Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, Juris Doctor
- Former Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development, DICT (August 4, 2022 to May 25, 2025)
- Convenor, Philippine ICT Innovation Network
- Convenor, Digital Innovation for Women Advancement (DIWA)
- Digital Innovation Board Member, ITU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development
Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue is a trailblazing advocate for digital empowerment and inclusive innovation in the Philippines. With over two decades of leadership at the nexus of law, policy, and technology, she served as Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development (2022–2025) at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Philippines, driving nationwide support for tech-startups, digital freelancers, digital nomads, and countryside tech ecosystems. As the Philippine Councilor at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) from 2022 to 2025 and currently a Digital Innovation Board Member of the ITU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, she contributed to shaping global digital policies and championed ethical, inclusive technologies at national and international forums. A co-founder of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) and Philippine ICT Innovation Network, she helped pioneer rural digital job generation and tech innovation. She designed and led the creation of the first technology business incubator (TBI) at the Negros First Cybercentre and the ALPHA Accelerator in Bacolod City. Her accolades include the 2016 The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) Award for ICT, 2013 ICT Contributor of the Year, and Top Ten Outstanding Young Leaders (2009) by Asia Society. A respected lawyer, professor, and speaker, Jocelle leads regional initiatives on AI governance, innovation, design thinking, and women-in-tech—building a future where talent and innovation thrive beyond borders.
READ MORE ABOUT JOCELLE BATAPA-SIGUE:
Jocelle Batapa-Sigue is a trailblazer of digital empowerment and inclusive innovation in the Philippines, with over two decades of pioneering work at the intersection of law, policy, and technology. A multi-awarded digital leader, she served as Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) 2022 to 2025 under former Secretary Ivan John Uy, helping transform the Philippine digital ecosystem to support startups, digital freelancers, digital nomad ecosystems, and tech-enabled countryside economy. Because of her extensive work in guiding various provinces and cities in attracting digital jobs, she was named as one of The Outstanding Women in Nation Service (TOWNS) in the Philippines in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in 2016.
From August 4, 2022 to May 25, 2025, Jocelle Batapa-Sigue served as Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development of the DICT, leading transformative initiatives that significantly advanced digital empowerment and countryside innovation in the Philippines. As a strong policy advocate, she promoted startup innovation, ethical AI and digital inclusion, leading international and national discussions. Her international leadership was equally notable—she represented the Philippines as an elected Council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU. She was also nominated as Vice-Chairperson for Region E of the ITU Council Working Group on Child Online Protection, enhancing the country’s role in global ICT policy-making.
She launched the Digital Innovation for Women Advancement (DIWA) program, promoting gender equality in ICT and encouraging more women to enter the digital economy. She led the ASEAN and ITU celebration of “Girls in ICT” . Her engagement in global forums, commitment to youth empowerment via Generation Connect Philippines, and advocacy for inclusive and ethical digital governance reflect her unwavering dedication to building a digitally inclusive and globally competitive Philippines.
She conceptualized and led the Data for Development (D4D) Initiative, which aims to harness data-driven governance for sustainable development. The initiative focuses on leveraging public and government data to create transparent and efficient solutions for citizens.
She has been actively involved in shaping AI Governance and Ethics in the Philippines, balancing innovation and responsible AI deployment. She emphasized the need for multi-sectoral collaboration to ensure ethical AI use while avoiding over-regulation.
She launched the EUREKA AI Workshop Series, which explores strategies for AI governance, ethical AI deployment, and digital transformation in the Philippines. She also led the EUREKA Policy Conference on AI Safety, where experts discussed responsible AI design and development. This initiative aims to bridge AI research with practical applications, ensuring AI benefits education, governance, and industry.
