Supply-chain ICT tool  vs. Covid-19 response snags

The National Economic and Development Authority-Regional Development Group has launched information and communication technology  tools that wouold be useful in troubleshooting problems in the supply chain for goods and production inputs and in planning supply chain-related interventions during the 2019 coronavirus disease  pandemic, and potentially post-pandemic period.

The ICT tools are called Supply Chain Analytics Dashboard and SCAn Reporter.

The SCAn Dashboard has five key components—incident reports, trip videos for major selected routes, survey of supply chain issues coming from supply chain players, links to other government dashboards, and summary information on the domestic and Asia-Pacific supply chain environment.

The information contained in the SCAn Dashboard is vital to both the government and the private sector as the dashboard informs government agencies and industry associations of ground-level issues that need to be addressed to ensure that the flow of goods and inputs is unhampered.

The SCAn Reporter, on the other hand, is an app that is downloadable to smartphones and can help “reporters” of supply chain problems submit information to the SCAn Dashboard so that such problems can be addressed by concerned authorities.

Information that can be submitted through the app include type of reporter (e.g., public servant, transport service, concerned citizen, worker, company, and industry association) and incident type (e.g., real-time quarantine control point problem, permit-related problem, regulations, goods overpricing, and real-time road closures, traffic, and accidents).

Photos and videos can also be uploaded in the incident report before submission. If the incident reporter is an industry association member, he or she will be directed to the survey of supply chain issues.

During the launch, NEDA Undersecretary for Regional Development Adoracion Navarro expressed gratitude to the the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the highest policymaking body on Covid-19 concerns in the country, for giving on April 15, 2020 the go-signal for the development of these ICT tools.

“The initiative started as a mere thought experiment on my part but I would have to give credit to the technical team of the University of the Philippines Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation-Regulatory Reform Support Program for National Development  for its excellentexecution. The UPPAF-RESPOND is currently providing technical assistance to the NEDA-RDG for supply chain-related undertakings.” according to Navarro.

UPPAF-RESPOND Chief-of-Party Dr. Enrico Basilio demonstrated through a communications campaign video how the supply chain players and other concerned citizens can help. He also thanked the IATF for giving him and his team the opportunity to help the country in this time of crisis through the tools that they developed.

He also handed over during the launch ceremony the UPPAF-RESPOND’s donation of equipment for the large-scale viewing and operation of the SCAn Dashboard at the National Incident Command-Emergency Operation Center.

In his keynote message, IATF-MEID co-chairperson and Cabinet Sec. Karlo Alexei Nograles said,: “We encourage everybody, not only supply chain players but concerned citizens as well, to participate in this initiative by downloading and using the SCAn Reporter app to report incidents that hamper the flow of goods and production inputs in your respective areas.”

Nograles also urged regional inter-agency bodies to take an active role in using the SCAn Dashboard, monitoring incidents in various parts of the regions, and immediately solving problems at their level, or if the problems cannot be solved at their level, reporting to the national-level agencies or task groups the major issues needing action from the national government.

Representatives from the National Task Force against Covid19  Undersecretary Isidro Purisima, Undersecretary Arnulfo Pajarillo, and Director Ariel Valencia also expressed strong support for the initiative during the event.

NTF-COVID19 Chairperson and Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana also recognized the NEDA-RDG’s efforts and sent congratulatory remarks during the NTF’s meeting immediately after the launch of the ICT tools.

In a statement sent to NEDA-RDG after the launch, Nograles further committed to assign a dedicated staff to monitor supply chain problems and concerns in fulfillment of his multiple roles as Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, co-chairperson of the IATF-MEID, and Cabinet secretary.