The Iloilo Provincial Government has stepped up its web-based systems to improve the local economy and to further enhance its current capability in fighting the spread of the Coronavirus disease.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Jr. displayed dynamic leadership by leading the public presentation of two web-based applications called Iloilo Provincial Agri-Fishery Information System – Farmers and Fisherfolks Agri-Fishery Resource System (PAIS-FARMS) and the Reverse Isolation and Contact Tracing Application (RIsC TrAp).
The PAIS-FARMS and RIsC TrAp apps was launched last September 28, 2020 at Mina Sports and Cultural Center in Mina, Iloilo with an audience composed of the department heads of the Iloilo Provincial Government, members of the Iloilo Provincial Board, and 43 Local Chief Executives and staff.
Understanding the PAIS-FARMS app
The PAIS-FARMS app intends to support farmers and fisherfolks gain a wider access to the market for it has the ability to provide a realistic status of the degree of production of commodities in the Province of Iloilo.
The app works by gathering agriculture production data from the barangay level and by sending these infos for consolidation at the provincial level. The system is designed to establish a comprehensive database which can generate information that can help connect the farmers-fisherfolks sector on websites that will link its produce to target consumers.
According to the Iloilo Provincial Government, the PAIS-FARMS system was originally conceptualized by the local government of Mina; known then as the Municipal Agricultural Information System (MAIS). It was applied among Iloilo’s 3rd District LGUs under the Integrated Central Iloilo Alliance for Economic Development (ICIAED).
Considering its effectiveness, scalability, and relevance in this period of the pandemic; the Sangguniang Panlalawigan empowered Gov. Defensor, Jr. with an authority to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the LGUs to allow the expansion of the program.
The MOA has the following component: systems installation, data establishment and management, and provision of IT equipment. It only requires a registration fee of P20,000 to the municipality of Mina to allow LGUs to have the application established for us.
The use of RIsC TrAp app
Another web-based application unveiled by the Iloilo Provincial Government was a concept drawn out by no less than Gov. Defensor, Jr. – the Reverse Isolation and Contact Tracing Application (RIsC TrAp).
The idea of Governor Defensor, Jr. was developed by the Information and Communication Technology Management Office (ICTMO) headed by Salvacion Sibonga which intends to use an app to boost the contact tracing capability of the government through the LGUs and its respective Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs).
The app functions as a travel history tracker of persons who comes and go at the town either as a worker or as persons who are conducting business transactions within the municipality. The LGUs or barangay will administer a travel declaration card on people moving from place to place, gathering vital personal data upon entry by identifying nature of activities while in town, exit dates, and destinations.
Sibonga shared that “the system will soon have a mobile component wherein residents can install the application on their smartphones and encode their data in lieu of the travel declaration card.”
The Iloilo Provincial Government will provide the barangays technical assistance like trainings for the and also facilities like computers so that they can effectively use the app.