Short Title.
Section 1
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "E-Governance Act:.
RA 12254 CHAPTER I
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Declaration of Policy.
Section 2
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes the vital role of information and communication in nation-building and the necessity of leveraging the power of information and communications technology (ICT) to drive national development and progress. The State hereby adopts a policy to establish, foster, and sustain a digitally empowered and integrated govenrment through the implementation of a regulated, and robust information and communication system aimed at facilitating responsive and transparent online citizen-centered services, thereby optimizing the potential of open data for promoting economic growth while balancing the rights to freedom of information and data privacy of every Filipino.
Purposes and Objectives.
Section 3
SEC. 3. Purposes and Objectives. - The purposes and objectives of this Act are to: (a) Define the roles and responsibilities of various government agencies in the entire digital transformation process and provide effective leadership in developing and promoting electronic government services and processes; (b) Promote interoperability of government systems and processes through a consolidated process architecture, while allowing government agencies, offices, and instrumentalities to implement the proper controls and safeguards deemed appropriate on ICT and information assets; (c) Provide citizen-centered government information and services, and improve public trust and citizen participation in the government; (d) Enable access to government information and services, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws, while leveraging ICT and emerging technologies to enhance process efficiency, data security, and overall effectiveness; (e) Strengthen transparency and accountability efforts of the national and local governance; (f) Foster an informed and data-driven decision-making process for policymakers by utilizing data analytics results, among other pertinent factors; (g) Strengthen resilience against information technology disruptions, including, but not limited to, cybersecurity attacks, by incorporating best practices both from public and private sector, locally and internationally; (h) Promote electronic transactions, particularly where mobility of citizens is restricted during disasters or pandemics; (i) Foster job creation, promote sustainability, and ensure up-to-date qualification and competency standards of ICT positions within the government; (j) Encourage sustainability and fortify manpower capabilities by continuously upskilling ICT professionals though the ICT Academy; and (k) Reduce costs and burdens for businesses and other government entities.
Coverage.
Section 4
SEC. 4. Coverage. - This Act shall apply to all executive, legislative, judicial and constitutional offices, including local government units (LGUs), state universities and colleges (SUCs), government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and other instrumentalities, whether located in the Philippines or abroad, that provide services covering business- and non-business-related transactions as defined in this Act, subject to limitations under existing laws. This Act shall also cover back-end government operation within, between, and across agencies, government-to-government transactions, particularly those involving sharing and processing of data and information between and among government agencies for policy, planning, and decision-making purposes, and other government operations. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to derogate from the fiscal and administrative autonomy and independence of govenrment entities.
Definitions of Terms.
Section 5
SEC. 5. Definitions of Terms. - As used in this Act: (a) application Programming Interface (API) - refers to an intermediary that allows interaction between applications, programs, software components, systems, hardware, and micro-services of different individuals or organizations; (b) Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking tangible or intangible assets in a business network, where virtually anything or value can be tracked and traded, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved; (c) Chief Information Officer (CIO) refers to a senior officer responsible for the development, planning, and implementation of the government entity's information systems strategic plan (ISSP) or ICT plan, and management of the agency's ICT systems, platforms, and applications; (d) Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) refers to the computer systems and/or networks, whether physical or virtual, and/or the computer programs, computer data, and/or traffic data that are vital to this country that the incapacity, destruction, or interference with such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national or economic security, national health and safety, or any combination of those matter. Sectors initially classified as CIIs are the following: government transportation (land, sea, air), energy, water, health, emergency services, public finance, banking and finance, business process outsourcing, telecommunications, space, and media; (e) Digitalization refers to the process of using digital technologies to enhance the operations of the government, and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; (f) Digital Transformation refers to the process of optimizing, reconstructing, and integrating digital technology into all areas of govenrment to maximize resource configuration, improve operational efficiency and innovation capability, and enhance value delivery to stakeholders; (g) Digitization refers to the profess of encoding information or procedure into digital form that can be read and manipulated by computers; (h) E-Governance refers to the use of ICT by the government to provide public services in a more friendly, convenient, affordable, efficient and transparent manner. Further, it is the application of ICT for delivering govenrment services through integration of various stand-alone systems, platforms, and applications between Government-to-Citizens (G2C), Government-to-Business (G2B), and Government-to-Government (G2G) services. It is often linked to back-office processes and interactions within the entire government framework; (i) E-Government refers to the use of ICT by the government to enhance access to and delivery of government services for an efficient, responsive, ethical, accountable, and transparent government; (j) ICT Assets refers to any data, device, equipment, infrastructure, system, or component thereof, utilized to ensure of support the proper and efficient operation and implementation of ICT-related programs and delivery of ICT services; (k) ICT Plan refers to the sum or set of goals, measures, strategies, agenda, budget, and timeline for the implementation of ICT programs and projects and the use of ICT, including digital platforms, to deliver public services or otherwise perform governmental functions; (l) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) refers to the totality of electronic means to access, create, collect, store, process, receive, transmit, present, regulate, and disseminate information; (m) Information Security Standards (ISS) refer to generally acceptable security standards which aim to protect and secure the confidentiality, integrity, availability, authenticity, and non-repudiation of information; (n) Information System Strategic Plan (ISSP) refers to the three (3)-year plan that serves as the government entity's road-map for using ICT as a strategic resource to support the attainment of its goals, mission, and vision. It is also written expression that aims to coordinate national ICT plans, efforts, knowledge, information, resource-sharing, and database-building, and to link a government entity's ISSPs with national ICT goals; (o) Interoperability refers to the ability of different operating and software systems, applications, and services to communicate and exchange data in an accurate, effective, and consistent manner with different platforms and agencies; (p) Nonbusiness-related transaction refers to all other government transactions not falling under Section 4(c) of Republic Act No. 11032 or the "Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018"; (q) Privacy-by-Default refers to the practice of applying the strictest privacy settings by default, without any manual input from the user, when a product or service has been deployed for public use; (r) Privacy-by-Design refers to an approach in the development and implementation of projects, programs, and processes that integrates safeguards that are necessary to protect and promote privacy into the design or structure; and (s) Privacy Engineering refers to the integration of privacy concerns into engineering practices for systems and software engineering life processes.
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