1st DICT Summit: Implementing Telecommuting and other ICT-Based Solutions to Mitigate Traffic Congestion Nationwide

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) hosted a summit on “Implementing ICT-Based Solutions to Mitigate Traffic Congestion Nationwide” on November 8, 2016 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City. The 1st DICT Summit aims to provide recommendations on how ICT can help in alleviating traffic congestion nationwide.

The one-day summit highlighted ICT-based solutions that our country can easily adopt with the end-in view of realizing the mutual vision for free flowing road traffic.

Representatives from different government agencies like the Department of Transportation (DOTr), including the Senate and the House of Representatives, League of Governors/Mayors, Local Government Unit Officials in NCR, ICT experts, and ICT industry stakeholders shared their vision, insights, and recommendations on how ICT-based concepts may efficiently be implemented. These proposals will then be translated into a joint Position Paper addressed to the President, which will contain the various suggestions and comments of the participating stakeholders with the recommendation for the President to issue an Executive Order on the matter.

Leading the event is DICT Secretary Rodolfo Salalima who gave the Welcome FRemarks and the introduction of Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella who was in Malacanang Palace where a press conference was also taking place at the same time. A video-conferencing setup was supposed to give a clear communication from the Makati Shangri-La Hotel to the Malacanang Palace but technicalities like the loss and inaudibility of the audio persuaded the government officials to just discontinue the conversation.

The incapability of the video-conferencing was a clear sign that there really is a need for the country and government to invest on ICT infrastructure as the opportunities for growth and development is continuously being hampered by poor technologies available to us in the Philippines.

Philippines Hosts ASEAN Transport Meetings

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Philippines, through the Department of Transportation (DOTr), will host the 42nd Senior Transport Officials Meeting (42nd STOM) and the 22nd ASEAN Transport Ministers Meeting (22nd ATM).

The high-level meetings to be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila from November 14 – 18, 2016 will gather transportation officials from the 10 ASEAN Member States. More than 200 transport officials and delegates will convene to discuss various transport initiatives and policies that will improve connectivity and enhance cooperation in the region.

The STOM leaders, working under the direction of the ASEAN Transport Ministers (ATM), are expected to review the implementation and establishment of transport agreements as set by the ATM. Among the projects to be discussed is the Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan (KLTSP), which is the transport vision and blueprint for 2016 – 2025. The KLTSP, an important pillar of the ASEAN Economic Integration, aims to make the ASEAN community more integrated, competitive, and resilient.

Other transport initiatives to be discussed include the establishment of the ASEAN Single Shipping Market and the ASEAN Roll-on Roll-off Shipping Network, which are both designed to facilitate trade, reduce transport costs, and provide easier access to key markets in Southeast Asia through a more connected maritime transportation network. Liberalization of air services, building safer road networks and efficient railway systems, and promoting sustainable and green transport initiatives are also part of the agenda.

The ATM will convene from November 17 -18 and are expected to consider and adopt STOM recommendations.

Taste Like Chicken: Never Mess With Rona When She’s Hungry

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Leg five starts off with a flight from Phuket to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where teams make their way to Thanh Da, an indoor fishing pond to receive their next clue. Here, they find their first Fast Forward in the Race.The first team that finishes the Fast Forward challenge can skip all tasks and head directly to the Pit Stop.

Eric & Rona and Treasuri & Louisa are huge fans of The Amazing Race Asia and they conclude that previous teams that had gone for Fast Forward usually end up last, so they immediately opt for the challenge.

At Thanh Da, teams put their angling skills to the test and catch four prawns from the indoor pond before receiving their next clue. As teams settle down to wait for their catch, Tom & Anita decide to take the risk and head to the Fast Forward task.

In this Fast Forward task, teams must break potentially hundreds of clay bowls containing steamed, sticky rice. Only one bowl contains a coin that is the golden ticket to the Pit Stop. However, teams must break one bowl at a time and eat the rice before they can continue their search.