Section 6Sec./Art. 6

Role of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). - The DICT shall be the lead implementing body and administrator of this Act. In accordance with applicable laws and rules, and subject to limitations provided by the Constitution, the DICT shall ensure that all ICT projects in the Philippines shall be done in accordance with the National ICT Development Agenda and E-Government Master Plan, as provided under Republic Act No. 10844 or the "Department of Information and Communication Technology Act of 2015". For this purpose, the DICT shall establish measures to implement policies under this Act and ensure that all ICT projects in the Philippines, whether national or local, are harmonized with the overall ICT plans and in compliance with applicable standards. Accordingly, the DICT shall:

(a) Adopt a national policy and process that promotes innovations, supports start-ups, and facilitates the entry and adoption of technologies consistent with the goals of this Act;

(b) Support, advise, monitor, and guide government agencies in ensuring the quality, security, and reliability of their respective ICT infrastructure and services, in accordance with international or industrial standards, specifications, and best practices, and ensure the interconnection or interoperability of ICT infrastructure, systems, and facilities when necessary to achieve the goals of this Act;

(c) Coordinate and/or collaborate with the private sector and enter into partnerships and joint ventures in accordance with the goals of this Act;

(d) Mandate and guide the adoption of policies and processes to ensure the implementation of this Act, including the adoption of a roadmap to provide a strategic and phased whole-of-government transformation to E-Government, with clear and identified milestones, and which explicitly defines the roles and responsibilities of covered government agencies, offices, and instrumentalities;

(e) Be empowered to guide the operations of ICT infrastructure, systems, and facilities, and in the exercise of such functions, in accordance with applicable laws and rules;

(f) In coordination with the Civil Service Commission (CSC), mandate government agencies, offices, instrumentalities to comply with the minimum qualification and competency standards of ICT positions in the government and require government agencies, offices, and instrumentalities, to regularly report the status of compliance thereto;

(g) Engage technical and standards organizations and consult industry experts on matters requiring engineering inputs, enterprise architecture, and other highly specialized concerns;

(h) Where applicable, recognize the administrative autonomy provided by the Constitution to independent government agencies, offices, and instrumentalities in the implementation and enforcement of the foregoing;

(i) Develop, in accordance with applicable civil service laws and rules, consistent with the compensation and position classification system of the government, the competency and qualification standards of all ICT positions in the government, and submit to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) the: (1) proposal for the creation and updating of current civil service positions for ICT workers, which include cybersecurity, data governance, data privacy, and other ICT-related government positions; (2) the appropriate job levels and corresponding compensation rates aligned with the personnel needs of digitally transformed government and comparable with the prevailing industry rates, and (3) the qualification standards, duties, and functions essential to the effective operation of government ICT infrastructure and systems: Provided, That government agencies, offices, and instrumentalities granted by law and by their character with fiscal and administrative autonomy in the performance of their constitutional and statutory mandates shall independently undertake, supervise, and regulate their own ICT projects and shall only be required to coordinate and report to the DICT for alignment of policy objectives;

(j) Ensure that E-Government programs and platforms are inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities, as far as practicable; and

(k) Issue Performance Score Cards on the compliance of the different agencies, LGUs, SUCs, GOCCs as provided under Section 4 hereof. Such Performance Score Cards shall only be advisory in nature.