The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) inaugurated a new office on Monday, May 2, at the Robinsons Magnolia shopping mall in Quezon City.
DICT Sec. Manny Caintic, who led the inauguration ceremony, said that the Robinsons Magnolia office will serve as the 'home base' of the Digital Infrastructure Program, the flagship program of the agency under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The program includes the National Broadband Program, National Government Data Center, and Free Wi-Fi for All Program.
"With our new home base, we will coordinate and manage all our key programs that are crucial and necessary to finally better the access and connectivity across our archipelago," Caintic said.
"The work the DICT teams will do here will create, improve, and make connectivity better and faster, and also ensure that our communications are secure and at par with global standards of cybersecurity," he added.
Caintic also expressed hope that the next Administration will continue the programs of DICT, particularly improving the speed and the quality of internet connectivity in the Philippines.
DICT plans to build common digital infrastructures to help telecommunication service providers bring their services to far-flung areas and remote parts of the country.
Caintic expects that the country will progress into a 'Digital Philippines' in the next two years since President Duterte signed a law that allows foreigners to invest in the telecommunications sector.
"The country direly and desperately needs a common digital infrastructure, a common set of data centers capable of hosting hyperscaler cloud services, and a common array of digital transformation centers to help capacitate government agencies and communities," the DICT chief stressed.
"Digitalization no longer serves as the better choice—it is the only choice,” he added.
