Infrastructure supporting AI development to be focus of DICT’s industry masterplan

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it is preparing a masterplan that will help fast-track infrastructure supporting the development of artificial intelligence (AI). 

“We are working on an AI policy, we will have a meeting this month mainly on regulation, policies,” Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the National AI and Skills Summit.

“We are really pushing for infrastructure because we really need that,” Mr. Aguda said.

The Philippines is looking to break ground on an AI-native industrial hub in two years, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said in April.

The BCDA said about 1,618 hectares in New Clark City has been set aside for the hub, which will serve as a Pax Silica Coordination Office where technology firms, research institutions, and government agencies can converge to build a robust AI ecosystem. 

The DICT has said that the Philippines must accelerate its AI adoption by upgrading infrastructure and boosting regulation, as slow uptake could prevent the country from fully capturing productivity gains. — Ashley Erika O. Jose