CONNECTIVITY is key in a fast-paced technologically-prepped world – and the Philippines cannot afford to be left behind.

Keeping the nation connected and at pace with the advances in information and communications technology will be the focus of incoming DICT Secretary Ivan Uy when he takes the helm on July 1.

Uy said digital connectivity for the entire archipelago is “a big challenge” and the Marcos administration is bent on doing whatever it takes to keep the nation plugged in.

“Connections are important not just for families, but in learning as well,” Uy, a lawyer, told The Manila Times. He said the Marcos administration will make sure that every rural area will have access to telecommunications. The Marcos administration, according to incoming top techie, will lay down the groundwork for the complete digitalization of all government transactions.

He said government services will be accessible to all 24/7. If private companies can have transactions done online, then the government can all the more do so, he said.

He added that through digitalized transactions, particularly with the Bureau of Customs, Department of Public Works and Highways and even the Agriculture Department, the window for corruption will close down or will be gone. Transactions that used to take one whole day to process will be simplified and can be done in minutes.

“We erase corruption with digital transactions,” Uy said. “The e-governance is not limited to Monday to Friday work. Even at night, holidays or any day, for select government offices, we will try with select government offices,” he said. “Lesser human interaction. Lesser people who might take advantage and flex their power trip. Lesser or no more fixers and syndicates,” he added. “We need to do this for the ordinary Filipinos. This is what President Ferdinand “Bongbong Marcos wants,” he said. Uy said he plans to engage with the various heads of the different government agencies and come up with a single, unified system.

“There are many that will push back especially those whose illegal activities will be trampled upon,” he said. He added that he would sit down with incoming Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople to work on e-government services for Overseas Filipino Workers. “Let us make it simple for our OFWs,” he said.

Prior to being chosen by Marcos to head the DICT, Uy headed the defunct Commission on Information and Communications Technology in 2010 under the Aquino administration. He also served as the chief information officer (CIO) of the Supreme Court during the term of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. He was responsible for the digital shift at the Supreme Court.

He is likewise an expert on computer forensics, cybercrime, electronic evidence, e-commerce, and digital ethics Uy graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a legal management degree.

He earned his law degree from the University of the Philippines and studied at the University of Minnesota under the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey fellowship.