The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to start the pilot implementation of the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS) this month to enhance its services through automation and digitalization.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said the IECMS features a centralized client data registry system and case management system that aims to make all collaborative case management between case managers and social workers from various DSWD Programs and Institutions easier.

She said the new system will also capture significant and critical information for planning and administrative processes.

“The IECMS will streamline and strategically interconnect the case management processes of the DSWD with local government units (LGUs) and other government agencies,” the DSWD co-spokesperson said in a news release on Wednesday.

Dumlao said the consultations about the IECMS started in 2019 and made a traction in 2020 with the engagement of the Heads of Bureaus and Services of the DSWD, in partnership with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“During the Department’s discussion with them, one of the challenges discovered was the delay in data exchange processes which hampered efficiency in service delivery. This was also found in the studies made by Maestral International led by De La Salle University,” Dumlao said.

“Hence, it was deemed necessary to create a unified and integrated system to guarantee the seamless access of beneficiary information that will hasten case progress and the provision of services to our beneficiaries,” she added.

The IT infrastructure of the IECMS features a securely stored central data warehouse, or cloud-based storage system, that will protect the personal and sensitive personal information of DSWD beneficiaries.

To protect the information and cases of the beneficiaries from unlawful disclosure and access, the DSWD and UNICEF signed recently a Data Privacy and Information Sharing Protocol (DPISP) that adheres to existing data protection laws and guidelines. The data of the beneficiaries will be fully managed by the DSWD.

The IECMS pilot implementation includes all the Center and Residential Care Facilities and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in the National Capital Region.

“Through this digitalization initiative, the DSWD is positive that the provision of assistance to beneficiaries from their enrollment to assessment, to intervention and/or referral, and case closure will be done in a more efficient and timely manner,” Dumlao said. (PNA)