Creating dept for ICT not a govt priority — Coloma

The Aquino administration is not prioritizing the creation of a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), said Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., citing a lack of funds coupled with government austerity measures.

“The creation of a separate department would escalate the cost, the administrative cost of performing that function…We are not in a position to bear the higher level of administrative cost of creating a separate department,” Coloma said.

As early as February this year, then presidential aspirant Benigno Aquino III had rejected proposals to establish a DICT, saying that an office to manage ICT would be more of a “support mechanism, as opposed to… line agencies like DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), like DepEd (Department of Education).”

During the presidential campaign, Aquino again questioned the need for a new department. “Napakarami na tayong mga offices [and] officers who are not actually doing something useful (We already have too many offices [and] officers who are not actually doing something useful),” he said. (See: Noynoy rejects proposed creation of infotech dept )

Under former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the government had pushed for the establishment of a DICT to ensure the effective implementation of comprehensive ICT programs, especially amid the growth of the business process outsourcing and ICT industry in the country.

A Commission on ICT (CICT) was created during Arroyo’s term, based on Executive Order 264 issued by her predecessor, former President Joseph Estrada.

EO 264 merged the existing National Information Technology Council and the Electronic Commerce Promotion Council, eventually forming the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council which would become the CICT.

The Aquino government also recognizes the importance of a full-blown department for ICT, especially amid the recent hacking of government sites including the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) website , said Coloma.

But the CICT at the moment would be enough, he said. “For now we are just focusing on the need for the CICT operating as an office under the Office of the President to perform its mandate.”

“I don’t think [the DICT] is a priority,” he added.

Gov’t site hacked

Meanwhile, officials have not yet discovered who was behind the hacking of the PIA website last Sunday.

The PIA website was down for a couple of hours on August 29, after the content of the site’s home page was replaced with a Chinese flag against a black background, with the words “Hacked by 7z1″ and “Black Matrix team | 0x.oday@Gmail.com” prominently centered on the screen. (See: Hackers deface PIA website )

The government website was fixed at around 7 p.m., two hours after it was taken down at 4:55 p.m. The PIA is under Coloma’s office.

“The hacking was not sufficient to breach the firewall,” Coloma said. “It simply resulted in the temporary shutting down of the website and they’ve been able to bring it up again.”

Coloma also issued a directive to all government agencies to adopt necessary measures to secure their own websites.

The CICT is helping to ensure that government sites remain active, Coloma said.

“Our main concern is really to move past the incident and to fortify because technology is also becoming more sophisticated. There are more resilient and resistant software that are able to build stronger walls of defense against cyber crimes. It’s just a matter of government being able to invest sufficient funds in order to avail itself of this more advanced software that will guarantee the security of our websites,” he added.—Larissa R. Suarez/JV, GMANews.TV