MANILA – Tech company IBM recently provided technical assistance to the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through its Corporate Service Corps.

The IBM Corporate Service Corps volunteered to provide assistance to Kalahi-CIDSS in helping improve its data analytics and program management system. These intend to optimize the data flow at different levels of the program, from the municipal to the national levels, and to help improve efficiency and facilitate strategic planning for the implementation of Kalahi-CIDSS.

To understand how the program’s processes work at the ground level, the team had a field visit to Alcoy, Cebu, where they interviewed the municipal and regional staff and officials of the program.

Anita Govindjee of IBM United States and one of the members of the Corporate Service Corps deployed to provide assistance to Kalahi-CIDSS, recognized the “good” system employed by Kalahi-CIDSS. She said that their recommendations are intended to improve the program’s systems and processes for improved data management and analytics.

The recent scale-up of Kalahi-CIDSS into a national community-driven development (CDD) program led to challenges in ensuring the quality and timely delivery of capacity building and sub-projects to poor communities, as the coverage was more than double of what was previously covered. It also necessitated a change in the data management system of the program to ensure that the projects are monitored properly, with any gaps in program implementation promptly identified so these can be addressed quickly and effectively.

Luis Pineda, President and Country General Manager of IBM Philippines, said, “Government units and public sectors in the Philippines are working towards sustainable and inclusive economic development”.

He continued, “The objective of our latest contribution to the country’s growth agenda will inculcate the use of emerging technologies such as analytics and social, to tap on valuable insights which will be useful in strategic planning to help address key developmental issues such as poverty alleviation, unemployment, and skills development”.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman emphasized the importance of information management in the Department’s processes. She said, “Reaching poor, vulnerable, and marginalized communities is important, but the accurate, timely, and transparent information communication is necessary to ensure that the resources and the aid provided to them are done effectively”.###