Exploring the role and opportunities for open government data and new technologies in MHCC and MSME : the case of the Philippines

These case studies explore the potential of open data in two priority development areas: Maternal Health and Childcare (MHCC) and Micro-Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME). By asking the question, “how are data sets used in community health and local cooperatives?” the study examined types of data sets, current uses, and how ICT can be used by local stakeholders. Recognizing gaps in open data (OD) practices, recommendations are made for local government units (LGUs) to spearhead the OD initiatives in their respective areas as LGUs act as the “front liners” for the delivery of public services

The Democracy Cube as a Framework for Guiding Participatory Planning for Community-based IT Initiatives

Literature suggests there is a need to build more theoretically-informed understandings of the social processes implicated in participatory IT planning and implementation (Jakku & Thorburn, 2010). In this study, we explore the value of Archon Fung’s (2006) “democracy cube” as a framework for qualitatively examining the process we undertook for planning a community-based IT strategy. Our planning process involved consultations with multiple stakeholder groups across five different communities, as well as from other entities involved in disaster management, with the aim of surfacing factors that shaped local communities’ abilities to participate in disaster management activities. These factors, drawn from qualitative interviews and categorized using a SWOT framework, were subsequently translated into an IT strategy. In this paper, we revisit this process and examine it using Fung’s (2006) three dimensions of democratic participation as a lens: participant selection (our use of multiple stakeholder groups); communication and decision (our consultation process); and authority and power (how participant input drove our strategy). We use the framework to identify the specific practices that made IT planning participative, as well as those that made it nonparticipative. We also use our empirical data to explore ways that the framework can be enhanced

E-Participation towards Legislation: The Case of the Philippines

This paper discusses the issues toward the development of an eParticipation framework contextualized to the Philippine setting for legislation and the development of an ICT system. The project aims to enhance citizen participation and community empowerment in two key roles of the legislature – law making and executive oversight. The project used the concepts of eTransformation and Rapid Application Development Approach (RAD) to identify issues that will affect the future deployment of eParticipation Systems

Decision support model on human resource planning

The Decision-Making process is one, if not the most, crucial task of any manager or supervisor. In Human Resource Planning (HRP), important decisions are made that can lead to success or even failure of Human Resource Management activities. Indeed the lack of a systematic approach in decision making is one of the major hindrances for an effective decision making process especially in HRP.A decision model can be constructed to answer the need for a systematic approach in decision for human resource planning. The proposed decision model for HRP is defined as the fusion of existing HRP processes/requirements of a given sample and planning concepts. The proposed decision model can be used as the basis for information technology (IT) applications in the area of HRP and decision making.IT can contribute to the partial solution of the problem. By using concepts and tools of Decision Support Systems (DSS), such applications can help users in their respective decision making tasks

Avenues for electoral modernization in the Philippines

The vision of electoral reform in the Philippines has long been an illusive dream. There is a long history of manipulation, fraud, and interest preservation that characterize the nature of Philippine elections. Indeed an understanding of these events provides a holistic view that can aid in providing a comprehensive and systematic perspective to electoral modernization. This paper will present various viewpoints that must be considered in discussing electoral modernization. It is the firm belief of the author that attempts to look at electoral modernization purely on a technical standpoint will fall short of expectations thus cannot provide a comprehensive solution to problems houding Philippine elections. It is imperative that any attempt on electoral modernization in the Philippines should consider the nature of Philippine elections, its history and structure; and lastly how elections has been used as a tool for political manipulation and control

Exploring the use of new technologies in participation practices in legislation

The use of information technology in governance generally, and in legislative processes specifically, has emerged as a significant trend over the last decade. The design and mobilization of such technologies in diverse settings have shown significant progress over time; however, such technologies and related practices continue to reflect limitations and difficulties. This study seeks to address a number of existing limitations in the use of technology in e-legislation. Using an applied research design combined with rapid applications development, the project examines avenues for e-participation in the current investigation-legislative practices of the Blue Ribbon Committee of the Philippine Senate. The project\u27s applications development phase uses Web 2.0 as a platform, and combines it with electronic document and natural language techniques, thus enabling a shift from dominantly information dissemination approaches to multi-directional exchanges supported by new techniques like the automatic categorization of comments. The study explores the potential and the limitations of new technologies, and highlights the need for new institutional policies and capacity building to ensure the success and sustainability of e-participation initiatives. The technologies created can be considered as possible future directions by lawmakers in countries that are seeking to move beyond e-legislation practices that focus primarily on uni-directional information dissemination, into more participatory approaches

Dynamics of knowledge management in agrarian communities: A descriptive approach

Many regard knowledge as the quintessential resource. Indeed current management and governance literature suggests that knowledge if tapped and utilized, can result to increased productivity through quality decision-making and responsiveness to customer demands. Although this viewpoint is quite true in the realm of business, little is written about the knowledge management in governance especially on the topic of community (rural) development. By using a descriptive/qualitative (case) approach, this paper aims to identify the process of knowledge management (KM) in the identified communities. It also aims to present the different stakeholders and how they contribute to the KM process. Different variables/triggers that affects the KM process will be identified in this paper. As a result of the presentation of the KM process in the identified communities, the paper will argue that the presence of a robust KM process can lead to community development