Onto the Digital Highway

The province of Cavite, led by Governor Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, signs in to the digital age with its priority project of providing fast Internet service for the entire population of Cavite. Its aim: to purchase its own fiber optic backbone for the province and expand the free WiFi available to constituents.

Cavite currently has the best LTE (4G mobile communications standard) in the country, according to its governor. With the cooperation of 4G providers Globe and Smart Communications, “Most of Cavite is under LTE already,” he says. Remulla is a forward-looking policymaker not to be left behind by the millennials, already tweeting public service announcements, and sharing his projects in an interactive manner on Facebook.

Cavite’s fiber optic plan is set for implementation in July 2018. “Because (the fiber optic project) will be our own backbone and we will have our own bandwidth, we will be capable of supplying Internet as a third player, as an Internet provider in Cavite, as a public enterprise. We are allowed by the local government code, our charter, to run a public enterprise,” Remulla explains.

The fiber optic plan is geared at targeting a number of the province’s priorities. It can provide greater productivity, improve access to online jobs, assist in traffic management, and help maintain peace and order.

BETTER WORK FOR CAVITEÑOS
The local government of Cavite will be providing Internet for the use of schools, free WiFi during break time, and for teachers, though there will be a number of filters to ban certain dangerous or distracting sites. “The main resource of Cavite is people, and the only way to make use of this resource is to make them productive,” says Remulla.

A staunch supporter of the “Work from Home” movement, he says, “Most of the thinking jobs do not require you to leave your home [in our experience]. Especially writing jobs. Even in government, you can lessen the number of government personnel doing duty for the day by putting people online to be able to process requests. Give workers/employees two days working from home and three days working in the place, or vice-versa, depending on the needs of every department. For the writing jobs, it’s more important really to maximize the time of the people to be more efficient.”

Beyond this, Cavite’s governor points out another advantage of the fiber optic plan: less people on the road. Giving people the capability to work from home will help address the traffic situation, in tandem with ride-sharing and the development of motorcycle lanes with 30kmph speed limit.

The benefits of the fiber optic plan do not end there. “It’s meant to assist professionals, like doctors, engineers, lawyers, architects, accountants, writers, entrepreneurs… As long as they are all duly registered, we will put a discounted plan in order for them to have a secondary, alternative option for Internet in the whole province,” says Remulla.

“For me, if we are able to attain a level of use by 100,000 households, then we have already achieved our objective,” he adds.

IMPROVE PEACE AND ORDER
Throughout 2017, the provincial government of Cavite, led by Governor Boying Remulla, has distributed over 200 units of closed circuit television (CCTV) to barangays, subdivisions, schools, markets, and offices in the province to aid the local authorities in monitoring criminal activities and ensure the safety and security of its constituents.

In line with this, Cavite, in purchasing its own fiber optic backbone for the province, also aims for greater economy and efficiency in the use of these security measures set in place. Remulla explains, “Because we will be spending on security (CCTV) anyway, if we hire the service, it’s better to own the network as long as you have the bandwidth. And because we will be given a bandwidth by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) we can use it for that.”

Trash management is also one of Cavite’s priorities, which digital technology can help address, since the presence of security cameras can also aid in monitoring proper waste disposal, helping them catch violators of the Solid Waste Management Law who create new dumpsites.

FROM INDUSTRIAL PARKS TO ROBOTICS
Although Cavite is also currently being recognized for its industrial parks, Remulla admits that manufacturing will take a shift towards robotics in the near future. He cites trends around the world where robotics and mechatronics (technology combining electronics and mechanical engineering) have taken over production. “What is left now here will not be here 10 years from now. But the intellectual process never stops and the productivity online never stops,” he projects.

Still, he is hopeful for the workforce and their ability to keep up with the rapidly changing times. “We have finally laid the groundwork, and in 10 years’ time, we hope to see and reap the success,” Cavite Governor Boying Remulla declares