Republic of the Philippines fe RECEIVED ° 2)
House of Representatives 3 CATE: su, 23 ota
Quezon City, Metra Manila 2

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House Bill No. 7153

INTRODUCED BY
REP. ALFRED VARGAS

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A NATIONAL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION POLICY
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Age of Information, also known as the Digital Age, has ushered in
new skills and abilities wherein the next generation of Filipinos has
competitively adapted from traditional industries to sectors of information
computerization.

This became very apparent as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic has
shifted almost all transactions to online platforms. With the challenges
brought about by the “new normal”, complemented with developments and
innovations in learning, the Filipinos of today must be equipped with the
necessary knowledge to traverse this new environment. At the same time,
the government must put systems in place to support these changes.

This bill seeks to provide a national framework for digital
transformation, with the adoption of information and communications
technology (ICT) and digital competency in all forms of learning, and a
national digital transformation and skills development strategy to ensure
that every citizen is presented the opportunity to understand ICT and
develop the important skills necessary to adapt to the digital age.

In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly

sought.

‘RED VARGAS,


Republic af the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon Gity, Alero Mauls

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House Bill No. 7153

INTRODUCED BY
REP. ALFRED VARGAS

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A NATIONAL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION POLICY
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "National Digital
Transformation Act”.

SECTION 2. Declaration of State Policy. - It is hereby declared policy of
the State to integrate digital technology into all areas of government that will
greatly improve Philippine governance, socio-economic development and
services to people. Consequently, the State shall create a plan that shall
transform the government into a digital platform providing transparent and
accountable governance, efficient operations, direct citizen engagement, and
innovation.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - The following terms as used in this Act
shall mean:

(a) “21st century skills" refer to skills that are required by new jobs such
as 18 critical thinking, problem solving, good communication,
collaboration, information and technology literacy, flexibility and
adaptability, innovativeness and creativity.

(b) “Automatic and Artificial Intelligence” refers to combining technology
such as Robotics Process Automation or RPA, Artificial intelligence (Al)
and machine learning;

(c) “Big Data and Analysis” refers to data discovery process using
techniques and tools like mining useful information or insights from
huge sets of data either structure or unstructured. This is enabled


through exponential increase in both computing power and storage
capacity;

(a) “Cloud Computing” refers to the delivery of IT services hosted over the
internet to transform compute resources into a utility;

(c) "Data" refers to a sequence of one or more symbols given meaning by
specific act(s) of interpretation. Data can be analysed or used in an
effort to gain knowledge or make decisions. Digital data is represented
using the binary number system of ones (1) and zeros (0) as opposed
to its analogue representation;

() "Digital Competence" refers to the confident, critical, creative, relevant
and responsible use of, and engagement with, digital technologies for
learning or education, for work or occupation, and for participation in
society;

(g) "Digital content" refers to any type of content that exists in the form of
digital data that are encoded in a machine-readable format, and can
be created, viewed, distributed, modified and stored using computers
and digital technologies, e.g. the internet. The content can be either
free or pay content such as web pages and websites, social media,
data and databases, digital audio, such as mp3s, and e-books, digital
imagery, digital video, video games, computer programmes and
software.

(h)"Digital entrepreneurship" refers to combining _ traditional
entrepreneurship with new digital technologies, thus creating digital
enterprises which are characterized by a high intensity of utilization of
novel digital technologies, particularly social media, big data analytics,
mobile and cloud solutions to improve business operations, invent
new business models, sharpen business intelligence, and engage with
customers and stakeholders;

(i) "Digital services" refer to public or private services that can be
delivered through digital communication, such as Internet, mobile
phone network that might include delivery of digital information, data
or content or transactional services;

()) "Digital skills" refer to range of abilities, from basic to more advanced,
encompassing a combination of behaviors, expertise, know-how, work
habits, character traits, dispositions and critical understandings on
the use of digital devices, communication applications, and networks
to access and manage information;

(k) "Digital technology" refers to any product that can be used to create,
view, distribute, modify, store, retrieve, transmit and receive
information electronically in a digital form such as personal
computers and devices like desktop, laptop, netbook, tablet computer,


smart phones, PDA with mobile phone facilities, games consoles,
media players, e-book readers, as well as digital television, and robots;

