Wednesday, July 6, 2016

“A PARADIGM SHIFT FOR THE DELIVERY OF PUBLIC SERVICE PROGRAMS”


TECHNOTES SERIES 226


By Ike Señeres
 
“A PARADIGM SHIFT FOR THE DELIVERY OF PUBLIC SERVICE PROGRAMS”
 
There is a popular notion that mankind was not really able to fully utilize television technology for socioeconomic development, and in that sense, it could be considered as a wasted technology. Add to that the observation that the television sets have become idiot boxes instead of being used for information and education. Given that as a backdrop, it should become the common goal of all mankind to fully utilize information and communications technology (ICT) for socioeconomic development, in order not to waste it again, as we have done with television technology.
 
There was a time when ICT was simply called information technology (IT), until some bright guy figured out that information and communications should converge into one technology. For those who do not know the difference between the two, information pertains to computer hardware and software, while communications pertains to signal carriers and networks. Now that these two are combined, the same challenge would still apply, and that is the challenge of utilizing the technology for socioeconomic development.
 
As it has already happened, television technology has now also converged with ICT, albeit in two different manifestations. The first one is the emergence of over the top (OTT) programming. OTT is a relative term, because it refers to being on top of internet protocol (IP). The technology that originally started out as voice over internet protocol (VOIP) has now also evolved into voice and video over internet protocol (VVOIP). To some extent, it could be said that VVOIP is the protocol that makes OTT work. As it is now, OTT programming is already being touted as the technology that will replace over the air (OTA) programming or frequency based programming.
 
The second one is the emergence of multimedia, which is really nothing more than the convergence of voice, video, film, music, animation, images, texts, and everything else that could be digitally combined into one production. As it is now, multimedia productions could still be aired over the usual frequency based television infrastructure, but there is a growing trend towards broadcasting via OTT programming. Somewhere in between is broadcasting via cable access television (CATV), but that too is fast becoming digital, as more and more CATV networks are converting from copper cables to fiber optics.
 
It could also be said that social media could be considered as part of multimedia, in much the same way that mass media could also be considered now as being part of multimedia. Truth to tell, the lines between social media and mass media are fast disappearing, as social media content is now being shown by mass media outlets, and vice versa, mass media organizations are not showing their content in social media. As this two-way convergence happens, the challenge remains the same, to utilize the combined media for socioeconomic development.
 
In fairness to many mass media organizations, they are now using their infrastructure for public service programming, a good thing that social media websites are also doing. What seems to be lacking in this overall equation is the use of ICT and multimedia on the part of national government agencies (NGAs) and local government units (LGUs), for the delivery of public service programs. For example, not too many NGAs and LGUs are engaging the services of business process outsourcing (BPO) providers, despite the fact that our country is supposedly the call center capital of the world.
 
To a large extent, it could be said that the BPO industry is really just an offshoot of the customer relations management (CRM) technology. Although CRM technology has been around for many years, it is widely known that not too many NGAs and LGUs are using it, at least not as much as the private sector is already using it. As we already know it, the private sector is already widely using voice, non-voice, live chat and video conferencing as their CRM tools, using as well BPO services as their means of delivery. To be specific, the private sector is using OTT and VVOIP technologies for video conferencing.
 
As it is now, it could be said that the NGAs and the LGUs are more inclined to use in-person tools as the principal means of delivering their public service programs. What this means is that for the most part, their clients or applicants have to physically go to their brick and mortar offices in order to transact with them, using paper forms for the most part. In order to change for the better, it is now time for these NGAs and LGUs to have a paradigm shift in the delivery of their public service programs, and the only way for them to do that is to start using CRM technology.
 
In order to effectively start using CRM technology, the NGAs and LGUs have to comply with the Electronic Commerce Act (ECA) when it comes to the admissibility of electronic evidence, as provided for in that law. As that law provides, there is now supposed to be data parity between electronic evidence and paper evidence, meaning that both should be now equally admissible. If only these NGAs and LGUs would accept the legality of data parity, there would be no more need for their clients to physically go to their brick and mortar offices in order to transact with them, since these could now be done online.
 
As I see it, many government employees who are in charge of delivering public services would always require their clients to submit the paper evidence, out of fear that the Commission on Audit (COA) would eventually disallow the transactions if these are processed solely on the basis of electronic evidence. Be that as it may, perhaps the solution to that is for the COA to officially declare that the legality of data parity is now acceptable to them, meaning to say that electronic evidence is now equally admissible just like paper evidence. To give credit where credit is due, the Supreme Court has already declared long ago that facsimile copies sent through fax machines are already equally admissible as the original paper documents.
 
For feedback email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639956441780
 
 

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