Local computerization

NO HOLDS BARRED
Ike Señeres

Landslides and mudslides have again victimized many parts of the country, a sad reality that makes me wonder whether hazard mapping data is really available and accessible to our local government officials.

Availability is one thing, and accessibility is another thing of course. To put this discussion in the right perspective however, I should say that computers are just tools for people to use. Even if computer systems are available and accessible, these would be of no use if the people who are not supposed to use them would not do so.

Running on their own steam, a group of volunteers are now actively looking for used computers here and abroad, with the intention of having these donated to local communities for the improvement of local governance, hoping to eventually connect these computers into a Virtual Private Network (VPN) as I have previously suggested in my column. In order to put this volunteer power into good use, I am now looking for local organizations that could support the long term sustainability of the local computerization projects.

Dr. Ernesto Gonzalez, President of the National Economic Protection Association (NEPA) has agreed to bring together a group of Linux users and other computer literate people to support the computerization of the local government of Sariaya, Quezon, including the barangay units and the cooperatives in that town.

Hopefully, this will be the start of an experiment where we could actually learn lessons from the dynamics of interfacing the entry of computer infrastructure and the cooperation of local manpower.

In my actual experiences of implementing computer systems, the cooperation of manpower has always been more difficult than the installation of computer hardware and software. In the end, content will always be the “king”, but suffice it to say that without manpower, we could not easily build content. In the end, what is going to matter is to have the people who will build and own their own systems, for their own benefit. People are more important than machines, as always.

The volunteer group organized by Ms. Elsa Bayani is also inclined to help in the provision of computers to the local public schools, similar to the GILAS project of Ayala Foundation. I think that this is a very good objective, because many of our public schools are not yet computerized. One way to improve and define this idea however, is to start in the preschools operated by the Department of Social Work & Development (DSWD) where computers are more scarce compared to the grade schools and high schools.

I remember that during the time of President Bill Clinton, he set the goal of putting a computer in every American classroom. A few years back, this would have been an impossible goal for us to set in the Philippines, but with this new movement to solicit and upgrade used computers, this is now doable. More than anything else, the bigger challenge I think is to also aim for the electrification of the public schools, so that computerization could follow. As I understand it, about 40% of our public schools do not have electricity yet.

Since the local organizations will be the one to build and maintain their own computer systems, it would be best to leave it up to them which local needs they should prioritize, as upgraded computers are made available to them. For instance, they would have to choose between disaster management applications and public school applications, but that is entirely up to them. I hope however that this would not be an issue later on, as more computers arrive for them to use locally.

As I have written many times in the past, it would be good for cooperatives to be also computerized. It would be good also for cooperatives to have their own VPN so that they could connect with each other and transact with each other, but even without that, they could already use email to contact each other. What is important however is for the buyers to be able to contact them, both here and abroad.

I would like to thank Ms. Elsa Bayani and the others who volunteered to help out in this movement. Although the technical part is easy enough to figure out, I could foresee that there will be other challenges to meet, such as getting the donated units our of customs. I will work on these first.

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