Time for DICT to take over AES implementation

THE newly approved creation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) through Republic Act (RA) 10844 is a welcome development in the landscape of public governance in the country. The DICT shall be the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the executive branch of the government that will plan, develop, and promote the national ICT development agenda. Further, DICT would not only streamline the country’s information systems and technology requirements, but more so in facilitating the implementation of the upcoming enactment of the Freedom on Information (FOI) bill and the succeeding Comelec’s automated National and Local Elections (NLEs).

It may be recalled that the evolution of the DICT originally started as the National Information Technology Council (NITC) in the late 90s. After the enactment of the e-Commerce Law or RA 8792 in 2000, the NITC was converted to Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC) under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). A Government Information System Plan (GISP) was then crafted. Later, the ITECC was transferred to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), then later to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and, finally, it became the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) in 2004.