Government. City Mayor John Geesnell “BABA” Yap through City Ordinance 276 doubled the Tuition Fee Subsidy and also included cash incentives to scholars who graduated with honors.

The Tagbilaran City Birthing Clinic was opened providing free services to poor mothers. The Animal Bites Center was also opened giving free anti-rabies vaccines. Regular medical and dental missions were conducted among the 15 barangays. The 34-day care centers were fully-air-conditioned. Free uniforms and school supplies were also provided yearly to all public elementary schools. The City Government also increased the allowance given to the public-school teachers, policemen, and firemen. Burial assistance was also increased from Php5,000.00 to 15,000.00. The cash gift given to the senior citizens also increased. Elderlies aged 60 to 69 years old which only receives Php500 in 2014 was increased to Php1000 in 2015, 70 to 74 years old who used to receive Php1000 was now given Php1500, 75 to 79 who received Php1500 was raised to Php2000 and those aged 80-84 who used to get Php2000 are now receiving Php2500. Aside from the cash gift, the senior citizens also receive a birthday cake and a discount booklet for medicines and grocery. The e-TAGB did not only help the City Government in increasing its local income, but has attracted more businesses to set up in Tagbilaran City.

BEST IN BUSINESS EMPOWERMENT (G2B) – MUNICIPALITY LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Mina, Iloilo – MAIS FARM

“My administration as the Local Chief Executive, is primarily motivated to respond to the age old problem of farm production and marketing. We are regularly faced with farmers’ plight of production deficit and surplus. Once deficit, our farmers face low incomes, less food for their families. With surplus or glut, farmers are faced with problems where to sell their products. A digital technology solution was established that can be regarded as themissing link to address the gap and problems in production and marketing from the grassroots to the national level of our country’s agri-fishery industry.”

Through MAIS-FARMS information needed for market linkages.

Comprehensive Version 4, the municipality has the essential surgical management of problems in agriculture production and its

As the name implies, MAIS-FARMS Comprehensive Web Version 4 an internet oriented software that manages farm production and marketing with features that validated information can be linked and interfaced to the provincial, regional, national and even to global levels.

This MAIS-FARMS Web Version 4 an enhanced innovation of web-based digitization of information using mixed cloud computing technology and local database for storing, managing and processing information that can be used to create market linkages between and among farmers buyers of raw or processed agri-fishery products. This is a more comprehensive and innovative version than the previous edition, the MAIS-FARMS Web Version 1,2 and 3. This system was developed to help address the problems of farmers, to sell their products at the right timing and price so he maximizes the return of his efforts.

Farmers in the countryside will have access to information on what, where and when to plant the crops, so that harvest will be timed for optimal prices. All data at real time for accuracy and timeliness. The ease of access by farmers at the upstream level is similar to the ability to access by traders so with support of technical team from every LGU through the Municipal Agriculture Office, who manages the system, both parties meet, albeit digitally to negotiate prices, volumes acceptable to both. Transaction is more secured.

House Bill 6721 is “Agriculture Information System (AIS) ACT “An Act establishing the Agriculture Information System in all Cities and Municipalities” was approved by the House of Representative Committee on Agriculture and Food last Sept. 4, 2020. This enabling law would pave the way for its mandatory implementation. A quantum leap to countryside digital age where change of leadership will not hamper its implementation as it is already part of government’s program thru Department of Agriculture.

There is money in Agriculture, with MAIS-FARMS, young generations will be challenged encouraged to invest their talent in agriculture. Likewise, agri-fishery data management was made easier for MAO. All reports can be linked on-time to offices in the Provincial, Regional and National Levels. Statistical and historical information of agricultural production easily

generated using different decision tools equipped in the system itself. These information are very essential for national government’s development plans and for investors for making projections for future needs.

