LEGAZPI CITY — The Legazpi City Local Government Unit (LGU), which has been actively promoting the use of technology in speeding up government transactions, has been nominated for an award inspired by the late Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo.
The LGU has been named for the distinction by the City Information and Communication Technology Council (LCICTC) in this city for the Search for the 2nd eGov Awards for Local Government Units dubbed as the “Jesse Robredo Award of Excellence in ICT for Good Governance.”
The Search is in honor of the late mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City who approved the concept in 2012, two months before his death in a plane accident.
The award is one form of a recognition being given by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) of best local government projects using information and communications technology (ICT) to effectively deliver public service.
Arrish Altavano, the LCICTC head, said the city government of Legazpi is very much eligible for the award as it uses ICT to transform its public service delivery and promote good urban governance.
LCICTC is a non-government organization that oversees matters related to ICT developments in the locality.
Altavano said the volume of work related to services provided by the city government is made more efficient, effective, transparent, accountable and equitable by using relevant technologies under the concept of eGovernance.
e-Governance is a national government program that refers to the use by government agencies of ICT to transform relations with citizens, business, government employees and other arms of government in the delivery of services.
According to Rosemarie Quinto-Rey, the NICP corporate treasurer who is based here, the eGov Awards is the first and most prestigious recognition to be given by the ICT sector to LGUs with exemplary performance in empowering its public customers and business.
It has two categories — Best in eGov Customer Empowerment (G2C) Award and Best in eGov Business Empowerment (G2B) Award, Rey said.
“The eGOV Awards has tremendous potential in furthering innovation within the LGU ecosystems to increase efficiency and transparency. We see this program as an avenue for increased public-private sector partnerships in ICT,” NICP president Wit Holganza said in a statement.
The annual recognition also seeks to commend and collate the best practices of LGUs in integrating ICT in their processes to serve as example and benchmarks to other LGUs, Holganza said.
Rey said the awarding ceremony, which expects more than 60 LGUs to be represented, will be held on Nov. 29 at the Bohol Tropics Resort Hotel in Tagbilaran City.
Also expected to attend the awarding ceremonies are hundreds of representatives from various local line agencies, colleges and universities and companies across the country who will also converge during the same occasion to review, evaluate, plan and share best ICT practices.
Created in 2008, the NICP serves as the recognized advocate for countryside development through ICT and aims to generate investments and jobs, share information and best practices, and help transform the Philippines into a competitive global provider for ICT services and products.