SMART Enterprise, the corporate business arm of SMART Communications, has announced its partnership with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enhance the bureau’s on-field operations with the use of SMART’s machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions. With the partnership, the FDA will deploy tablet PCs connected to SMART’s largest network, each will come with a customized SMART M2M application pre-installed.
(From left) SMART AVP and SMART-SUN Enterprise Marketing & Project
Management Head Chet Alviz, FDA Deputy Director General for Field Regulatory Operations Dr. Ariel I. Valencia, PLDT FVP and PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART-SUN Enteprise Sales & Marketing Head Jovy Hernandez, FDA Director-General Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, PLDT VP and Corporate Relationship Head Renato L. Castaneda, FDA Deputy Director General for Admin and Finance Atty. Ronald R. De Veyra, PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Lucy Sy, and SMART Enterprise Segment Marketing Specialist Caroline Orcena
Established in 1963, the FDA is an attached agency of the Department of Health (DOH). Its role is to promote public health through regulation of food, drugs, cosmetics, devices, biologicals, vaccines, in-vitro diagnostic reagents, radiation-emitting devices or equipment, and household/urban hazardous substances, including pesticides and toys, or consumer products that may have an effect on health.
With the customized SMART M2M app, FDA’s field personnel will have an efficient and paperless method of conducting site inspections, which are necessary for companies applying for FDA licenses and clearances. Information is directly encoded into the application via the tablet PC. In addition, the program allows field personnel to attach photos using the tablet PCs. All these are sent directly to the FDA office via SMART’s wireless data connection for the bureau’s perusal. This shortens the time involved for inspection and report creation, reducing the turnaround time for license applications.
“With this solution, consumers can trust the quality of our work. We cannot do this without the partnership of the private sector especially in the areas of advanced technology. There is a lot of potential that we can do with this simple equipment. We are keen to embark on this journey,” says FDA director general Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go.
“SMART Enterprise is very pleased to see FDA as one of the prime movers in terms of adopting mobile technology for its operations. We look forward to further partnering with the FDA in co-developing other applications to be used by the organization,” said PLDT FVP and head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise sales and marketing Jovy Hernandez.
