MOA SIGNING FOR LOON’S DIGITAL CITY. Loon Mayor Elvi Peter L. Relampagos (left, upper photo) signs the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Bohol Island State University (BISU)- Calape Campus Director, Ernesto C. Rulida, representing BISU OIC President, Dr. Disocoro A. Avergonzado, for the establishment of a Digital City which aims to promote the Municipality of Loon as a digital hub in the province of Bohol. With Mayor Relampagos and Rulida are students of BISU-Calape presently undergoing on-the-job training at LGU-Loon.
The Local Government Unit of the Municipality of Loon, Bohol and the Bohol Island State University, through its Calape Campus, recently inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the establishment of a Digital City in Loon, a unique project of the municipal government which aims to promote the town as a digital hub in the province of Bohol.
Loon Mayor Elvi Peter L. Relampagos and BISU-Calape Bohol Campus Director Ernesto C. Rulida, representing BISU OIC President, Dr. Dioscoro A. Avergonzado, effected the MOA signing on April 23, 2018 witnessed by Denvincent A. Ruiz, BISU-Calape ICT chairman; Maricris C. Marañon, Loon ICT program coordinator; Loon IT programmers and BISU-Calape IT students.
Aside from the aim to promote the town as a digital hub, municipal development planners also envisioned to establish alternative strategies to augment the economic livelihood and income of its constituents through information technology empowered youth.
With the implementation of the K-12 educational curriculum of the Department of Education, which aims for global competitiveness of the government’s education sector, LGU-Loon and BISU-Calape both recognize the importance of collaborative efforts in pursuing their respective development objectives in the provision of ICT skills training to the ICT Senior High students and out-of-school youth in the municipality of Loon.
BISU-Calape, through its Research and Extension Unit, in cooperation with the College of Teacher Education, College of Technology and Allied Sciences, and Health and Allied Services Department, will provide the researchers and ICT experts who will impart the ICT skills training to identified ICT Senior High students and out-of-school youths of Loon.
In this way, through its research and extension programs, the institution envisions to make an impact to the community, particularly in the implementation and dissemination of generated and adopted technologies that are projected to uplift the economic conditions of the residents and other constituents.
Participants in the ICT skills training will be given hands-on exercise and special projects to determine what they have acquired in the program.
On the other hand, the local government unit’s part in the creation of the Digital City will be to support the school’s policies and standard operating procedures, select and identify the prospective trainees who will participate in the program, provide the needed materials and equipments necessary in the implementation of the system and facilitates in the regular monitoring and evaluation of the training.
The Local Government Unit of Loon, Bohol, through the initiative of the Municipal Accounting Department, is a consistent awardee in the development, innovation and implementation of information and technology system to provide better and more efficient service to its clients and constituents.
In 2005, the Commission on Audit (COA) recognized LGU-Loon as the first government establishment and local government unit in Region VII to implement the e-NGAS, or Electronic New Government Accounting System. The e-NGAS is now the standard procedure used by all accounting departments of local government units nationwide.
Last year, on July 18, 2017, the municipality was awarded as one of the top LGUs in the country to be bestowed the LGU e-Readiness Leadership Award 2017 given by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
On November 17, 2017, two plaques were awarded to LGU-Loon as finalist: “Best Business Empowerment (G2B) Award” for its ELBI- Enhanced Loon-One-Stop-Shop- Initiative and “Best Customer Empowerment (G2C) Award” for its Magnitude 7.2 e-Governance program during the DigitalCitiesPH National Launch and the 9th NICP ICT Summit and NICP Awarding Ceremony held at the Rosario Pavilion, Limketkai Luxe, Cagayan de Oro City on November 16-17, 2017.
Recently, on April 18, 2018, LGU Loon’s Tech4ED Center was adjudged as one of the finalists in the 1st Tech4ED Video Contest with the theme: “Bringing Digital Opportunities to the Countryside through Tech4ED Centers” during the 13th Knowledge Exchange Conference held in Lingayen, Pangasinan.