THE Regional Development Council (RDC) 6 recently passed a resolution enjoining all local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas to participate in the Regional Geographic Information Network – Innovation Hub (RGIN-IH).
The resolution was approved during the fourth quarter full council meeting of RDC 6, Dec. 13, held at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Office VI Building in Iloilo City.
During the discussion, NEDA 6 OIC regional director Arecio Casing Jr. presented to the council members the RGINIH of Western Visayas, a webbased content management platform for maps originally organized by NEDA Region II in 2004.
For Western Visayas, the
RGIN-IH project started on January 17, 2022. It is being funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 6 while the geoportal server is hosted and administered by NEDA 6.
“This a website designed using Geonode, a web-based content management platform for maps. This is where all regional line agencies and local government units, who are members, store, share, manage,
distribute, view, and manipulate the maps online,” Casing explained.
The main goal is to strengthen policy making and improve public service delivery by efficiently generating and disseminating geospatial data.
Casing also noted that the geoportal is very user-friendly, easy to access, secure, and free of charge.
Meanwhile, during the deliberation, it was raised by the members that LGUs from the provinces down to the municipalities must also be participating in the geoportal so that maps using geographic information system (GIS) related to their respective areas of jurisdiction would be updated.
The proposal was to include the road network maps and tax maps of the LGUs, among others in the geoportal, and designate their respective focal person to maintain such data regularly.
“The RGIN- IH is a potent tool for local government units, regional line agencies, and state universities and colleges to use in development planning and research. Therefore, we would like to encourage the expansion of its membership and the upload of more resource materials for information sharing,” said RDC 6 Chairperson and Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo B. Benitez.
With this, RDC 6 co chairperson and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) 6 regional
governor lawyer Joebert Peñaflorida put the said proposal into motion through a resolution
and was duly seconded by the Council members.
To date, the RGIN 6 is a network of 33 members composed of 23 regional line agencies, six provinces, two
highly urbanized cities, and two state universities and colleges (SUCs). Of the 33 members,
27 have already signed a memorandum of agreement with the said project. (PIA6 with reports from NEDA6)