()) "Digital tools" refer to technologies used for a given purpose or for
carrying out a particular function of information processing,
communication, content creation, safety or problem solving;

(m) "Digital Transformation" refers to the total and overall societal effect of
digitalization;

(n) "Digitization" refers to the technical conversion from traditional to
digital;

(0) "Innovation" refers to the creation of new ideas using new or existing
technologies that results in the development of new or improve
products, processes, or services, which are then spread or transferred
across the market;

(p) "Internet of Things (IOT)" refers to everyday devices connected to the
internet through sensors and computing power to monitor and
manage actions, offering users greater influence over their
environment;

(q) "Social inclusion" refers to the process of improving the terms for
individuals and groups to take part in society (World Bank). Social
inclusion aims to empower poor and marginalized people to take
advantage of burgeoning global opportunities. It ensures that people
have a voice in decisions which affect their lives and that they enjoy
equal access to markets, services and political, social and physical
spaces;

(2) "Well-being’ is related to the World Health Organization definition of
good health as a state of complete physical, social and mental well10
being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Social
welll1 being refers to the sense of involvement with others and with
the communities such as access and use of social capital, social trust,
social connectedness and social networks;

SECTION 4. Digital Competence Framework for Citizens. - A Digital
Competence Framework for Citizens is hereby created. It shall serve as a
tool to improve the digital competence of citizens and a guide in the
formulation of policies that support digital competence building. The
framework shall include education and training initiatives to improve the
digital competence of various specific target groups.

The essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes that comprise digital
competence are, generally classified as follows:

(a) Information and Data Literacy. - The ability to articulate information
needs, to locate and retrieve digital data, information and content, to


judge the relevance of the source and its content and to store,
manage, and organize digital data, information and content. The skills
are as follows:

i, Browsing, searching and filtering data, information, and digital
content

Evaluating data, information, and digital content

Managing data, information, and digital content

(b)Communication and collaboration. - The ability to interact,
communicate and collaborate through digital technologies while being
aware of cultural and generational diversity, to participate in society
through public and private digital services and participatory
citizenship and to manage one's digital identity and reputation. The
skills are as follows:

i. Interacting through digital technologies

Sharing through digital technologies

iii, Engaging in citizenship through digital technologies
iv. Collaborating through digital technologies

v. Netiquette

vi. Managing digital identity

(c) Digital Content Creation. - The ability to create and edit digital
content, to improve and integrate information and content into an
existing body of knowledge while understanding how copyright and
licenses are to be applied, and to know how to give understandable
instructions for a computer system. The skills are as follows:

i. Developing digital content

ii, Integrating and re-elaborating digital content
Copyright and licenses

iv. Programming

(d) Safety. -The ability to protect devices, content, personal data and
privacy in digital environments, to protect physical and psychological
health, and to be aware of digital technologies for social well-being
and social inclusion, as well as to be aware of the environmental
impact of digital technologies and their use. The skills are as follows:

Protecting devices

Protecting personal data and privacy
Protecting health and wellbeing

iv. Protecting the environment

(c) Problem Solving. - The ability to identify needs and problems, and to
resolve conceptual problems and problem situations in digital
environments, to use digital tools to innovate processes and products
and to be updated with the digital evolution. The skills are as follows:


Solving technical problems
Identifying needs and technological responses
|. Creatively using digital technologies
iv. Identifying digital competence gaps

‘The Department of Information and Communications Technology
(DICT) and the Department of Education (DepEd) in collaboration with
the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) shall design and
develop an instrument to measure and certify citizens’ digital
competence based on the framework. These agencies shall consult
experts in the field of various technologies necessary for digital
transformation, such as but not limited to cloud computing,
automatic and artificial intelligence, robotics, big data and other
disruptive technologies.

SECTION 5. ICT Competency Framework for Teachers. — An ICT-
Competence Framework for Teachers is hereby created. This shall be used
to outline the competencies that teachers, educators, and trainers need in
order to integrate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into
their professional practice.

‘The framework shall be used to compare the teachers’ competencies in
different regions, provinces, cities, and municipalities in order to analyze
and develop educational programs and training courses for teacher
professional development at national or regional level.

‘The required competencies are defined as the intersections of the three
approaches to teaching, as follows:

(a) Technology literacy approach shall enable students to use ICT in order
to learn more efficiently and increase the extent to which new
technology is used by students, citizens and the workforce by
incorporating technology skill into the school curriculum. The goal of
the technology literacy approach is to enable learners, citizens, and
the workforce to use ICT to support social development and improve
economic productivity.

