INTEROPERABLE GOVERNMENT DATABASES

INTEROPERABLE GOVERNMENT DATABASES

My dear countrymen, it has been several months since President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. instructed all National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Local Government Units (LGUs) to digitalize their operations, saying that they should have common “operating systems”. Sad to say, many of the NGAs and LGUs are having difficulties in complying with the President’s instructions, as reported by DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy himself. In my desire to help the government with its digitalization goals, please allow me to offer my own suggestions on how to do it.

Looking back, I think what the President really meant when he said “operating systems” are the software “applications” such as those for Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Computerized Accounting Systems (CAS), Customer Relations Management (CRM) and Building Management Systems (BMS), among others. If my interpretation is correct, then I think that the goal really is to make these “applications” become compatible with each other, in other words become “interoperable” with each other.

To comply with the President’s instructions, all NGAs and LGUs should implement both data integration and systems integration projects, back-to-back with its other. If they could not do that, they will not be able to fix their backend, and because of that, their frontend could never be integrated. In most cases, data integration will require data conversion and data migration, two difficult tasks to do, but must be done. Also in most cases, system integration could happen by using an Applications Programming Interface (API), but it is more complex than that.

If you ask my advice, I will tell you that the best approach towards digitalization is to move towards Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). It is an approach that could easily and systematically accomplish both data integration and systems integration. If you are involved with NGA or LGU digitalization, do not worry about costs because there are Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) versions that are available for most ERP offerings.

Going back to what the President said, I think that what he was looking for was a “single sign-on system” (SSOS), a system that will enable any registered citizen to sign on to any government system or application, by using the same “credentials” to be able to verify or authenticate his or her identity. SSOS will avoid the tedious and bothersome practice of having to fill up new forms each time a citizen transacts with an NGA or an LGU. Of course, it goes without saying that each NGA and LGU should be responsible for implementing their own data security and data privacy systems.

A software system is only as good as its database. If the database is no good, then the software system is no good. If two or more government databases are good, then they could easily and efficiently share data with each other. If they could “talk” to each other as if they are speaking the same language, then true interoperability will happen. The bottom line is to make “ease of doing business” happen, so that it will no longer be difficult for citizens to transact with the government. Your friend, IKE SENERES/12-14-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

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