The digital future

In an ideal world, all transactions would be computerized. There would be no need to stand in a long queue to submit documents for some requirements: Just send an e-mail or upload a file and wait for confirmation some days or maybe even minutes later, and poof, process finished. If all government agencies in the Philippines were computerized, then nobody would complain about the hours waiting inside or even outside a building just to get some transaction done.

Computerization of government services would result not only in faster processes but also in less under-the-table deals as there would be less person-to-person interactions. Bribing and red tape, so common in government agencies, can be stopped with the use of computer programs. Can you bribe a computer to process your documents faster than the others? At the moment, you can’t do that yet. We can trust a computer more than we can trust a human being. Sad truth.

Another advantage of computerization is less usage of paper. Imagine how many documents there are in a government building. Think of the National Statistics Office, the agency where we get our birth certificates. Think about how many people are born every day: They all contribute to the number of papers in an NSO office. How many trees are being cut to produce that amount of paper? With computerization, all paper documents would become disk files, to be stored in cloud storage instead of air-conditioned rooms. That would mean savings on paper costs, and savings on storage costs.

A side-effect of computerization is that there would be less people needed to finish a task. Everything can be done by a single computer program. Great, right? If you are a software developer, yes, it is. But if you are an ordinary government employee with no technical knowledge, then you would be at a risk of losing your job to a computer program. For example, many mailmen have lost their jobs due to the emergence of e-mail and social media. Why would I go to the post office when I can send mail while sitting in my room (or even lying on my bed)? Do we need mailmen nowadays? Not as much as we did in the past.

But should we abandon technology so the nontechnical people could retain their jobs? No, that would be crazy, that would be a huge step backward. Besides, people are always complaining about the discomfort caused by slow processes. It is a must that we computerize everything. What we need now is for people to keep abreast of current trends; they should think twice about their future and give computer science or information technology a second look when choosing the degree to pursue in college.

We Filipinos love being in front of a computer. Good. It’s a sign that we are embracing technology. But if you explore the things that a computer can do, rather than just using it to post senseless selfies online, you will do yourself a favor by preparing yourself for the digital future.

Leo Isiah D. Sambayan, 29, is a senior software development engineer.