by admin | Sep 3, 2016 | Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
By: Jerome Auza
I was fortunate to be in a meeting on August 27, 2016 with Bohol Gov. Edgar M. Chatto, representatives of the Bohol Chamber of Commerce, Bohol ICT Council and some private consultants where we discussed the need to have a system to communicate on our mobile phones even when Internet connection is not available. We discussed the concept of getting the Boholanos ready for such situations because being able to send messages during emergencies or disaster situations is very important.
The loss of cellular service can happen during a typhoon and other disasters when the communication towers get disabled by loss of power or damage. This happened a few years ago in Bohol during the 2013 earthquake when cell sites did not operate for several hours. In the areas hit by typhoon Yolanda in the same year, mobile service providers were completely down for several weeks.
Fortunately the technology to do this is already available in a mobile app called Firechat which uses a system called MeshKit developed by Open Garden. Firechat is a messaging app which can use peer-to-peer connections to send messages. When there are several Firechat users, the app creates a peer-to-peer mesh network which is used to deliver messages to the users. The more users using Firechat, the better the mesh network becomes in terms of capacity and speed of transmission.
Firechat behaves just like any other messaging app but it can use WiFi and Bluetooth to deliver the message through other mobile phones when cellular service is down. Messages are encrypted and received only by the intended recipient. Broadcast messages are also possible.
To be effectively used during disaster situations, the community must already be familiar with the app. If possible, the people should use it on a daily basis so that they are proficient and ready to use it when cellular service bogs down. The plan is to have advisories on extreme weather, power failures, emergencies and other important announcements through Firechat.
Firechat was effectively used during the MMDA organized earthquake drill in Manila in June 2016.
In the next several weeks, expect hear about Firechat parties where people are invited to an event where Firechat is downloaded to mobile phones and used. This will help encourage the user of Firechat. If we are successful in organizing this throughout the province, this app will certainly help get messages across the community when cellular service is down.
The best time to install the Firechat app is now when Internet service is available for downloading the app on your mobile devices. To be ready for disaster situations, we should also have a way to charge the phones so extra batteries and battery packs would be ideal. Solar chargers should also be available.
by admin | Sep 3, 2016 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By: Reden M. Miranda
DTI – Public Relations Unit, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and National Competitiveness Council (NCC) Co-Chair Ramon M. Lopez, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ismael Sueno, and Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) Secretary Rodolfo Salalima signed a joint memorandum circular to streamline the country’s business permits and licensing systems (BPLS).
“DTI’s work is geared towards establishing efficient regulatory procedures by cutting red tape and addressing bottlenecks in government frontline services. This is an effective strategy that allows our local enterprises to easily comply with requirements in starting a business,” said Lopez.
In the new JMC, LGUs are enjoined to align their business permits licensing system with the Revised Standards on Processing Business Permits and Licenses in All Cities and Municipalities in which (1) a unified form should be used, both in print and electronic format; (2) the processing time should only take two days for new registrations and one day for renewal; (3) registration procedures should only involve three steps; and (4) should only require two signatories, which is the Mayor and the Treasurer or Business permits and Licensing Office Head with alternate approving signatures.
Other streamlining measures outlined in the circular are: setting up of Business One-Stop Shop (BOSS) facility for business registration, conduct of joint inspection teams, computerization and automation of business permit process, and use of online and electronic method for more efficient business processing.
Lopez said that the target is to have all 1,516 cities and municipalities in the Philippines adopt the memorandum circular within 30 days and implement an online processing system within the year.
At present, ninety-three percent (93%) or 1,419 out of 1,516 local government units (ARMM LGUs excluded) have already streamlined their business permits and licensing systems into 5 days and 5 steps. This is in compliance with a memorandum circular issued by DTI and DILG to streamline business process in 2010.
