Section 16Sec./Art. 16

Responsibilities of the Heads of Government Agencies, Offices, and Instrumentalities. - The head of each agency, office, or instrumentality of the national and local governments, in consultation with the DICT, shall ensure:

(a) Adherence to the requirements of this Act, including related standards for all ICT infrastructure, systems, equipment, designs, and all other technology promulgated by the DICT;

(b) Compliance with the standards and protocols for cybersecurity, resiliency, data privacy and confidentiality, promulgated by the DICT in consultation with the NPC;

(c) Prompt and effective communication of information technology standards promulgated by the DICT to al concerned agency officials;

(d) Support for the efforts of the national and local governments to develop, maintain, and promote an integrated system of delivering government information and services to the public;

(e) Establishment and implementation of policies and standards on information security, freedom of information, and open data within their organization following its mandate and technological needs or risks;

(f) Conformity to the re-engineering and streamlining requirements of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) as provided under Republic Act No. 11032;

(g) Undiminished availability of government information and services for individuals and entities who lack access to the internet; and

(h) Availability of alternative modes of delivery that make government information and services more accessible to individuals, either electronically or manually.

To these ends, agencies shall:

(a) Develop performance measures that demonstrate how ICT enables progress toward agency objectives, strategic goals, and statutory mandates;

(b) In measuring performance, rely on existing data collections to the extend practicable and introduce new data collection scheme necessary to collect performance data and derive valuable insights. Areas of performance measurement that agencies should include are customer service, agency productivity, and adoption of innovative information technology, including the appropriate use of industry best practices;

(c) Link their performance goals, as appropriate, to key groups, including citizens, businesses, and other governments;

(d) As appropriate, work collectively in linking their performance goals to key groups and use information technology in delivering government information and services to those groups;

(e) Ensure that all ISSP and ICT plans are updated annually and considered in their budget preparation activities;

(f) Regularly undertake cost compliance analysis, time and motion studies, undergo evaluation and improvement of their transaction systems and procedures and re-engineer the same if deemed necessary to reduce bureaucratic red tape and process time;

(g) Support the development of a digital competency framework in order to undertake a competency assessment of personnel and provide them with appropriate learning and development programs to strengthen their digital competency and

(h) Be accountable in the implementation of the ISSP or ICT Plans;

Provided, however, That for purposes of efficiency and avoidance of redundancy, government agencies, offices, and instrumentalities, with existing: (1) standards for all ICT infrastructures, systems, equipment, designs, and all other technology; (2) protocols for cybersecurity, resiliency, and data privacy and confidentiality; (3) effective mechanisms for communicating promptly and effectively all information technology standards within their agency; and (4) equipment, systems, programs, and infrastructure that substantially comply with the minimum requirements indicated in the relevant provisions of this Act, as well as those that already have existing government positions, such as Chief Information Officer, within their respective offices whose qualifications are aligned with the requirements under this Act, shall be allowed to maintain those existing standards, protocols, mechanisms, equipment, systems, programs, infrastructure, and positions, and shall already be deemed compliant with the provision thereof.