The Philippines Smart Cities
Filipino citizens relied heavily on the support of their city government in recent years. Cities quickly moved to digitize services, and to set standards for data storage, protection,and utilization. Health IT applications for contract tracing, distribution of financial assistance, and city-wide vaccination programs are a focus. In 2021, typhoon “Odette” and the Taal Volcano eruption in 2020 emphasized the importance of ICT solutions for disaster response and resilience management programs.
Several ICT approaches emerged to mitigate the impact of the Covid pandemic. The Philippines business capital, Makati City, implemented the Makatizen Card and the Makatizen App to safely distribute its financial aid and services to its constituents, including online legal assistance, teleconsultations, and online learning. The largest city in terms of land area, and population, Quezon City (QC) has implemented the “QCitizens ID,” its first unified identification system with a complete and accurate database of all its constituents. QC uses the platform to publicize its financial aid and important city announcements related to the COVID response and vaccination program. The Philippines’ capital, Manila City, launched its “GoManila” mobile application to enable access to government services, facilitate bill payments, receive city services, and promote e-commerce.
The fourteen other Metro Manila cities are also enhancing their smart city programs. Efforts vary from command center development, disaster risk mitigation, resilience management, digital health and education, and data center upgrades to include cybersecurity and analytics solutions. Non-Metro Manila options to consider include Cebu and Davao, part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Smart Cities Network. Baguio City has also emerged as a champion during the pandemic by funding a command-and-control center valued at $1.2 million to address connectivity and emergency response demand.
A foreign company needs a local partner is a mandatory requirement for bidding on government projects. The challenge is defining the specific project of interest that is worth pursuing. U.S. firms need to dialogue with city officials to narrow down specific project needs and identify solutions. The best way forward would be to offer an initial pilot project free of cost to the city. The city would then possibly mobilize the budget to fund future procurement following the pilot. Solutions that increase efficiency and generate revenue would be viable.
The U.S. Government continues to improve the business environment for ICT services in the Philippines through technical assistance programs offered at the national and local levels. Grants have been offered to assist the Department of Information and Communications Technology in the broadband and cloud sectors. A technical grant has been offered to the City of Davao for its command-and-control center and integrated transport management system. The U.S. Government can also assist U.S. firms by providing grants directly to private firms seeking feasibility studies or pilot projects.
For more information, please contact Mr. John Giray, Commercial Specialist at the U.S. Commercial Service Philippines at John.Giray@trade.gov.