Baguio City — The Department of the Interior and Local Government sees Baguio City’s Smart City Command Center as a leading innovation that will continuously inspire local government units (LGUs) in upscaling their digital governance technology.
In a speech delivered by DILG Undersecretary for Local Government, Marlo Iringan on Friday, he expressed his high hopes that this leading innovation will continuously inspire others to emulate the same and institutionalize technological-based governance, reforms and innovations across local governments all over the country.
Usec. Iringan was representing the Secretary of the Interior of Local Government, Eduardo Año during the inauguration of the Smart City Command Center.
“Transforming the City of Baguio into a smart city that is data-driven and technologically-enabled during the time of a national emergency is a feat worthy of recognition. Today’s launching and inauguration is a critical step towards pushing and institutionalizing innovations in the way we continuously define good governance,” he said.
Usec. Iringan also noted that the launching and inauguration is a classic example that local governments can prevail and champion good governance, for as long as there is a strong leadership that champions technological innovations and supportive stakeholders who are willing to work together for its realization. The Smart City is an amazing exhibit on how far and promising teamwork can be in achieving meaningful innovations.
Bright future ahead thru technological advancement
Usec. Iringan underscored that looking at the future ahead, the government sees technological-based innovations and solutions as an effective governance tool that will help in improving the quality of life of the people and creating sustainable urban development.
“We, in the DILG, fully support the City Government of Baguio as it promotes and pursues this best practice. We recognize the evolving challenges and we are with you in creating a culture of technological innovations. We are with you in the continuing effort to define and strengthen the ties that bind good local governance and technological developments and innovations – towards the improvement of the quality of lives of all Filipinos,” he reiterated.
Meanwhile, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said that having an Integrated Command and Control Center jumpstarted the City’s transformation and shared that he is proud of what his team has accomplished even amidst the COVI-19 pandemic.
This project funded from the ₱ 200 million assistance from the Office of the President uses CISCO technology that will revolutionize how the city manages its critical assets, increase its capacity to prevent and respond to emergencies and disasters, preserve its environment, speed up government services, and protect lives and properties.
The project will establish a holistic integrated Smart City platform which includes the Command and Control Center, a Unified Communication Platform (ICP), a Video Management System (VMS) with Video Analytics, Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD), Geographical Information System (GIS), and big data analytics.
(Pamela Geminiano, photo courtesy by Neil Clark Ongchangco)