2^nd PLACE – Moncada, Tarlac – eBPLO

We are pleased to put forward our electronic BPLO system which has been in place since 2016. We have implemented our system in line with Ease of doing business and Delivery of Government Services (EODB/EDGS) Act or RA 11032, DILG-DTI-DICT JMC No 01 s. of 2016

• “Revised Standards in Processing Business Permit and Licenses in all Cities and Municipalities, DILG-DPWH-DICT-DTI JMC No. 2018-01 “Guidelines in Streamlining the Process for the Issuance of Building Permits and Certificates of Occupancy”.

We have approached this thru our ezGov System which integrates into the following modules

1. ezGov BPLO System

• ezGov Treasury System

• ezGov Queuing System

One of the main differentiators with our system is how our partnership with ezGov is structured. As you know handing a government automation system is not so simple and needs to keep up with the ever-changing requirements of our national government. As such securing a system like this in lump sum which only increase our total cost of ownership over time. We have now structured our agreement with ezGov as a Software as a Service (Saas). As such we are able to maintain our system and keep our costs low. This greatly helped our municipality while we built up out IT team.

On the overall structure of our BPLO this has been only getting better and better. In fact, just last year we implemented our Queuing system to enable a better customer experience. And for this 2020 – 2021 we are targeting to have the eBPLO system integrated into our Mobile Application called, eMoncada Application as well to minimize our business owners from being exposed due to our current pandemic.

We hope that our system and initiative will be recognized by the NICP as one of the Best in this category. Thank you for your consideration.

3^rd PLACE – Odiongan, Romblon – Odiongan E-Palengke

When the Municipality of Odiongan was placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and General Community Quarantine (GCQ), the movement of its residents became limited. People found it challenging to go to the market due to limited public transportation. The reduced foot flow meant that market vendors were facing issues in getting their products sold. This problem also meant that the farmers and producers supplying the produce would wait until the market supplies are bought. The implementation of ECQ and GCQ also affected the tricycle drivers who relied on everyday operation for their income.

In order to address these issues, the Local Government of Odiongan partnered with a local innovation company and created Odiongan E-palengke, an online electronic market where the general public can order their market needs and have it delivered at their homes. The vision behind the project is not only to utilize technology during the times of pandemic, but most importantly, to address the issues of oversupply, get the products to the people and provide employment for some sectors.

Odiongan E-palengke, a Facebook mini app, was an idea conceptualized by the LGU Odiongan. The LGU was in charge with the supplier (i.e. fruit & vegetables vendors, fish supplier, meat supplier) and delivery side (tricycle drivers) whilst the private company took charge of the operation of the online platform. Whenever a customer would need something from the market, all he/she has to do is to click: m.me/OdionganEpalengke and choose from the variety of products, after checking out he/she then needs to fill out a form to input the customers basic information, delivery address and contact details. At the backend, the market officer then makes the rounds within the market and collects the ordered products and gets it ready for delivery. Once, all items are sorted the assigned tricycle driver picks up the orders and delivers it to the address stated by the customers, collects the payments and remits it to the market officer who then pays the vendors who supplied the market products.

The program kicked off last June 29 and ran for at least 4 weeks of dry run. During this period, a lot of adjustments were made to provide a better service to the customers. The program also gained a lot of good feedback thanks to the great customer experience Odiongan Epalengke provides and some great push from local online influencers and constant marketing content via the LGU FB pages. The program was a huge hit and has catered to almost 2,000 clients to date (2nd week of October). Eventually, the LGU handed the program to a private company for further operational expansion.

BEST IN COVID19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE (G2P) – PROVINCIAL LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Province of Iloilo – RISC TARP

Pursuant to EO 183, series of 2020 issued by the Honorable Governor Arthur R. Defensor, Jr, An Order Implementing the Plan for Rehabilitation and Transformation of the Province of Iloilo to catalyze recovery (PLAN RT-PCR) towards new normal, there is a need for the Province’s intervention to stimulate economic activity and heal as one Province.

To implement efficiently and effectively the order that is provided in Sections 15 and 16, Reverse Isolation and Reverse Contact Tracing, respectively, a system was developed to fast track isolation and at the same time monitor the movement of the people from and to the barangay level.

