THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) intends to “walk the talk” and establish its own data science team to arrive at a “single truth” needed for policy-making.
In the Philippine Business Conference (PBC) plenary on Wednesday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said apart from addressing the current crisis, the Neda is also employing “futures thinking” by looking beyond the pandemic.
Chua said these are just some of the innovations Neda is doing to support the efforts of the next administration. He said proposals for the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) will also include these innovations.
“I’m starting to build a data science team in [Neda] so that we can integrate all our databases, establish a single source of truth within the agency and I hope eventually all agencies will establish their own data science team,” Chua said.
“This will enable us to be more productive without working longer hours just searching or reconciling for instance data from different [sources] are crucial for policy-making. So with this, Neda would like to set the example to walk the talk when it comes to the government’s digital transformation effort,” he added.
Chua said that while the creation of a data science team within Neda is part of the national digital transformation strategy, it is not just about technology which, in his opinion, is only 10 percent of the strategy.
He said part of these efforts rests on governance, such as the creation of the legal and technical frameworks as well as system structures. This accounts for 30 percent of the effort.
The bulk or 60 percent of the effort, Chua said, will require a change in perspective and greater appreciation for futures thinking.
These efforts will be supported by the government’s push for the National ID. Chua said to date, 42.5 million Filipinos of the 50-million target this year have been able to submit their demographic and biometrics information to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Chua added that 6.1 million families have also enrolled bank accounts with the Land Bank of the Philippines while 3.5 million Filipinos have already received their National IDs.
“This will enable us to achieve 100 percent financial inclusion, hopefully, at the family level by the end of the year and at the individual level in the coming years. This will allow us to roll out our social protection programs much better and much more efficiently with the least waste,” Chua said. “We will ramp this up because this is [a] game changer.”
Smart cities
APART from these, Chua said the Neda also intends to focus on the building of smart cities not only to allow the country to achieve the long-term vision of Filipinos under AmBisyon Natin 2040 but also reduce the country’s carbon footprint.
Chua said smart cities and smart infrastructure means weaving together the principles of urban mobility and infrastructure together with urban development. This covers transportation, digital communication, planning, land use, and environmental conservation. This means focusing on applications that help move people faster, especially when workers return to office, and students to school. This will reduce traffic or help Filipinos better travel through a combination of technology and mass transport. “These will actually improve the lives of the people and…reduce our carbon footprint because a big part of our emissions really is spending hours on the road and as we recover from Covid-19, we’re going to see more traffic back to our lives,” Chua said.
Leni’s support
IN her opening remarks at the PBC, Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, who is also running for President in next year’s polls, said she will support these efforts through the promotion of alternative transport.
Robredo said her administration is ready to back this up by increasing the budget for bike lanes nationwide to P14 billion from the current P1.6 billion.
The Vice President also said her administration will double the budget for agriculture to 3.4 percent of the National Budget from only 1.7 percent. This will support a sector, she said, that has been resilient during the pandemic.
“Much work remains to [be done to] ensure economic recovery for all. It gives me great comfort that Filipinos like you are ready to find solutions and work with the rest of the nation in pursuing a shared horizon of progress, sustainability and inclusiveness,” Robredo said.
Chua said agriculture innovation is another that Neda will endorse to the next administration through the PDP. This will also help climate-proof the Philippines.
“I have actually directed the Neda to look into the next Philippine development plan revolving around the issue of climate change and everything we do in infrastructure, in agriculture innovation, governance should be [for] the country and protecting the Philippines,” he said.
Earlier, Chua said the country’s next six-year socioeconomic blueprint, the PDP, should focus on the environment. He said one of the possible recommendations he can make in terms of crafting the PDP is to adopt the theme “saving our planet, saving our country.”
This is one of the ways that intergenerational fairness can be promoted in the Philippines. In a recent Senate hearing, Chua agreed with Sen. Pia Cayetano that achieving intergenerational equity is going to be very important moving forward.
This means that Neda must adapt to the times and modernize, he said. With this, the priorities of the oversight agency next year are on five key areas: the country’s economic recovery, smart infrastructure, innovation, regional equity, and climate change.
The Socioeconomic Planning Secretary said Neda will undertake studies, researches, surveys, and craft master plans to support the next planning process.
Chua has asked the staff to focus on agriculture, human development, government organization, and the labor market for the next planning process.
The Neda will also improve efficiency in terms of governance statistics framework; create a contract price escalation database; study the creative industries; measure awareness and perception with regards to AmBisyon Natin 2040; and non-tariff barriers on food to address the inflation issue today.
It will also provide macroeconomic analysis for all post-disaster needs assessment and work on reformulating rehabilitation and recovery programs.
The Neda will also spearhead the formulation and implementation of the national innovation agenda and strategy document in line with the Innovation Act.
It will also start working on the SDG acceleration road map so the Philippines to can catch up with the goals given the pandemic.
Further, Chua said Neda will also help strengthen Regional Development Council (RDC) proposals and the support to their devolution transition.