By John Noel E. Herrera
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. cites the importance of having an electronic data banking system related to population data and information for the province’s potential investors during the launching of the Iloilo Provincial Population (I-Pop) Office website on Wednesday, Nov 23, 2022 at Casa Real de Iloilo.
Defensor emphasized that the website will serve as an important investment tool in knowing the population situation in the province, as well as making the human resources information of the province organized.
Potential investors such as those in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and even in the real estate business will be more attracted to invest in the province, knowing that updated data for development planning, policy making, program operations and research activities are “readily available.”
I-Pop chief Ramon Yee also said that the website allows basic population-related data and information from the provincial government, including all the towns accessible online for the use of local government units (LGUs), partner agencies, stakeholders, researchers, students, and other data users.
“The Iloilo Pop Website project is in support to the digital transformation initiative of the government for enhanced delivery of public services,” Yee added.
The website was also developed by IT (information technology) experts from Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCOF) College of Information, Communication and Technology and was funded by the cash prize received by the province for being the Most Outstanding Population Office in the Country during the 2019 Kaunlarang Pantao Award.
I-Pop added that pilot tests were also conducted to confirm the functionality of the website and to ensure that the information that can be seen on the site will be clearly communicated to the public.
“Training on ‘Website Encoding and Uploading for Population Officers’ were held and the encoding of the 2020 Basic Population and Demographic data of the Province of Iloilo ensued,” it added.
Meanwhile, Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) assistant regional director Jonathan Dioteles lauded I-POP and the provincial government for being the “first province to launch a population website in the country.”
“PPO Iloilo is on the right track of putting data and information in the digital platform for better storage, access and utilization of demographics for informed decisions and better development planning,” Dioteles said.
The I-Pop website is available by scanning a QR code provided by the provincial government or via the link www.ipop-app.com.
