The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will issue a circular by month’s end to streamline the Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP) process, allowing government agencies to budget digital projects without prior approval.

DICT Secretary Henry R. Aguda said Thursday that the reform aims to accelerate the implementation of digital projects by eliminating the need for pre-clearance, provided agencies adhere to the necessary guidelines.

“As mandated by the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Services Delivery Act, again, we will lead by example, and by leading by example, we are going to open the gate for the ISSPs,” Aguda said.

“We will come up with a Department Circular sometime by the end of this month, where all ISSPs of all government agencies can proceed to budgeting without DICT taking it anymore,” he added.

The ISSP is a medium-term roadmap outlining how government agencies plan to use ICT to improve public service delivery and fulfill their mandates.

Historically, it was guided by the Medium-Term ICT Harmonization Initiative (MITHI), a framework established to align agency-level ICT projects with national goals.

While MITHI operations were concluded in 2021, they were officially revived through Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2024-01, reconstituting the MITHI Steering Committee and reaffirming its role in guiding harmonized ICT investments across the public sector.

The reform comes as the Marcos administration prepares to make its biggest-ever investment in technology.

“The government’s going to spend the biggest amount of money on technology this year, by far, compared to previous years. We only have eight months to go [before the end of the year]—we need the processes to be efficient and effective,” Aguda said.