In March 2025, Jocelle was recognized for her outstanding contributions to digital literacy and women’s empowerment by receiving two prestigious awards. She was honored as the Distinguished Woman Leader in Digital Literacy by the International Women’s Assembly, acknowledging her dedication to advancing digital education, innovation, and inclusion. Additionally, she was a recipient of the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE) Award, presented by the Province of Negros Occidental, highlighting her efforts in bridging the gender gap in technology and empowering women through digital transformation initiatives.
In 2008, she co-founded the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, an umbrella organization of councils composed of academe, government and business sectors in different cities and provinces in the country.
She was chosen as Asia Society Top Ten Philippines 21 Fellow in 2009 and Eisenhower Fellow of the Philippines for 2012. In 2014, she was named as Philippine Individual Contributor of the Year during the International ICT Awards given by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines.
She served as chairman of the board of the Voice of The Free Foundation, an social organization which provides legal and psychosocial services, shelter and livelihood trainings for victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, forced labor and child abuse and exploitation.
She served as city councilor of Bacolod for 9 years and founded the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT) in 2008, leading stakeholders to come together to promote Bacolod as a destination for ICT-enabled jobs and investments.
She chaired the Bacolod IT Focus Team, which worked together on strategies and programs to develop Bacolod City and Negros Occidental as one the growing centers of innovation in the country.
BNEFIT eventually joined similar bodies existing in other cities and provinces to create in 2008, the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) now composed of more than 50 ICT councils nationwide. She served as NICP President from 2010-2012 and continues to be a trustee to this day.
In 2012, she pioneered the clustering of NICP and served as lead convenor of the Visayas ICT Cluster Organization (VICTOR).
In 2009, she was chosen as Asia Society Top Ten Philippines 21 Fellow and Eisenhower Fellow of the Philippines. She is also an alumna of the Aspen Leadership Institute in Aspen, Colorado.
Through the years, she has assisted local government units and the national government especially in designing programs that will complement the educational system and integrate ICT therein to produce a more competent and job-ready workforce.
She has contributed to help develop a comprehensive plan on a provincial basis in order to yield a more accurate picture of the workforce and a rationalized program of infrastructure and human resource build-up based on strengths, encourage synergy among the sectors involved in developing government support, business environment and talent development, in order avoid duplication of efforts, minimize competition among local government units, and maximize resources to better prepare the province and the region to become competitive globally.
She has inspired government to prioritize the effective coordination and implementation of its national and local ICT and ICT-enabled services, programs, projects and other related initiatives and reorganize and revitalize all relevant governmental institutions in order to achieve a streamlined and efficient structure that is responsive and attuned to national goals and objectives.
In March 2014, she was named as Philippine Individual Contributor of the Year during the International ICT Awards given by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines.
Winner: Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue
Related Articles: BNEFIT CHAIR ATTY. JOCELLE BATAPA-SIGUE BAGS THE IT-BPM INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD IN THE 8TH INTERNATIONAL ICT AWARDS PHILIPPINES
SunStar Bacolod: Homegrown ICT-BPO firms told to join ICT awards
Since then, she has continuously pushed for policies for the State to provide an environment that will support investments in cost-efficient ICT infrastructure, systems and resources, to ensure universal access and high-speed connectivity at fair and reasonable costs; a level playing field for strategic alliances with investors in order to have balanced investments between high-growth and economically depressed areas; ensure consumer protection and welfare as well as preserve the rights of individuals and entities to privacy and confidentiality of information; to promote accountability through transparent governance, and effective delivery of government frontline services.
She has become the symbol of inclusive growth for the nation – that ICT is a great equalizer of opportunities – that it gives cities outside of Metro Manila a chance to attract more jobs and generate investments to improve the local economy.
She chaired the NICP eGov Awards or the Awards for Excellence in ICT for Good Governance. Since 2012, the eGov Awards started as the first and most prestigious annual recognition to be given by the ICT sector to LGUs with exemplary performance in utilizing information and communications technology (ICT) to effectively and efficiently deliver its public services directly to its constituents and to its business stakeholders and towards raising the bar in delivering public service.
