Information Communication Technology (ICT) related Projects in State of the Nation Address (SONA)

SONA: Making Life Easier with ICT related Projects

The fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) of our Honorable President Benigno “Noynoy” C. Aquino III was one of the longest address being delivered by the president during his term of presidency. It happened last July 22, 2013. I was able to watch it live and I can really say that the president is doing his best to improve the present situation of our country. There were many reactions that were being concluded by the local citizens of the Philippines, both professionals and non professionals. There were reactions that support the speech of the president; on how he positively look towards for a better future and not ignoring the irresponsible departments of the government, on the other hand others was not be contented by the president’s address. They say that the president lack something during his speech, that he gave too much credits on the giving awards that he forgot to look at the present and actual situation of the country, especially by providing the livelihood of the many poor filipino citizens, but afterall the President said we are currently travelling along the DAANG MATUWID and that is the main platform of the president.

The time passed by so quickly that it only seems like a few days that the president has been on it’s position or current state, I can say that there are still lots of problems that was being left by the previous administration however I also think that the president is doing his job to lead the country to his propaganda “DAANG MATUWID”, six years of duty is not enough, but atleast we can say that he’s doing something to atleast Improve the current state of the country. The president shows us optimism, in his speech he gives assurance to the filipino people that we are being led into the right track, this gives confidence to my fellow filipinos to be proud of ourselves.

The president mentioned ICT (Information and Communication Technology) related projects, First is the Project NOAH (National Operational Assessment of Hazards), which is intended for the filipinos, to provide an integrated, accurate, reliable, and responsive disaster prevention and mitigation system which allows to inform the public of the possible weather conditions all over the country, especially in their own specific places, so that anyone can have access of the possible weather occurance without much prior attention/access of the media, radio, news and etc. Project NOAH that was mentioned by the president that it was really a great help for us Filipinos to be updated by the possible weather outcome, the application focuses more on flood but it has other features that allows us to be informed by the possible weather conditions that our local area will be experiencing the coming hour/s, the site was already lunched and it can be accessed @ http://noah.dost.gov.ph/.

What is Project NOAH and what does it do?

The project NOAH stands for National Operational Assessment of Hazards, NOAH’s task is to integrate current disaster science research & development project. It’s goal is to provide the following to the public (we filipino citizens):

-          Hydromet Sensors Development

-          DREAM-LIDAR 3-D Mapping Project

-          Flood NET-FLOOD Modeling Project

-          Hazards Information Media

-          Enhancing Geo-Hazard Mapping through LIDAR

-          Dopple System Development

-          Landslide Sensor Development Project

-          Storm Surge Inundation Mapping Project

Its does produce computer simulation that reflects flood-prone areas that are being discerned at the local community stake. it’s aim is to  secure the filipino citizens homeland by reducing the damages to properties (Government or Private), livelihood and industy that is being caused by the natural calamities such as flashfloods, tsunamies, typhoons and etc. which are not controllable by the people, that’s why the government created an made an effort to atleast mitigate the damage. It’s a great way to improve the quality of life for the filipino citizens, it provides a great aid and it’s aim is to be known Globally.

Life is everything that matters for man (also God), that is why the Project NOAH completely plays a vital role for the safety of the people, it is not just an ordinary project that we must neglect and take for granted, it is life at stake here, and the project is very essential in alleviating the numbers of death due to natural calamities, the fact that we have been struggling the last years when different typhoons came to the philippines, such as “Bagyong Frank”, “Bagyong Reming”, “Bagyong Pepeng”, “Bagyong Ondoy” and the recent worst ones “Bagyong Sendong”, “Bagyong Pablo”. With this technology, I can say that we have a greater chance that this kinds of incidents won’t be happening again. Yes, project NOAH does Improve the Quality of Life.

The Second is the Integrated Transport System (ITS), which is intended for the filipinos travellers, businessman and ordinary citizens, it’s aim is to maximize the road usage by reducing the vehicle volume to improve the traffic flow along Metro Manila specifically Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). Even if the project Cost too much, it is much helpful for the citizens, specially the workers who are travelling in a day to day basis which alleviates their burden, especially in rush hour and heavy traffic periods, this means better transportation which gives more productivity for the workers therefore increasing the economic rate of the philippines, as we all know metro manila is a very crowded place, they need better transportation system to be able to get to their destinations easier and faster. the project is currently ongoing and they said that the project will be finished before the end of the term of the President. It is helpful for the environment because it offers less traffic, less hassle, less accidents, better use of the existing roads, more business opportunities. Overall,Yes the it is doing a great job in Improving the Quality of Life.

Both the Project NOAH and ITS are helpful for us, these projects offers convinience and it’s help us develop more economically, to mitigate the disaster can help us save more money, the less the hassle in the road the better the economic opportunities, thus; those are the secondary issues: the main issue is that it makes life easier, making life simple and it helps us become more productive to our responsibility as a person.