NBN project just tip of iceberg in anomalous IT projects

MAKATI CITY, Philippines -- The allegedly anomalous national broadband network (NBN) project is just the tip of the iceberg among shady information and communications technology (ICT) projects in government, according to an executive.

There are more questionable ICT projects in the local government units and other national government agencies, said Efren Ricalde, president and CEO of GeoSpatial Solutions Inc(GSI), a local firm that has worked on government ICT projects. GSI is a local independent software vendor which has been working with IBM Philippines.

The NBN project, which was intended to upgrade the government telecommunications network of the Telecommunications Office, was tainted with irregularities and alleged bribery of highly placed officials.

“These shady deals are happening everyday. ICT is now being used as procurement process not to deploy ICT but to generate corruption," Ricalde said, adding that he was aware of several projects in government that had questionable intentions.

Many ICT projects in local government units and national agencies are not scrutinized because of the lack of checks and balances in government, he said.

Ricalde was among the attendees of a workshop conducted to validate findings of the E3 (E-governance for Effectiveness Efficiency) project on Public Private Partnership.

During the workshop, government representatives admitted that there are inadequate terms of reference in ICT-related projects because they lack the resources to create one. In most instances, the TOR is dictated by suppliers, thus projects become “supplier-driven.”

The E3 is a project under management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint. Bearing Point has won the bid to implement the E3 project under a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency.