MANILA - The Information and Communications Technology committee of the Lower House on Monday agreed to consolidate 2 bills on electronic governance.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Enrile Uy, who attended the hearing, said the move was meant to avoid confusion about the proposed E-Governance Act, and the E-Government Act.
"The primary output of the E-Government Act is a masterplan, while the output of the E-Governance Act is an integrated government network," he explained.
Uy added that the E-Government Act aims to provide an organizational structure, while the E-Governance Act deals with more technical areas like data sharing, data standards, and interoperability.
"We could consolidate this into one bill so there is no confusion. If we have two Republic Acts, the public themselves would also be confused by referring to those bills," Uy said.
The DICT meanwhile asked for budget support to have government employees undergo training by cybersecurity professionals.
The DICT said its masterplan dincludes blockchain, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, data analytics, basic cloud computing, the metaverse, and the gig economy as emerging technologies on which to focus upskilling programs.
While upskilling is presently focused on online training sessions, the DICT sees it being brought to the countryside soon.
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