The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) held a public webinar on March 17, 2022 from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM via Cisco Webex.
This virtual event featured the PIDS study “Readiness of Philippine Cities to Smart City Development” authored by PIDS Supervising Research Specialist Tatum P. Ramos, Senior Research Specialist Pauline Joy M. Lorenzo, Research Specialist Jenica A. Ancheta, and Vice President Marife M. Ballesteros. This study examined whether Philippine cities are prepared for smart city development by answering three policy questions: (1) What drives Philippine LGUs towards the implementation of smart city initiatives? (2) What is the extent of smart city development among Philippine cities? and (3) How can the Philippine government facilitate the development of smart cities? A desk review of smart city initiatives in some Philippine and international cities was carried out and interviews were conducted with stakeholders from selected cities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Based on the findings, the Philippines has started to tread the path toward building smart cities and some Philippine cities already exhibit preparedness for smart city development. Smart city enablers are already in place, but the degree in which they are applied is not very extensive. There are significant challenges that need to be addressed at the national and local levels. These include issues related to data interoperability, national standards on data repositories and application programming interfaces, risk mitigation strategies, monitoring and assessment, and accountability. If these issues are unaddressed, there will be a risk of not fully realizing the potential of smart city initiatives in the Philippines.
A copy of the study may be downloaded from this link:
Readiness of Philippine Cities to Smart City Development
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION:
Readiness of Philippine Cities to Smart City Development presented by Ms. Tatum Ramos, Supervising Research Specialist, Philippine Institute for Development Studies
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