Baguio City placed third nationwide in the Best in Covid-19 response in the 2020 Digital Governance Awards, which recognizes the digital initiatives of local government units in the country.
Fifty-six LGUs joined the awards program jointly undertaken by the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) with the vision of integrating ICT capabilities and solutions to the different sectors of the society, to discover ICT potentials towards raising the bar in delivering public service, and for LGUs to be catalysts for change.
City Planning and Development Officer Donna Tabangin said the city was recognized for its Covid tracing system, which comprises of an aggregate surveillance tracker, support package, and an automated analytics device.
“The case-base surveillance tracker captures symptoms, demographics, risk factors and exposures, records of laboratory results and links to confirmed cases, treatment and response, and monitoring through contact tracing follow up program. Moreover, travelers who have visited high risk locations and would like to travel in and out of the city can access and online declaration system integrated into the Covid E-System tracker,” Tabangin said.
The city was a finalist in three e-GOV categories: the Baguio Visitor Information and Travel Assistance (Visita) for the Best in Customer Empowerment (G2C) Award which uses ICT solutions in engaging the public and in using electronic facilities and channels towards providing improved, timely and relevant delivery of public services, the City’s Cashless Payment Solutions for the Best in Business Empowerment Award for integrating ICT solutions and the city’s responsiveness to the needs of business enterprises to create business opportunities, and the Contact Tracing E-Systems of the city for the Best in Covid-19 Response category for setting a good example to other LGUs by leveraging a digital platform to fight the pandemic. – Aileen P. Refuerzo
