The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will provide assistance to three local government units (LGUs) in northern Negros Occidental for the creation of a district digital roadmap.
These include the cities of Cadiz and Sagay as well as the municipality of Manapla or the CaSaMa, which forms part of the province’s second congressional district.
DICT Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development (IID) Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, who is in the province for a series of Digital Careers Expo 2023 events that started on Friday, said that through the IID Bureau, the CaSaMa will receive special assistance to create the “Digital Roadmap 2028”.
“It’s a program that will help you target what you want. Next year, we will send an expert here to help you create your roadmap for 2028. You can also make it up to 2030,” she said on Monday, the second day of the event.
Batapa-Sigue said the CaSaMa is now officially included in the Digital Communities Plus, which is the third component in the Digital Innovation for Regional Ecosystem and Countryside Transformation or the DIRECT program under her office.
She said once the second district sets targets for a specific number of jobs such as freelance work, business process management, game development or animation, government officials will now have to create strategies.
“Your mayor, your congressman will say, to reach this target, what do we need to do in terms of talent development, connectivity or business environment? This very scientific method of creating a roadmap, we only make it available to cities and provinces with ICT Councils. Now you know why CaSaMa is important,” Batapa-Sigue said.
Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr., who hosted the Digital Careers Expo 2023 last Friday, thanked Batapa-Sigue for bringing the event to the second district, which was joined by Rep. Alfredo Marañon III, Manapla Mayor Manuel Escalante III and Sagay City Vice Mayor Leo Rafael Cueva.
On Monday, Batapa-Sigue also led the Digital Careers Expo 2023 for the third district in Victorias City with the theme “Accelerating Global Digital Opportunities for Filipino Talents”. (PNA)
