The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has launched its digital transformation roadmap, in support of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s digitalization efforts to enhance bureaucratic efficiency and ensure sound fiscal management. In a statement on Wednesday, the DBM said the 2022-2026 Digital Transformation Roadmap would serve as a tool to build a convergent hub consisting of Application Programming Interfaces, utilize GovTech, enable Digital Tax Bypass, and leverage Data Engineering and System Integration. 'The roadmap has a dual transformation feature: improving current systems used in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), and future-proofing the entire bureaucracy,' the department said. On June 1, Marcos signed Executive Order (EO) 29, formalizing the full adoption of IFMIS in all government agencies. The DBM said the IFMIS aims to create a primary tool and a 'single source of truth' for all fiscal-related transactions. The system, it said, would also promote fiscal transparency, management, and accountability in government; facilitate the faster release of data needed for government transactions; and prevent red tape and other corruption-related activities. It will also pave the way for the implementation of paperless transactions and the reduction of government expenses on manual transactions, the agency said. The DBM noted that a crucial part of IFMIS is the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS), a centralized database that covers all government financial operations, from purchase to payment, and real-time transaction monitoring. Launched in 2019, temporarily suspended in 2021, and reactivated recently, the BTMS will likewise facilitate submission of financial reports to oversight agencies such as the DBM, the Commission on Audit, and the Bureau of the Treasury. The DBM also noted that the digital release of the Notice of Cash Allocations (NCA), through the agency's Action Document Releasing System (ADRS), would allow the government to save approximately PHP2.8 million per month or PHP33 million annually. The ADRS is an online application that facilitates the release of approved DBM action documents directly to authorized users of recipient agencies. On Dec. 7, 2022, the DBM signed a memorandum of agreement with three authorized government servicing banks, the Land Bank of the Philippines, the Development Bank of the Philippines, and the Philippine Veterans Bank, for the implementation of the online release of NCAs. The MOA allows the digital distribution of cash authority issued quarterly by the DBM to central, regional and provincial offices and operating units to cover the cash requirements of government agencies. The DBM said it would also relaunch the Project Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (DIME), which uses satellites, drones, and geo-tagging in monitoring and evaluating the status of big-ticket government projects. Project DIME is a collaboration with the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP), whose members include civil society organizations. The DBM also established the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Desk, a platform that addresses budget-related concerns and inquiries and provides provide capacity-building and training on the budget process. To enable full transparency in procurement, the DBM also enabled a total e-Government procurement solution. 'The modernized Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (mPhilGEPS) employs a system that covers eBidding, eShopping, and eReverse Auction platforms to lessen the procurement workload and to eliminate exposure to corruption of government employees,' it said. The DBM said the digital transformation bid is in line with the Marcos administration's eight-point socioeconomic agenda and the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028. '(It is)part of the strategy to achieve the government's Agenda for Prosperity that emphasized inclusivity and sustainability even for future generations of Filipinos, with no one left behind,' it said.
Source: Philippines News Agency