IT expert and now DICT Secretary Ivan Uy during a hearing of the Senate electoral reforms committee on May 31, 2022. Screengrab from Senate livestream.
MANILA, Philippines — As he takes the helm of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Secretary Ivan John Uy seeks to “untangle many knots” within the agency, including projects left unfinished and payments owed to contractors.
Uy said the transition into the new DICT leadership is still ongoing.
“Medyo interesting po kasi ang DICT dahil 6 years old pa lang po itong DICT ngunit nagkaroon ho ng apat na secretary. So halos mga one and a half year per secretary itong DICT. So medyo magulo po ang organization dahil bawat upo ng bagong secretary ay iba ho ang pamamalakad. So medyo marami po tayong mga knots na kailangang i-untangle sa organization at sa operations,” Uy said during Monday’s Laging Handa briefing.
(The DICT is a bit interesting because it’s only 6 years old but four secretaries have headed it. So each secretary had around one and a half years. So the organization is a bit of a mess. So we have a lot of knots to untangle in terms of its organization and operations.)
“May marka po ng apat na different secretaries so medyo magulo [The four previous secretaries made their mark so it’s a bit of a mess],” he added.
With four secretaries having headed the DICT in six years, the roles and responsibilities within the agency are often reorganized, Uy said.
“Bawat secretary, nagre-reorganize at naglilipat ng mga responsibilidad [Each secretary that comes in, the responsibilities are reorganized],” he added.
The result, according to Uy, leads to the incomplete or suspended implementation of projects.
“Minsan ho maraming mga project kalahati lang po ang nai-implement, natitigil at hindi nababayaran yung contractor, kailangan nating hanapan ng paraan kung talagang mababayaran ba itong mga ito o hindi dahil ang gulo po, magulo po yung organization at dahan-dahan po naming i-untangle ito,” he added.
(Oftentimes, projects are not implemented wholly or suspended, or contractors are left unpaid. We now need to determine if they can still get paid or not because the organization is a mess.)
Better digital inclusion, e-governance
Under his leadership, Uy said that the DICT would push for better digital inclusion.
“We will be pushing for better digital inclusion…in terms of better connectivity sa mga medyo liblib na lugar natin [in far-flung areas],” he added.
Further, he stressed the need to deliver more efficient and effective government service through “better e-governance.”
“We will definitely push for better e-governance so that we are able to deliver government service more efficiently and effectively and less opportunities for corruption across all agencies,” he added.