RisC TrAp- Reverse Isolation and Contact Tracing Application is a system developed in-house by the ICTMO as per instruction of the Governor particularly, for Covid-19 containment and risk reduction measure in facing the new normal.

This system is a web application designed for the barangay to establish and maintain a database of residents, travel monitoring, and control points that will track and control the entry and exit of persons to and from the barangay. A Travel Declaration Card will be issued and the information will be encoded to the system.

Moreover, regular or daily travel of residents to work/conduct of business in industries and livelihood sectors shall not require submission of a Travel Declaration Card.

For fast tracking of the information gathered in case of problem arising, the Province of Iloilo through the Office of the Governor will provide web hosting facilities for real time transmission of information. Computers will also be provided to all municipalities and eventually to all barangays in the province. As of the moment, about 10% of the barangays have been provided with computers, and yearly the Governor has appropriated 200 computers to be given to the barangays for the said purpose.

For the sustainability of the project, the Province of Iloilo through the Information Communication Technology Management Office (ICTMO), will provide technical assistance and training for all designated end-users using the virtual platform. In order to maintain data privacy, only authorized government personnel can access the database.

The ICTMO, Province of Iloilo will serve as the administrator of the system. Authorized RIsC TrAp end-users will be identified by the Municipal Mayor and/or Designated Focal Person and to submit the list of end-users for access creation by the ICTMO.

YouTube links will be provided to serve as Training Videos on how to use RIsC TrAp. To start using the system, authorized users can login to Web Application using their username and password.

The Province and the LGUs shall establish and maintain a Record for Reverse Contact Tracing(RRCT) and shall adopt a Reverse Contact Tracing procedure to augment Contact Tracing pursuant to DOH Department Memorandum No. 2020-0189 as embodied in Section 16 of EO 183-B, series of 2020.

2^nd PLACE – South Cotabato – SC-CCTS

Contact tracing involves the identification, listing and follow-up of persons who may have come into contact with an infected person. This plays an important role in containing the outbreak of COVID-19 as part of the 3T’s of DOH, or TEST, TREAT, and TRACE. Significantly, quick and accurate tracing, testing and isolation are crucial in containing community transmissions. Unfortunately, the manual contact tracing being done in South Cotabato would normally take weeks relying solely on the infected person’s memory, with the information collected oftentimes inaccurate or lacking in detail.

To strengthen our fight against COVID-19, the Provincial Government of South Cotabato (PGSC) worked to develop an electronic logbook known as the South Cotabato COVID-19 Contact Tracing System (SC-CCTS), and was completed as early as the first week ofApril. While other LGUs purchased contact tracing systems worth millions of pesos from private developers, this system was conceptualized, designed and developed by local IT experts who are also employees of the PGSC. The SC-CCTS is a localized web and mobile-based application that makes use of technology to efficiently and expeditiously determine the possible contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases, thus lessening the amount of time spent as well as risk of possible exposure when conducting contact tracing. Working as a digital logbook, the system eliminates the manual process of frequently and repeatedly writing theresidents’ personal information every time they enter private and government establishments exposing them to possible infection and data protection violations.

The SC-CCTS does all this without requiring smartphones or internet connectivity from the general public while providing accurate information for effective contact tracing. This approach, as it considers the most affected individuals who do not have access to technology, is designed to defeat the pandemic while remaining inclusive and participatory. Implementing this has increased the confidence of LGUs on the safety of their population in reopening borders and restarting economic activities during and beyond the community quarantines. It is probably the first contact tracing system in the country that digitized the manual logbook system and protects even the most marginalized individuals.

Valuable inputs were included in the system to ensure that data privacy safeguards are introduced in the enactment of the ordinance by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of South Cotabato known as the “COVID-19 Contact Tracing System Ordinance of the Province of South Cotabato.” This ordinance enforced guidelines to ensure compliance of all residents, visitors, businesses and government offices on the use of SC-CCTS.

