{"id":45668,"date":"2021-09-30T11:45:51","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T03:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=45668"},"modified":"2021-09-30T11:45:53","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T03:45:53","slug":"pldt-smart-champion-digital-literacy-for-filipinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2021\/09\/30\/pldt-smart-champion-digital-literacy-for-filipinos\/","title":{"rendered":"PLDT, Smart champion digital literacy for Filipinos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the rise of the digital economy, enabling the rapid adoption of technology has become essential for any country\u2019s development. To ensure that no Filipino is left behind in this tech revolution, PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc. remain at the forefront of fostering digital literacy and improving digital citizenship for Filipinos.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDigital citizenship is the ability to engage positively in the digital environment through social participation and responsible use of technology,\u201d said Atty. Roy Ibay, Smart Vice President for Regulatory Affairs, during the recent virtual town hall hosted by Stratbase ADR Institute.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the theme \u2018Digital Readiness PH: Fostering a Digital Empowerment Agenda for Recovery and Competitiveness,\u2019 the event gathered experts to discuss how to address the digital gap exacerbated by COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ibay stressed the role of telcos in enabling Filipinos\u2019 digital citizenship amid the pandemic. \u201cFor PLDT and Smart, digital empowerment is inextricably linked with empowering the digital citizen. Telcos should be enablers of digital literacy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhile telcos enable the digital world by providing the necessary infrastructure, we as digital citizens must play our part and maximize technology to build a strong digital Philippines,\u201d Ibay added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also present during the townhall were Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio Honasan and other industry leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs we continue to adapt to the new normal, let us make good use of every opportunity to build stronger and more resilient communities. We call on our leaders, industry experts, and stakeholders to join us in working towards digital transformation through people-centric approaches,\u201d Honasan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Developing tools for digital literacy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to the rollout of digital network infrastructure, PLDT and Smart have likewise implemented digital literacy programs to address the existing gaps of the Digital Age.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These include deploying over 300 School-in-a-Bags, a portable digital classroom which facilitates learning in remote areas, as well as conducting digital upskilling projects such as the PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program, Digital Retailers Program, Digital Farmers Program and Smart Coops, which are geared toward Smart\u2019s own Ka-Partner retailers, smallholder farmers and cooperatives, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Enabling these initiatives is PLDT and Smart\u2019s massive network investments. As of end-June, PLDT\u2019s fiber infrastructure is at over 524,000 kilometers, the country\u2019s most extensive. This supports Smart\u2019s mobile networks, which cover 96% of the population from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In addition to the rollout of digital network infrastructure, PLDT and Smart have likewise implemented digital literacy programs to address the existing gaps of the Digital Age.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":45489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[379,343],"class_list":["post-45668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-pldt","tag-smart-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}