By drawing attention to the best practices in integrating ICT capabilities and solutions, the different sectors of society, government units are enabled in their roles as catalyst of change. It is hoped that with the eGOV awards strategy, the country will see the proliferation of revolutionary ICT initiatives that will support clearer, wider and faster access to information in our local governments.
She developed the Negros First CyberCentre and the first Technology Business Incubator (TBI) for tech startups in the province.
In 2016, she founded the Philippine ICT Innovation Network which seeks to create platforms for all ICT champions to collaborate on seeking solutions and strategies for the Philippines to thrive in the digital age.
It is a coalition of individuals, groups and organizations with long years of proven track record as key actors in the ICT sector, who share the common vision of championing the use of ICT and the uplifting of the ICT sector as growth drivers of the economy of the Philippines by ensuring that the sector is adequately, competently and effectively represented in the Congress, as the highest policy-making body of the country.
Her passion is to help build ICT councils in the countryside as a venue for academe, government and industry to come together and develop strategies to generate ICT-enabled jobs and investments and drive innovation.
In 2016, she was named as one of The Outstanding Women in Nation Service (TOWNS) awardee in the field of ICT. Known as a staunch advocate for the development of ICT in the countryside, she completes the eight awardees in this prestigious recognition for women not more than 45 years old given by the TOWNS Foundation every three years.
Her efforts and initiatives promote the interest of the youth and the nation-building – and beyond that – she has consistently championed INCLUSIVE growth as a principle for nation-building and considers ICT as the global key driver to economy, governance and social development in the world today.
She is a leader that sees the world as her space, unbound by parochial thinking. She believes that she must not only help Bacolod but other cities by inspiring them to unite, strategize and dream big.
Her passion to help the country grow one province, one city as a time is viral that today, many ICT champions in various areas have began to stand up and engage the other sectors to a dialogue and to create collaborative mechanisms to work together as one.
Her goal is to create as many jobs for the Filipino youth whose creativity, technical skills, and ingenuity are excellent. By going out of the borders of her city, to help other cities and provinces generate jobs, instead of simply just earning a living for her own family, she has shown that serving the nation takes many forms and as an individual champion for ICT, one can make a difference.
She creates workshops and concepts for various stakeholders and communities as founder of The Design Thinking Factory. She is a practicing lawyer and a law professor specializing in Legal Research and Legal Ethics for more than two decades. She currently serves as national policy consultant for digital transformation, technical consultant for digital cities and eGovernance, and coach and mentor for digitalization of entrepreneurs around the country.
In 2019, she was invited as Digital Transformation Consultant for the Tatak Pinoy Policy Program of the Office of Senator Sonny Angara where she helps design policies and platforms for the Philippines to thrive in the digital age.
She is a certified Go Negosyo Coach and Level 2 and 3 Mentor on the topics of Digitalization and Business Law under the Department of Trade and Industry.
She is consultant for the Digital Cities Program of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Jocelle is a practicing lawyer and a law professor at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City since 1998 and served as city councilor of Bacolod for nine years.
She first joined politics in 2001 as councilor under a local party but did not win. In the 2004 and 2007 elections, she won a seat in the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod as an independent candidate. She ran for the position of lone district representative of Bacolod in the House of Representatives in 2010, but lost. In 2013, she returned as city councilor of Bacolod and won. In 2016, she stepped out from local politics to pursue her other goals for the country, but in 2019, she was encouraged to run for city mayor. Jocelle believed in her mission to effect change in her city, took the challenge and face an opponent who have 40 years of political experience and 20 years particularly in the mayoralty race. She lost the 2019 elections but was inspired to continue to this day to do her various advocacies.
Jocelle is a professional resource speaker and lecture. Her Curriculum Vitae is available HERE.
Designs in this site are created by The Design Thinking Factory with Canva
LATEST CERTIFICATIONS of Atty JOCELLE BATAPA SIGUE:
Jocelle Batapa Sigue 