(b) Knowledge deepening approach shall enable students to acquire in32
depth knowledge of their school subjects and apply it to complex, real-
world problems; and increase the ability of students, citizens, and the
workforce to use knowledge to add value to society and the economy
by applying it to solve complex, real-world problems. The aim of the
knowledge deepening approach is to increase the ability of students,
citizens, and the workforce to add value to society and to the economy
by applying the knowledge gained in school subjects to solve complex,
high priority problems encountered in real world situations of work,
society and in life generally.


(c) Knowledge creation approach shall enable students, citizens and the
workforce they become, to create the new knowledge required for more
harmonious, fulfilling and prosperous societies; and increase the
ability of students, citizens, and the workforce to innovate, produce
new knowledge, and benefit from this new knowledge. The aim of the
knowledge creation approach is to increase productivity by creating
students, citizens, and a workforce that is continually engaged in, and
benefits from, knowledge creation, innovation and life-long learning.
The six aspects of a teacher's work, under the framework are as
follows:

i. Understanding ICT education

. Curriculum assessment

iii. Pedagogy

iv. ICT

v. Organization and administration

vi. Teacher professional learning

SECTION 6. National Digital Transformation Strategy. - A National
Digital Transformation Strategy shall be created. The Strategy shall ensure
that every citizen shall have the opportunity to understand ICT and develop
skills and ability to apply the ICT in their work, vocation, business, and life
in society. The Strategy shall include, but not limited to:

(a) Affordable and clean energy and growth, which includes plans and
programs to ensure competitive costs as well as lower adverse impact
to the environment;

(b) Digital inclusion, which includes plans and programs to spread
growth across the country, and identify potential areas for various
industries to unlock growth, increase skill levels, or promote local
innovation;

(c) Infrastructure, which includes concrete plans and strategies to
develop and upgrade performance on digital, energy, and transport
infrastructure, to effectively align central government infrastructure
investment with local growth priorities;

(d) Institutional framework, which includes strategies and directions to
establish or improve existing institutions such as innovation councils,
local educational institutions, trade associations or financial
networks;

(e) Procurement policy, which includes concrete and specific plans in the
government procurement in order to drive innovation and enable the
development of effective, efficient and transparent supply chains
across the country;


() Science, research, and innovation, which include concrete set of plans
and strategies to ensure a knowledge economy, create and
commercialize intellectual property that will promote and enhance the
global brand of the Philippines

Sectoral engagement, which includes plans, policies and strategies

2) 8 gi
programs to enhance areas of competitive advantage, and help new
sectors to grown;

(h) Skills, which include concrete plans and strategies to ensure that the
Filipino workforce is equipped with the relevant and necessary 21st
century skills for them to thrive in a modern economy and build
learning organizations and systems to benefit the everyone especially
those who are not able to attend or complete formal education, and
enhance science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills and
numeracy, and raising skill levels especially in underprivileged areas;

(i) Trade and inward investment which includes plans and strategies to
boost productivity and growth across the economy by increasing
competition and helping to bring innovation and new ideas, systems
and processes; and

() Supporting businesses to start and grow, where we the government
must ensure that businesses across the country can access the
finance and management skills they need to grow; and create the
conditions to enable firms to invest for the long term.

SECTION 7. Digital Inclusion. - The DICT shall enable all citizens,
irrespective of age, gender, physical ability, ethnicity, health conditions, or
socio-economic status to access the opportunities of the internet. Citizens,
businesses and public services must take full advantage of the
transformational benefits of the digital revolution. The Department must
identify the root causes of digital exclusion in all sectors and regions for the
purpose of increase their digital competence.

The DICT shall identify and develop the full range of digital skills that
individuals and companies across the country need to address the
requirements of a digital economy and instill measures and programs for
citizens to continuously up skill and re-skill throughout their working lives.

It shall also develop a strong collaboration between the public, private, and
educational sector to address the digital skills gap in a coherent and holistic
way.

SECTION 8. Digital Libraries and Learning Hubs. - The DICT and the
National Library of the Philippines shall enhance and promote the role of
libraries in improving digital communication, increasing citizen's digital
footprint, promoting digital inclusion and transform these libraries as
providers of digital access, training and support for local communities.