Now, the system has expanded beyond South Cotabato as it is committed to continue to share it with the rest of the country for free. As South Cotabato’s contribution to the world, it was presented during the Leaders’ Summit organized by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last September 24 as one of the best global practices and examples of Open Response+Open Recovery in light of the pandemic. The OGP describes it as a “great effort that discloses accurate contact tracing information designed to include marginalized communities.”

3^rd PLACE – Province of Davao De Oro – Call DdOC

Healthcare is an essential service that is ironically difficult to access in our current times. Multitudes of risks and restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed people to resort to either of the two extremes: wanting to get a check-up at the smallest feel of a symptom linked to covid, or being too anxious to even step outside their homes. But either way, access to hospitals and clinics are still further hindered by community quarantines, age restrictions, and various challenges concerning public transportation. For one, only medical frontliners and covid taskforce personnel were allowed to pass through certain checkpoints especially during ECQ, and the set age restrictions prohibit senior citizens and children— pregnant mothers included—from travelling. Public transportation has also turned somewhat into a nightmare of its own with the fare hikes, health risks, long health screening and contact tracing procedures, and new travel rules. Buses now only allow passengers to board and alight at terminals in compliance to the IATF’s contact tracing guidelines. This however has only become more of a hassle than a help to most commuters.

As a response to the COVID-19 situation and to alleviate the experiences mentioned above, PLGU-Davao de Oro developed the Call DdOC “Your Virtual Doctor” online consultation and data storage system which utilizes hotlines, Facebook, and the Call DdOC online teleconsulting case management system as a platform to make impartial and reliable health services more convenient, accessible, costless, and as contactless as possible for the public. In the process, Call DdOC further helps decongest hospitals, eliminates the probability of contracting a virus from physical check-ups, and cuts long lines, medical fees, and other expenses—making the overall process much simpler for everyone.

The process of availing Call DdOC’s service is easy. The patient may first contact their virtual doctor by either calling/texting the provided hotline or by contacting DDOPH Facebook pages via chat. The designated Call DdOC agent, a representative from the respective hospital’s outpatient department (OPD), shall then collect and record the patient’s information, store it in the teleconsulting system, give the patient a case or reference number for efficient case tracking, then forward their concern to the doctor on duty. After getting the doctor’s instructions, the agent will then relay information to the patient, or ask for extra details or pictures if requested by the doctor. This process is repeated until the doctor finally gives a final prescription or advice. The agent will then pass the prescription to the patient along with the doctor’s name. Lastly, the agent will ask for a service rating, which along with their voluntary written reviews, serve as a measurement of the program’s effectiveness.

Done in partnership with Davao de Oro’s four provincial hospitals in the municipalities of Montevista, Maragusan, Laak, and Pantukan; Call DdOC, through hotlines and Facebook—the most accessible online platform in the country—connects people to doctors in just a few taps on their mobile phones.

BEST IN COVID19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE (G2P) – CITY LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Valenzuela City – ValTrace

As early as January 2020, Valenzuela City has planned its protocols on the initial response on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), then called the novel coronavirus, with all of the preparation, development and coordination on crafting the city-level response against the global pandemic – and with the first localized transmission of the disease in the Philippines, the City Government of Valenzuela is all heads up as it confirms its first positive COVID-19 case last March 19.

With the possible increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the City, a homegrown COVID-19 database software system was utilized by the City Epidemiology andSurveillance Unit (CESU) teams for contact tracing. Mapping from the City’s Geographical Information System (GIS) came in handy for contact tracing purposes, and what was oncea simple system for looking only at COVID-19 case relationships levels up with an automated and integrated system at Valenzuela City’s very own Mega Contact Tracing Center.

