The government should continue its collaboration with the private sector to establish long-term and sustainable programs in the information technology (IT) sphere, according to a think-tank.
“Investments in technology contemplate the future; they generate exponential benefits not only to today’s Filipinos but the next generation,” said Professor Victor Andres Manhit, president of Stratbase ADRi.
He said the prolonged lockdown hastened Filipinos’ adoption of technology not only in their professional but also in their personal lives.
“We learned it was possible to buy our groceries or medicine, talk to a doctor, and conduct our banking affairs online. Our children went to school online. Connectivity became a basic human need.”
But the government has its hands full with responding to the pandemic and to other problems like endemic corruption.
The private sector plays a crucial role in assisting the government to overcome challenges, and the public is aware of this crucial role.
Surveys by top polling firms Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia, both commissioned by Stratbase, support Manhit’s statements that the people are cognizant of the crucial role that the private sector plays.
In October, the Social Weather Stations found that at least eight in 10 Filipinos believed that the growth of the Philippine economy would be accelerated if the government collaborated more actively with the private sector.
Respondents to the same survey also said that the private sector can help boost the economy by creating jobs (65 percent), expanding livelihood opportunities (57 percent), and helping lift the lives of Filipinos out of poverty (46 percent).
The same sentiments surfaced two months later with the results of a Pulse Asia Research survey, which revealed Filipinos thought the private sector can help create jobs (58 percent), lift Filipinos out of poverty (57 percen) and expand livelihood opportunities (52 percent).
In fact, 81 percent of the respondents agree that the government should engage the private sector to invest in public infrastructures such as roads, bridges, and airports to save government funds for COVID-19 response.
Manhit said that the pandemic should have provided the government with clear insight into what the country needs to achieve its digital potential. And then, recognizing that the private sector has the wherewithal and the expertise to build and maintain such initiatives,
the government should actively pursue collaboration to enable more Filipinos to cross the digital divide.
At the same time, he emphasized the need to empower Filipinos through training and upskilling. “We not only need to make technology available; we also need to update and upgrade the skills of our people so they can make the most out of the available digital technologies,” he said.
