Title of Productivity and Innovation Initiative
Barangay Centralized Wireless Network
Implementing Agency
City Government of Cauayan, Isabela
Year Implemented
2015-Present
Themes
Management for Productivity, Quality, and Agility, Digitization & New Technologies, Perspectives on Productivity, Governance, and Development
General Description
The Barangay Centralized Wireless Network is a communication network that allows for file sharing, real-time notifications, and messaging between the 65 barangays of Cauayan City. This was intended to enable faster and more timely dissemination of data between the local government of Cauayan City and its barangays. The project also provided internet to the barangays, the local government’s main point of access to the internet.
Background and Problem
Before this program, the barangays and the local government met face-to-face to discuss the concerns, plans, and programs. This arrangement had been problematic at times, given the limited availability of concerned officials. There would be times when concerned officials would even have other equally important engagements, leading to postponed meetings.
Moreover, there was no other avenue for open discussion and interaction among the barangays themselves. Data, announcements, and other information had to be transmitted first to the local government and then to the barangays rather than being transmitted among the barangays themselves. Also, information was typically transmitted through paper documents requiring a messenger to distribute them to the barangays personally.
There was also no centralized server that contained documents and data of the barangays. An internet-based solution could have been made, but some barangays did not have a stable internet connection, with those in remote areas not having internet access at all.
Solution and Impact
On August 17, 2015, access to an LTE broadband internet connection was provided to all of Cauayan City’s barangays for free. However, since LTE broadband is location-dependent, some barangays in remote areas still did not have a strong and stable connection due to their lack of proximity to the site. The LGU addressed this issue in 2017 when they worked with PLDT to install a dedicated internet connection infrastructure using fiber optics. And to this date, all five regions of the city have been installed with the same internet infrastructure. These cumulative efforts upgraded internet connectivity overall and led to the creation of the Barangay Centralized Wireless Network.
The Barangay Centralized Wireless Network allows the local government to send information and documents to the barangay level in real-time. It has a LAN Messenger that allows the barangays to collaborate with other barangays and even with the local government through a private communication channel and an Intranet File Server where the local government can host the files of barangays. This allows their files to be accessed anytime without personally going to the local government office.
The improved internet connectivity also allowed the barangays to utilize other e-media platforms and digital solutions which the local government had already developed. It also provided free internet access to the residents of the barangays via a guest WIFI network that is separate from the intranet. Their guest WIFI is also more stable because of the point-to-point sector antenna rather than a broadband connection.
Also, with the local government managing the distribution of the internet, they can assure that internet connectivity is efficiently distributed. They are also able to cut costs because instead of paying 65 internet accounts for the barangays, the local government needs to pay only one account. It also removes the need for barangays to have individual internet postpaid plans, which over time, could save them a lot from their monthly billing.
Milestones
In 2019, Cauayan City was chosen as one of the six winning local government units in the Digital Governance Awards (DGA) because of their Barangay Centralized Wireless Network, which was awarded the “Best in eGOV Government Interoperability Empowerment” (Philippine News Agency, 2019).
And according to an interview in September 2021, Atty. Reina Santos, head of the City Information and Communications Technology Department and the designated Smarter City Officer of the local government of Cauayan, mentioned that because the network had been so warmly received and especially because of the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, the local government has been pushing for the barangays themselves to allocate greater portions of their budget to installing more internet infrastructure rather than waiting for the local government to provide them more infrastructure.
Testimonials
In the same interview, Atty. Santos also mentioned that despite Cauayan City being mostly agricultural, the network has increased demand for internet connectivity, with citizens requesting additional bandwidth.
Sources
Dela Cruz, R. C. (2019, November 29). 6 winning LGUs in Digital Governance Awards 2019 get China trip. Philippine News Agency. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1087200.
Cauayan City Local Government. (2015, August 15). Official Launching of Cauayan City Free Wifi and Distribution of 2nd Batch Brgy. Patrol [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/cityofcauayanofficial/videos/1017101824996476/
Cauayan City Local Government. (2015, August 19). TV Patrol – Cauayan City Free Wifi and Patrol Vehicle News. [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/cityofcauayanofficial/videos/1018079748232017/