BACOLOD CITY – The City of Sipalay in Negros Occidental, known as a top tourist destination, is gearing up for digitalization with the creation of the Federation for Information and Communications Technology in Sipalay (FITS), which will serve as the city’s ICT council.
In line with the just-concluded ICT Month in June, Mayor Maria Gina Lizares issued Executive Order (EO) 13 on June 30 to form the body, which she heads as the chairperson.
As of Wednesday, four industry clusters have been identified with specific tasks to develop and strengthen the key areas, including the business enabling cluster, infrastructure cluster, talents cluster and cost of doing business.
“It is vital in the executive and legislative agenda of the city government to pursue sustainable gains for the Sipalaynons and the city as a whole thus, the need to develop Sipalay City as the next wave digital city and to establish an IT center,” Lizares said.
She pointed out the need to establish strategic direction in the form of policy recommendations, including mechanisms and processes to promote intensive and extensive use of ICT in the city through the ICT Council.
The FITS is composed of a strategic team from the government and private sectors, particularly partners of the city government in business and education, who were identified by the executive team following an institutional development workshop with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Information and Communications Technology in June.
Lizares said the pace of development in the southern Negros city “demands for a high volume, high-speed data management, communication capability and information sharing,” adding that there is “a critical need for both public and private sectors to achieve more efficiency and effectiveness in government and business operations”.
The mayor acknowledged that aside from being a service-delivery enhancer, ICT is “a fast and widespread growing industry that ushers in employment opportunities for the digitalized citizens, especially the youth exemplified by the business processing outsourcing industry”. (PNA)