Realizing that efficient and effective contact tracing helps in the localized targeted mass testing of the City, the local government not only utilized its technological capacities butcomplemented it with a full labor force similar to a call center set up for “contact-less” contact tracing. Valenzuela residents and non-residents visiting enclosed indoorestablishments in Valenzuela are mandated to use their own Quick Response (QR) codes to be registered at the City’s very own ValTrace app, which will then help monitor possible exposure through a person’s movement or location history. This again minimizes contact as it eliminates filling out of contact tracing forms in different establishments – leading governance with the use of technology in the local government spectrum. In a spanof seven (7) months since the community quarantine was placed in Metro Manila, Valenzuela has reaped the benefits of seeing a bigger dimension to where the City is in its COVID-19 response. This has helped in the planning and management of allocating its resources, gradually discovering ways to minimize community transmission and contain COVID-19 cases in its isolation facilities.

Driven by science, research and data, the City Government of Valenzuela continues to innovate beyond just government transactions and automation, it also projects to cross industries by applying efficiency tools as the realm and situation dictates. Known forbeing a business-friendly city, Valenzuela envisions to pioneer practices that may be adopted across governments – providing help and support to achieve a COVID-19 free

Philippines.

Further, Valenzuela City believes that by simply observing timeliness and completeness in the contact tracing strategy, testing delays can be avoided which can turnout into amore effective and contained COVID-19 transmission within a locality.

2^nd PLACE – Paranaque City – Covid Strat

This year, the City Government has implemented several reform initiatives to address the pressing issues and concerns brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is estimated that the total socio-economic cost is P14.6B/day during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) from March 16 to May 15, 2020 and P8.6B/day under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) from August 19 to present. Moreover, the series of community quarantine regulations significantly affected the operations of local businesses.

To respond to this, the City established the Covid-19 Taskforce and Response Team under the Executive Order Nos. 2 and 26 series of 2020. The Covid-19 Taskforce is headed by the City Mayor as Chairperson of the Taskforce – with City Administrator and City Health Officer as Co-Chair, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) as Vice-Chair with members from the following: Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and Liga ng Mga Barangay. On the other hand, each response team is composed of representatives from departments/offices to highlight the “whole of local government approach” in addressing issues and concerns – as well as implementing reforms in their respective areas. Currently, there are 9 cluster response teams namely: Case Management, Public Safety, Law and Order, Sanitation, Medical Facilities, Screening, Remains/Cremains, Economic Preservation and Recovery, Control, Communication, and Coordination, and Logistics.

The City Government adopted a two-pronged approach – policy and organizational outcomes in addressing the challenges brought by the pandemic.

1. Guidelines and Safety Precautionary Measures against Covid-19 i.e., community health and workplace standards

• Ordinances/resolutions adopting online government services i.e., courier services, online payment, etc.

• Home Quarantine Guidelines and Issuance of Quarantine Pass

• Curfew Hours

• Liquor Ban

• Prohibiting profiteering, prize cap, and hoarding

• Installation of hand soaps and alcohol sanitizers in all public and commercial areas

• Temporary closure on Non-essential business establishments

1. Granting tax relief to business and real property tax

• Granting relief for tenant-establishments

On the socio-health aspect, the City reinvents the delivery of public services by adopting the national government’s framework and action plan i.e., Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (DRRP) to evaluate the overall impact of the pandemic and serve as tool for policy recommendation. More importantly, the City has been one of the pioneer LGUs in using modern technologies/applications for delivery of public services such in the case of digital disbursement of Social Amelioration Program (SAP) and Parañacash Covid-19 Assistance Program – which were lauded by both partners in government and private sector for its successful implementation. Below are the socio-health outcomes:

1. Setting up 4 testing centers: a) OSPAR 1, b) OSPAR 2, c) PNHS (Paranaque National High School), and d) CESU (City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit)

• Establishment of 7 isolation facilities: a) SAHS (San Antonio High School, b)PCC (Paranaque City College), c) PNHS (Paranaque National High School) d) OSPAR 1 (Ospital ng Paranaque) e) OSPAR 2 (Ospital ng Paranaque) f) Baclaran Elementary School Central, and g) Dr. Arcadio Santos National High School

• Distribution of 800k+ relief goods i.e., food packs, rice, etc. and protective equipment i.e., facemask/shield

• Use of QR Code for Health Declaration Form in all departments/offices

• Online Appointment and Scheduling System

• Mobile Palengke for delivery of fresh goods

• Social Amelioration Program (SAP) – A total of 77,674 SAP beneficiaries have been identified in 16 barangays.

