IS THE NATIONAL Computer Center's Government-Wide Information Super-Highway (G-WISH) intended to replace the RPWeb project approved under the Ramos administration?

NCC director general Ike Señeres denied that this is the intent of Executive Order 35--which orders the creation of G-WISH--even as RPWeb proponent Leandro Verceles Jr. said that the two projects would not necessarily be compatible.

"We have already discussed the issue. RPWEB will be separate from G-WISH, as both may not necessarily be compatible. RPWEB will simply evolve to promote the universality principle, that the general public can easily connect to government agencies for online delivery of information and services--thus empowering them," Verceles told the Inquirer via e-mail. Verceles was reacting to Señeres's claim that RPWeb could be considered the "precursor" of G-WISH.

In a previous interview, Señeres had reiterated that both RPWeb and G-WISH are only the government components of the Philippine Information Infrastructure (PII), which is a project of the Department of Transportation and Communications. The PII is the overall network that would integrate the electronic links of the government and private sectors.

Like RPWeb, the PII was approved during the Ramos administration. RPWeb is the interconnection of all government agencies via the Internet, as mandated by Administrative Order 332 based on House Resolution 890. The PII is part of the National Information Technology Plan or IT21 approved by the Ramos Cabinet and the National Economic and Development Authority. It was subsequently adopted by a multisectoral IT forum.

With the change in administration, however, President Estrada signed late last year EO 35, which tasks the NCC to create the Government Information Infrastructure which is now known as G-WISH. This has fueled speculation in the private IT sector that RPWeb would become stillborn.

"I don't see any conflict. RPWeb is the Internet component of G-WISH. You could actually say it's the precursor. But we shouldn't stop at Internet connections," Señeres said.

He stressed that after connecting to the Internet, government agencies need to move on to virtual private networks or VPNs, which would be built outside the Internet. He said this would include existing electronic connections such as bulletin board systems or BBSes, which were quite popular before the advent of the Internet in the country. He cited security issues as the main reason for the government's desire for VPNs, saying that VPNs are not provided for in RPWeb.

"Not VPNs but government intranets can be formed within RPWeb, but these intranets should be based on TCP/IP (transaction control protocol/Internet protocol). This is an indispensable element," Verceles explained.

He said that the most important difference between RPWeb and G-WISH is the concept of entrepreneurial government.

"No longer do we reengineer government simply for government alone, but we reengineer government while getting more people involvement or empowerment. This is also called the entrepreneurial government. You do not have the element of entrepreneurial government in G-WISH as it is a VPN. Universality simply is not incorporated in G-WISH," Verceles said.

Meanwhile, Señeres said that although G-WISH would only be a component of the PII, the NCC's five-year project could be the model for interconnectivity and management of the country's IT resources.

"I'd like the NITC (National Information Technology Council) to manage the PII, or--to use the more correct term--the National Information Infrastructure. What I want is to influence the NII so that it will adopt our approach to G-WISH," he said.

Verceles, however, noted that one important factor going for RPWeb is that it would be the private sector that would really set up the network.