According to Lopez, cutting the time and costs involved in starting a business will significantly improve the services provided by DTI’s Go Negosyo Centers, which bring government programs and initiatives closer to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Go Negosyo Centers are one-stop shops that facilitate MSMEs’ access to services such as business advisory, business information and advocacy, business registration assistance through the Philippine Business Registry (PBR) System which integrates all agencies involved in business registration. To date, 296 Go Negosyo Centers has been established nationwide.
by admin | Sep 2, 2016 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, Major Events
TAGBILARAN CITY, September 2 (PIA)–Sa tinguhang madasig sa pagkaon og brown rice ug mas mapalapdan pa ang impormasyon ka¬bahin niini, usa ka kampanya ang gilusad sa Department of Agriculture (DA) 7.
Gilusad ning bag-o lang sa DA ang BROWN4good challenge aron mapakatap ang kaayo nga mahatag sa maong klase nga bugas sa lawas sa tawo.
Pinaagi sa paggamit sa hashtag nga #BROWN4good challenge diin matag kaon og luto nga brown rice, i-post kini sa mga nagkadaiyang social networking sites sama sa Facebook, Twitter o Instagram.
Sa matag hashtag, kinahanglang ubanan og hashtag kun asa nga rehiyon tungod kay sa matag post, adunay usa ka cup nga brown rice ang idonar sa charitable institutions nga mapilian.
Gawas sa pag-post sa #BROWN4good #Region, kinahanglan usab i-tag ang mga kaila o higala sa social networking site aron moabot sa target nga hashtag.
Itandi sa naandan nga kan-on, giingong mas daghang makuhang kaayohan gikan sa brown rice sama sa mas taas kini og prutina, lanot, bitamina, mi¬nerals ug antioxidant.
Makatabang usab ang brown rice sa pagpaubos sa timbang, pagpaubos sa cholesterol, ug mas maayo usab kini sa mga diabetic tungod kay hinay ang pag-release niini sa sugar.
Matud pa ni DA 7 regional technical director Joel Elumba, ila usab gilusad ang upat ka kaayohan kun mokaon og brown rice diin naglakip sa kaayohan niini alang sa lawas, alang sa nasod, alang sa mag-uuma ug alang sa mga kabus.
Gipasalig ni Elumba nga aduna sila’y igong suplay sa brown rice nga gikan sa Bohol Rice Processing Complex nga nahimutang sa lungsod sa Pilar ug tinguha nila karon nga adunay mga center nga mapalitan sa katawhan sa dakbayan sa Sugbo ug mga silingang mga lugar. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)
by admin | Sep 2, 2016 | Headlines, National News
MANILA, September 2 (PIA)–Nipagawas og abiso ang Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) sa tanang Pinoy nga namuyo ug nanuroy sa Singapore sa paglikay una sa mga lugar nga dugokonon sa katawhan aron makalikay nga matakdan sa makamatay nga Zika virus.
Matud pa ni DFA Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, angay seryosohon sa tanang Filipino nga naa sa Singapore ang pasidaan human na usab sa kumpirmadong 41 ka locally transmitted Zika virus infection ang natala partikular na sa Aljunied Crescent ug Sims Drive area.
Dungan niini, gipalihok na sa DFA ang tanang embassy personnel sa maong nasod nga magpagawas dayon og advisory sa Filipino community nga mag-amping sa maong virus.
Matud pa nga kun mag-positibo sa Zika virus, ipahibalo kini dayon sa Philippine Embassy pinaagi sa numero 6737-3977 o 9072-2797 aron matabangan dayon sa embahada. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)
by admin | Sep 1, 2016 | Headlines, Tech Talk
Aspires to be in Adopters, Frontrunners
Despite the absence of public investments in enhancing broadband access and speed, the Philippines scored high among Starters category of the Global Connectivity Index (GCI), published by Huawei Technologies, which measures how 50 nations are progressing with digital transformation using information and communications technology. Starters are countries in the early stage of ICT infrastructure build-out.
The Philippines garnered a score of 33, the highest score given among countries classified as Starters, which are economies with an average GDP of US$3,000 and have GCI range of 20-34. The country advanced two notches from its previous score in 2015 at 31. According to GCI, countries classified as Starters focus on increasing ICT supply to give more people access to the digital world.
