Spotlight on digital shift, DT's advocacy

DAILY TRIBUNE is taking a firmer stand on its support for the digital shift by taking a second look at the marking of its anniversary, which carries the theme, “Technology powered by people: Embracing disruptions.”

Advocacy of the technology shift must be stressed to bridge a huge digital divide among Filipinos, which indicates a wide chasm between digitally — savvy Filipinos and those who live in the poor, remote areas of the country.

Unless the gap is narrowed, the technology leaps that the world is enjoying become meaningless to the majority of the population.

DAILY TRIBUNE has responded to the trend of many Filipinos relying on social media platforms for their daily news by making its online presence strong through on-time reporting using social media platforms and its own digital page.

FAST-TRACK AND STRENGTHEN

Despite having more than 73 million internet users, the country is behind in terms of digital adoption, particularly in e-commerce, compared to its neighboring nations.

Thus, e-commerce only contributes 0.5 percent of sales out of the country’s total retail sales volume, even though about 20 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) originates from retail trading.

The digital divide has affected everyday consumers and retailers, and it also made a significant difference in how students were able to access educational materials when public and private school systems shifted to distance learning.

DAILY TRIBUNE knows much of the world has embraced the digital revolution, making it a must to fast-track and strengthen the adoption of digital solutions.

Otherwise, the country risks getting left behind.

Some of the strategies needed to bridge the digital divide are increasing investments in digital infrastructure -- a significant step in making the internet and the use of smart devices inclusive.

In many areas outside of major cities in the Philippines, mobile network signals remain spotty. The communities living in these locations will need improved infrastructure so that they can consider digital solutions as practical options.

Businesses are playing catch-up. For instance, Unity Digital Infrastructure, Inc., a tower company that is a joint venture of Aboitiz InfraCapital and Switzerland-based Partners Group, is boosting broadband capabilities by constructing common towers where the facilities are needed the most.

Common towers mobile network operators fast-track expansion at reduced costs, thereby enabling communities that were once outside their areas of coverage to access data and communications services at reasonable rates.

What it means is that the internet will soon cover even the far reaches of the nation, making digital services universal.

Telecommunication companies are also deploying infrastructure for 5G services that will allow users to access larger quantities of data at higher speeds.

Electronic commerce, despite its still small share in the total trade in the country, is expected to boom, but it needs a majority of the population to have a bank account.

Based on the Financial Inclusion Survey conducted by Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas, more than 60 million people or a total of 65 percent of the adult population are unbanked.

Lack of funds, no urgent need for an account and not having the required documents to comply with bank requirements were cited by respondents who did not have a bank account.

Several banks have taken steps to address the situation by offering low-maintenance accounts and simplifying requirements for account applications.

Many banks have also made inroads in improving online services, including account applications. At the same time, digital wallet apps have taken over some functions of banks to advance financial inclusion.

Reduce logistics costs via solutions

As people shift to using digital channels for financial services, sending or receiving goods and even hailing a ride through apps has become commonplace, thus DAILY TRIBUNE’s tie-up with Angkas and Grab for its monthly Asian Innovation Forum held in different venues to reach a wider audience of MSMEs.

There’s been significant growth in the logistics industry in the past several years, and this has provided both consumers and retailers with plenty of options when it comes to delivering their wares and purchases.

The wide gap between those who have access to digital solutions and those even without an internet link contributes to the further widening of the social disparity between the rich and poor.

The government must lead the digitalization initiative, but agencies have become tentative despite President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. expressing the urgency of the technological shift in government.

The delay in the implementation of the game-changing full digitalization program of the Philippine Ports Authority has a huge cost to the government since the project should have, by now, greatly improved trade monitoring.

Gov’t commitment stalls

In May 2022, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), for instance, signed a memorandum of agreement to adopt the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry and Monitoring System or TOP-CRMS.

The adoption of the system is critical in the anti-smuggling drive, particularly on agricultural products. Imported farm goods have been flooding the market because of rising prices and several shipments were caught trying to evade tax payments.

TOP-CRMS offers a system that allows real-time information on shipments.

Then certain sectors of government indicated their vicious opposition to the TOP-CRMS after it received approval and the project only needed implementing rules and regulations for it to take effect.

Despite the PPA’s approval, lobbyists pulled strings to stop its implementation to maintain a status quo in which corruption is rampant.

Thus, encouraging and pushing those who have the authority to make the digital shift a reality and at the same time inclusive is an imperative that the DAILY TRIBUNE has needed to highlight time and again.