• Paraña-Cash Covid-19 Assistance Program – A locally funded cash aid to cover “left-out” household who have not received any cash assistance from the National Government. A total of 60,000 household are expected to benefit on this program.

The City Government has been recognized by the National Task Force on Covid-19 as one of the “model cities” in responding to Covid-19 pandemic with recorded recovery rate of 90% in Metro Manila.

3^rd PLACE – Baguio City – eContact Tracing

The Local Government of Baguio was hailed by the Philippine’s National Task Force for COVID-19 as the model in the fight against the pandemic for its robust and effective management of COVID cases. Likewise, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte commended City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong as the champion for his Contact Tracing (CT) strategies and proclaimed him the country’s Contact Tracing Czar. With this, the Mayor is tapped as a resource person by national and international organizations, other local governments, the academe, and the various agencies to share his revolutionary approaches and learning experiences in mitigation measures, preparedness and most importantly, effective contact tracing.

The ongoing COVID-19 epidemic triggered an increase in demand and need for emerging technology platforms. The City has adopted an affordable and accessible surveillance technology to identify and track at-risk populations and to provide relevant, real-time information, which is currently being used in contact tracing operations. The intersectoral clusters, businesses, national agencies and other stakeholders have partnered in the development of a COVID-19 recovery and resiliency plan and a strategic action plan for pandemics that includes sustainable solutions for promoting a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, which has jumpstarted the technological approach to contact tracing.

The Baguio contact tracing ecosystem, led by the City Mayor, consists of interviewers, analysts, encoders, as well as technical and community support teams who are trained in cognitive interviewing skills and digital analysis tools resulting to an effective and efficient contact tracing strategy. The three (3) digital systems currently being used are the: 1) EndCov-19 Dashboard with real-time updates (http://endcov19.baguio.gov.ph/); 2) Geospatial Analysis using GIS; and 3) Link Analysis.

Baguio City’s COVID tracing system is an aggregate surveillance tracker support package as well as an automated analytics device. The case-based surveillance tracker captures symptoms, demographics, risk factors and exposures, records of lab results and links to confirmed cases and treatment response monitoring through the contact tracing follow-up program. Moreover, travelers who have visited high-risk locations and would like to travel in or out of the city can access an online Health Declaration System, integrated into the COVID e-system tracker.

The City’s relentless strategy on quickly identifying and isolating confirmed cases became the inspiration for other local chief executives to learn and deploy the same strategy in order to expedite their contact tracing efforts. Likewise, Mayor Magalong urged other local government units to help identify gaps in the current e-system, so that it can be further improved and made even more effective.

BEST IN COVID19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE (G2P) – MUNICIPAL LEVEL

1^st PLACE – Baliwag, Bulacan – IAMSafe

COVID-19 caught us off-guard and had us fighting a viral infection that spreads invisibly and exponentially. As it generally affected our way of living and delivery of public services, the Local Government of Baliwag recognized early on the need to devise a digital system that can keep up with the speed of the virus and scale up its quick response to secure public health and safety, seamlessly deliver public services, and carefully restore economic activities in town that are essential to its citizens.

Thus, iAmSafe, a web-based application and information system, was developed by the Municipal ICT Office of Baliwag, enabling its residents and visitors to update and track their state of health in real time, while also serving as a tool for its Municipal Health Officials to fast track contact tracing, analyze records, and make data-driven decisions in order to bring appropriate aid immediately, adjust protocols and allocate resources accordingly, and control the widespread of virus efficiently. This data-gathering application is secured and monitored only by local authorities, and can be accessed by other governing agencies as necessary to ensure public health and safety.

iAmSafe generates QR code-based identification, which omits the risks in manually filling up health declaration forms in crowd-frequented establishments. It aids establishments in monitoring its guests and employees, and takes out the burden of manually encoding, consolidating, and submitting these data to the authorities.