SECTION 9. Digital Entrepreneurship. - The Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) and the DICT shall strongly promote the digitization of
businesses according to their own specific digital needs, mainly focused on
these four core digital activities, namely maintaining a web presence, selling
online, using the cloud, and digitizing back-office functions such as payroll
and human resource management, in order to become or remain
competitive. The DTI shall ensure that entrepreneurs undertake the
certification under the digital competence framework for citizens to identify
areas the need training and intervention.

SECTION 10. Digital Civil Service. - To ensure the highest standards of
public service, the DICT and the Civil Service Commission shall identify and
consolidate all the skills and competencies of public employees in the career
service and recommend and cause the conduct of digital skills training
under an annual digital skills mapping activity. All public employees shall
be covered under a mandatory basis of certification under the digital
competence framework for citizens to identify areas the need training and
intervention.

SECTION 11. National Digital Skills Development Strategy. — The State
shall create digital skills development strategy that will:

(a) Identify the digital skills development goals for:
Primary education
ii Secondary education
iii, Tertiary education, for students, and digital technology
development and design experts
iv. Work-related digital skills training programs for out-of-school
youth, including for freelancers and part-time workers;
v. Work-related digital skills training programs for adults requiring
re-skilling;
vi. Skills for life in the digital economy for alll citizens;
vii. Training programs both for life and work for under-represented
populations;
vii. Develop or plan for a digital entrepreneurship skills strategy.

(b) Inventory existing policies, plans and programs that support the
development of digital skills and analyze how they can be used to
support the goals of the digital skills strategy

(c) Benchmark the goals against existing frameworks or countries with
similar goals as well as identify the existing priorities and challenges
in meeting the above goals as well as identify promising solutions for
providing digital skills that address the common challenges

(d) Identify current and future trends in relation to demographic trends,
technological changes, business trends, trade, industrial policies, and


the shift to a greener, digital and knowledge-based economy

(e) Identify available training programs, curriculum and providers that
can be leveraged to meet the strategy's goals and develop new
curricula where necessary as well as identify gaps in training
programs and curricula - and identify providers and strategies that
will help fill them.

() Identify and recommend new policies and programs that are needed
and conduct advocacy both using the existing policies and to build
support for new policies

SECTION 12. Digital Jobs. - The DICT in coordination with Department of
Labor (DOLE) and other concerned agencies shall provide jobs which are in
line with freelancing, virtual work, homebased digital activities, and the like.

SECTION 13. National Digital Transformation Council. - The National
Digital Transformation Council is hereby created to ensure the effective
implementation of this Act.

SECTION 14. Composition of the Council. - The Council shall be
composed of:

(a) DICT

(b) Department of Science and Technology (DOST)

(¢) DTI

(@) DOLE

(ce) DEPED

(9 CHED

(g) TESDA

(h) At least ten (10) members coming from the private sector that is
involved in digital skills development, digital industries and jobs, or
digital systems and products.

SECTION 15. Functions of the Council. - The following are the functions
of the Council:

(a) Take the lead in the formulation and implementation of specific rules
for the National Digital Competence Framework for Citizens;

(b) Oversee the development and implement the National Digital
‘Transformation Strategy, the ICT Teachers Competency Framework,
and National Digital Skills Development Strategy;

(c) Recommend, propose or endorse any measure related to the above
functions to concerned line agencies for purposes of administrative
concerns, to the private sectors, schools or other business entities for
policy guidance, and to Congress for policy purposes


(d) Provide a report to Congress and to the Office of the President on the
progress of the implementation of this Act

SECTION 16. Council Secretariat. - The DICT shall provide secretariat
support to the Council.

SECTION 17. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty (60)
days from the effectivity of this Act, the DOLE and DICT together with
relevant stakeholders shall promulgate the necessary implementing rules
and regulations (IRR) of this Act.

SECTION 18. Appropriations — The amount necessary for the effective
implementation of the provisions of this Act shall be included in the General
Appropriations Act for the year following the approval of this Act.

SECTION 19. Repealing Clause. - All other laws, decrees, executive orders
and rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly

SECTION 20. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held
invalid or unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and
effectivity of the other provisions hereof.

SECTION 13. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general
circulation.

Approved,