MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) said there are now close to 800 community e-centers in the country since the program was conceived in 1999.

The community e-center (CeC) is a government initiative to connect all communities or "barangay" in the Philippines to the Internet.

CICT is the lead agency now implementing the CeC program.

The CeCs started out as "multi-purpose community centers" that was set up by the Department of Science and Technology with public and private funding. It was a one-stop center that provided communities with Internet access; a public calling station; and a reading, learning and resource center.

Other government initiatives followed with the same goals of bridging the "digital divide" in the country.

During the 4th Knowledge Exchange Conference on Community e-Centers held last week, CICT commissioner Tim Diaz de Rivera said the CICT has Sought a "one CeC for every municipality" target in the country.

This will be the agency's goal in 2010.

Diaz de Rivera said the goal is a variation of the World Summit on Information Society Millennium Development Goals, which hopes to connect every household in developing countries to the Internet.

"There is still a need to get local chief executives [mayors and governors] to believe in the project," said Diaz de Rivera.

To date, CICT has been seeding CeCs in the country by providing them funds.

The CICT has recently launched a roadmap for the program, an academy to train people to manage these centers, a community network, and a web portal, Diaz de Rivera said.

The CeC program is also part of the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan for 2004-2010.