QR codes also serve as digital quarantine passes, which automatically tag and eliminate physical contact in distributing paper passes, especially to persons authorized to go outside of their residences during lockdowns.

The time saved in streamlining these processes were tantamount to saved lives and resources as it made it easier for local authorities to launch rapid response and precautionary measures—from executive orders, to distribution of aid. This also helped protect local frontliners from being fully exhausted, and has allowed establishments to carefully adapt to the new normal.

For residents who do not have smart phones, iAmSafe stations and pop-up booths were operationalized to assist citizens in registration, downloading and printing of their QR codes. Various information campaigns were also conducted online and offline for the use of iAmSafe, which utilized mobile discussion groups and maximized Baliwag’s Public Assistance and Complaints Center hotlines and official social media accounts to help address concerns and queries about the application.

Trainings and orientations were also conducted online to help establishments comply, and graphic templates were also provided to help them communicate the use of iAmSafe to their clients.

To date, about 241k+ active users are registered in iAmSafe 1,200+ of which are establishments. The MICT Office of Baliwag is currently integrating iAmSafe to the Baliwag

Integrated Profiling System, where the QR codes will eventually form part of the identification cards of residents availing other local public services such as senior citizens and PWDs.

2^nd PLACE – Magallanes, Cavite – CBMS Used During Covid19

Managing the Covid-19 pandemic requires an evidenced-based data to target eligible beneficiaries in time of disaster. Lack of data makes it difficult for a municipality to address the existing data gaps at the local level, to determine the causes of poverty, to formulate appropriate policies and programs, and to effective and efficiently implement the programs of the government.

The local government of Magallanes, Cavite, which is a fourth (4^th) class municipality has an advantage among other municipalities. We have evidenced-based data which is derived from Community Based Monitoring System. These datasets are seen as viable source of socioeconomic data to generate relevant information to be used for disaster risk reduction and management.

At present, the CBMS of the municipality of Magallanes, Cavite has been the best tool and is being used to address different challenges brought by COVID-19 pandemic.

Our CBMS is in the third round of implementation and is currently in Module 2. The CBMS Technical Working Group (TWG) completed the Barangay Validation in all barangays last September 14-24, 2020. As of now the LGU is preparing for Module 3 which is the formulation of Barangay Development Plan.

3^rd PLACE – Loon, Bohol – eTPMobile

Beset with a crisis brought about the pandemic, a local government unit needs to ensure the right balance in the continuous delivery of its critical services to its constituents while at the same time safeguarding the health and safety of its people in the battle with the invisible enemy that is Covid-19, albeit without prior experience in dealing with such crisis.

Responding to the pandemic as a direct result of Covid-19 demands that we think innovatively and move quickly. This is critical in the absence of a permanent solution, such as a vaccine, to prevent the spread of the virus and to save lives.

Keeping this guiding principle and philosophy in mind, LGU-Loon developed the electronic Tracer Pass Mobile (eTP Mobile). It is a contract tracing system that makes use of Quick Response (QR) Technology.

It introduces uniformity of simple and secured data gathering for end-users with or without smart phones by empowering barangay-based registration with the Barangay Information System (BIS).

Our entry allows the system to trace the different places an infected resident may have been to and provides visibility on whom he/she may have been in contact with in that particular period of time.

Just recently, LGU-Loon is coordinating with DILG’s contact tracing team for the latter to use the Electronic Tracer Pass mobile app in carrying out their functions as contact tracers for the Municipality of Loon.

In this new normal and unprecedented times, this system is ideal for the seamless delivery of public services to targeted constituents emulating the objectives of the National ID System. Essentially, it gives us the much-needed fighting chance to battle the invisible enemy which is the Covid-19 virus.