Tagbilaran City mayor Jane Yap was among the key resource speakers in an information and communication (ICT) conference, where she shared the journey of Bohol’s lone city in utilizing digital technology in service delivery and governance.
Mayor Yap was one of the speakers in the 10th Visayas ICT Conference held in Boracay on Aug. 26, 2022, a report from the City Media Bureau says.
The National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) Visayas ICT Cluster Organization (VICTOR) invited Mayor Mayor Yap as one of its panelists in the said conference, the report adds.
The NICP forged a vision of creating a harmonious and collaborative development ecosystem among stakeholders in the various regions of the Visayas.
“This conference complements the digitalization vision of Tagbilaran specifically in its desire to carve a niche in the country’s booming ICT industry. We are all aware of what ICT can provide in terms of job generation, stimulating the local economy, ending talent migration as well as increasing revenues of the city. We desire to make ICT a major economic stream in Bohol not only for Tagbilaran City but to include the rural areas because increased local employment would also mean that the people from these areas no longer need to relocate abroad to get employed. This is something that we seek to attain not only to spur our local economy but to also resolve deep-seated social problems such as the Filipino diaspora and brain drain,” Mayor Jane Yap said during her speech in the conference.
The local chief executive of Tagbilaran City said that the shift towards digital use was a product of fruitful and effective partnerships.
It was in February 2016, when Former City Mayor John Geesnell Yap II inked a partnership deal with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) E-Peso project which aims to enable mechanisms to help the city push towards using digital technology in various transactions at City Hall.
The E-Peso initiative started the journey of Tagbilaran City to embrace the advantages provided by digital technology in effective delivery of services and governance.