According to the GCI report, economies classified as Starters show the following characteristics: ICT investment is less than 2 percent of GDP; E-commerce is low at US$5,000 per capita per year; and about 40% of the population uses the Internet. “Starters are not fully benefiting from the digital economy and its potential to raise incomes and overall quality of life. Policy makers need to ensure ICT maturity enters the second stage, Internet Innovation, so e-commerce can create economic growth. Faster broadband expansion is necessary to increase supply scores so that most businesses and citizens have affordable broadband access,” the report said.
To enter the next category called Adopters, Starters should adopt several strategies that include increase in ICT investment as a percentage of GDP to accelerate nationwide broadband coverage; reduce tariffs and provide subsidies for smartphones to get more smart devices into homes; start planning for high-speed broadband with 4G and fiber-to-the-home rollout.
Globe has been at the forefront of providing the digital lifestyle for Filipinos. The company persistently called on the government to help develop broadband access by investing in internet infrastructure in rural and far-flung areas. Globe President & CEO Ernest Cu has emphasized that broadband development is particularly relevant in communities where even basic infrastructure services such as roads and bridges are lacking, pointing out that broadband access creates significant impact on the development of marginal areas as this allows the community to conduct business with people all over the world, get information on education, health and government services. According to Cu, mobile operators like Globe are unable to deploy infrastructure in rural areas due to business viability issues. He said the government should build infrastructure, such as submarine cables, and then rent these facilities out to telco operators instead.
He stressed the entire country would not be able to optimize the benefits of broadband connectivity unless the government is willing to invest in developing internet infrastructure in “missionary routes”. Globe itself launched early this year a nationwide infrastructure program that would enhance the country’s internet experience within homes and across businesses.
The company has already invested $2.2 billion since 2011 to build a modern network and IT infrastructure. For 2016, bulk of its $750 million capital expenditure will be devoted in expanding network capacities with the additional frequencies that it gained access to from the sellout of San Miguel’s telco assets. The company is also aggressively investing in the deployment of a nationwide fiber optic cable system.
In the GCI report, Adopters are rated higher. These are economies with average GDP of US$15,000 and with GCI score ranging between35-55. Countries in this group see the biggest GDP growth from GCI. Their focus is on increasing ICT demand to facilitate industry digitization and high-quality economic growth. Asian countries under the Adopters category include China and Malaysia both with a GCI score of 44 and Thailand with 37.
Meanwhile, Frontrunners are countries with average GDP of US$50,000 and GCI score ranging from 56-85. These nations are mainly developed economies and they continually boost user experience, and use big data analytics and IoT to develop a smarter, more efficient society. United States lead the Frontrunners with a GCI score of 74, followed by Singapore with a GCI score 72 and Sweden at 70.
To improve their GCI scores, all governments should lead by example in digital transformation for enterprises and citizens, and increase spending on ICT infrastructure to benefit the public. Also, countries need to introduce and train a skilled ICT workforce to unleash the full potential of a digital economy and should partner with more stakeholders to lay a solid digital foundation, encourage cross-domain cooperation, and collaborate with the private sector and financial institutions like the World Bank to create an ecosystem for digital transformation. “Starters need to worry about broadening access. Adopters need to raise the quality of that access, and Frontrunners need to increase the business value created by access,” the report said.
According to the GCI report, the global digital economy has emerged as an unstoppable giant that’s growing at 10% or more than triple the rate of overall global economic growth. The worldwide digital economy generated US$24 trillion in e-commerce in 2015 and accounted for 30 percent of all global transactions. Such transactions were on 2.5 billion smart devices spread among the world’s 7.4 billion people. (To view complete report, please see http://www.huawei.com/minisite/gci/en/index.html).
# # #
For more information, please contact:
Yoly C. Crisanto
Head, Corporate Communications
Globe Telecom, Inc.
Email Address: gtcorpcomm@globe.com.ph
Globe Press Room: www.globe.com.ph/press-room
Twitter: @talk2GLOBE │ Facebook: www.facebook.com/globeph
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