Re-elected NICP Chair Jocelle Batapa-Sigue (middle) with (L-R) Patricia Abejo of the Philippine ICT Office, Lizabel Holganza of Davao ICT, Cristina Wycoco-Paulino of Nueva Ecija ICT Council, George Sorio of Metro Clark ICT Council, Dr. Emmanuel Lagare of Iligan ICT Council, Stephanie Caragos of Cagayan De Oro ICT Council, Rosemarie Rey of Legazpi City ICT Council, Antonio De Carmen of Laguna Industry Network for Knowledge, Innovation & Technology Foundation (LINK-IT) and Sheila Dayap of ICT Solutions Association of Region 12 – General Santos City during the NICP 4th National ICT Summit.

Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT) chair Jocelle Batapa-Sigue was re-elected as chairpersons of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) during the national elections held last November 5, 2011 at General Santos City.

Batapa-Sigue vowed to concentrate on expanding the reach of NICP to include other cities such Baguio, Batangas and Tacloban among the more than 30 ICT member councils which share in the common vision of championing countrywide digital development.

For 2012, one of the major thrusts of NICP is to managing the e-Governance Awards for Local Government Units in partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Government to encourage the effective and efficient utilization of ICT in the delivery of services and performance of the duties and responsibilities by LGU’s.

The awards also seeks to commend, collate and document best practices of LGUs in integrating ICT in their processes to serve as example and benchmarks to other LGU’s and to improve the business ecosystem of the LGUs and motivate the private and business sector to actively participate and/or invest in the growth of the LGU’s.

Also re-elected were Davao ICT Council chair Lizabel Holganza as vice-chair and Metro Clark ICT Council (MCICTC) chair George Sorio as treasurer. New officers are Iloilo Federation for Information Technology (IFIT) chair Jessraf Palmares as corporate secretary and Cristina Wycoco-Paulino of the Nueva Ecija ICT Council as auditor. The 5th National ICT Summit chair is Antonio Del Carmen, president of the Laguna Industry Network for Knowledge, Innovation & Technology Foundation (LINK-IT).

The 5th National ICT Summit will be held in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna on November next year. Twenty-five ICT councils from all the major cities and provinces attended the 4th National ICT Summit in General Santos City last November 4 to 6, 2011.