[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’FAITH, HOPE & CHARITY | Local government automation’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY IKE SEÑERES
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=’custom’ color=”]
Monday, March 27, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
ALL local government units (LGUs) are required to submit their own Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs). In theory, these CLUPs are supposed to be the basis for the preparation of their own Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) that is in effect their master plan.
As it is supposed to be, CLUPs are supposed to be prepared using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, but that does not seem to be the popular practice. If only the LGUs would use GIS for their CLUP, they could also use the same GIS for their CDP. As a matter of fact, the same GIS that they should have used for their master planning could also be used for hazard mapping and tax mapping, among other uses.
I was surprised when I found out that LGUs are not required to submit their own Information Systems Strategic Plans (ISSPs), despite the fact that ISSPs are required to be submitted by all National Government Agencies (NGAs). What that means is that there is no compulsion on the part of the LGUs to automate their internal systems, much less their external systems.
That is really a sad reality, because without any compulsion, it would be difficult to imagine that the LGUs would even want to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in any way. Whether or not they would want to use ICT however, they would have to do that sooner or later, because their citizens who are now the netizens would demand that from them.
During my time as the Director General of the National Computer Center (NCC), we became the biggest distributor of LGU software, simply because we were giving these away for free. During that time however, it was very expensive for the LGUs to put up their own Local Area Networks (LANs) and that is why most of them simply installed their software in Personal Computers (PCs) that eventually crashed because of data overload. Eventually, many of them graduated to having their own LANs, running these in simple client-server environments, basically using more powerful PCs as their servers, meaning to say that they were not using true servers.
As the technologies evolved, some of the richer LGUs were eventually able to put up their own data centers, this time using true servers, practically moving away from client-server environments, towards the newer browser based environments, in other words they were already running their own intranets.
In the meantime, many of them were stuck with LANs that could obviously not run as well as having true servers with browser based environments. Fast forward to the present times, the LGUs that had LANs were able to move to the internet cloud, meaning to say that they were able to have improved browser based environments, even if they did not have their own data centers.
In reality, it is actually very difficult for most LGUs to maintain their own data centers because of the high costs involved. Not only that, it was difficult for them to find local manpower that are highly qualified to run their data centers, assuming that they could afford to pay these people in the first place. It goes without saying therefore that the most logical, the most practical and the most affordable options of the LGUs is for them to use the internet cloud, in which case they could run their browser based and web based applications even if they do not have their own data centers. As of now, there is nothing that prohibits the LGUs from using the internet cloud, for as long as they could comply with the data security and the data privacy requirements.
Also in reality, most of the LGUs could not afford to develop or purchase the software applications that they would need to deliver their internal and external services. It also goes without saying that fee-based or per-use browser based and web based software applications are the most logical, the most practical and the most affordable options of the LGUs, in order for them to have something for them to use, despite their budget limitations. As a matter of fact, many of the providers of these applications would not require them to spend any money, because the users would be the ones to pay for the services on a per transaction basis.
As a matter of fact, the “user pays” approach is already very popular worldwide, following a system that is very much akin to paying for toll roads. Don’t get me wrong, but I actually think that perhaps in the future, income taxes could probably be abolished and replaced with sales taxes. Since the imposition of taxes is driven by public policy, it is even possible that value-added taxes would also be abolished and replaced purely with sales taxes.
As I see it, value-added taxes are actually counter-productive, because it practically punishes those who are creating new value added for the economy. Perhaps the government should punish instead those who are not making their lands productive. The good news is, all sales taxes paid could easily be recorded by Point of Sales (POS) technology. (iseneres@yahoo.com/PN)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
