Giving feedback on local infrastructure projects has just gotten easy and techy.
This is made possible through the Development LIVE or DevLIVE mobile application developed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año encourages citizens in the country to install the DevLIVE app that allows people to provide feedback in terms of progress, timeliness, and effectiveness of local infrastructure projects in real time.
“We are in an opportune era of open and participatory governance as people can now use technology to report or give feedback about government projects in their areas. We therefore urge the public to participate in governance; install and use the DevLIVE app in your mobile phones,” he urges.
The DevLIVE app allows users to view government projects nearby using built-in map and using interface project list, view other users’ overall sentiments, take photographs, and send feedback to government projects.
Currently, for the DILG, ongoing and completed projects under Assistance to Disadvantaged Municipalities (ADM) projects in 2017 and Assistance to Municipalities (AM) projects in 2018 and 2019 are open for satisfaction feedback.
The mobile app displays ADM and AM local infrastructure projects with details on the project title, fund allocation, fiscal year, and project location and its GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates.
Año assures that the DevLIVE app maintains the anonymity of all users' identity. That means that local officials will not receive data or information on who submitted feedbacks on their ADM or AM projects.
“Anonymity is necessary for honest feedback. Huwag pokayong mag-alala. We also have a feedback moderation process to ensure that feedbacks are accurate, are not biased or for patronage, and best reflect the views of the community,” he says.
The DevLIVE app users can submit one feedback per project in a month. For instance, if there are five ADM or AM projects in a town, a user can submit one feedback to each of these projects in a month.
The app also works offline. Users can still access local ADM or AM projects and draft a satisfaction feedback form. Once a user is online then the feedback form can be submitted, which once submitted cannot be deleted anymore.
Action on feedbacks
The DILG Spokesperson, Undersecretary Jonathan E. Malaya, discloses that the DILG Regional Offices will ensure that feedbacks are appropriately acted upon. As for the DILG Provincial Offices, they will manage DevLIVE’s user engagement initiatives through information dissemination and civic education campaigns.
“Ito napoangtugon sa panawagan ng taumbayan for the government to have a concrete mechanism or means for people’s participation in governance. Kaya gamitinninyonapoang DevLIVE app to let the DILG know how your local government units are implementing ADM and AM local infra projects,” Malaya says.
He says that DILG Secretary Año has already directed all DILG Regional Directors to inform local chief executives regarding the DevLIVE mobile app user guide for their reproduction and subsequent distribution to their constituents.
The DILG Support for the Local Governance Program (SLGP) – Project Management Office (PMO) is managing the application and it is ensuring that there will be an increase in the service providers of the application within and across the government.