THE Philippines was recognized as the “biggest mover” in the 2022 Network Readiness Report (NRI) released by Washington, D.C.-based think-tank Portulans Institute, improving by 12 notches to 71st from 83rd place.

The report cited the country’s “impact” as its main strength and “technology” as the greatest scope for improvement, performing considerably well on e-commerce legislation, high-tech exports, and information and communication services exports.

It also ranked the Philippines as fifth among the 36 lower-middle-income economies included in the report, outperforming in 10 sub-pillars: access, content, future technologies, individuals, governments, trust, regulation, inclusion, economy and quality of life.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual welcomed this development and thanked the Portulan Institute for recognizing the Philippines as one of the champions of digital transformation.

“This is a testament to the continuing efforts of the Philippine government to transform the country into a digital economy. It shows that we are a country composed of digital natives, and it indeed gives us a demographic advantage. We are mindful of this advantage and recognize that the digital economy is about people and technology, so we are ramping up efforts to promote science, technology and innovation, as our main strategy,” he said.

Pascual noted that several initiatives are on the pipeline. In terms of legislation, the enactment of the proposed Internet Transactions Act and amendments to the E-Commerce Act are also underway. Digital transformation initiatives to address upskilling and reskilling of human capital and businesses are also being scaled up.

Furthermore, e-government or the automation of government processes are also being pursued through a whole-ofgovernment approach, the Trade chief added.