The Commission on Elections (COMELEC)held the first National Election Summit, and PLDT helped get people connected.
Participants from all over the Philippines and the rest of the world were able to join the three-day hybrid event online thanks to PLDT.
“PLDT is committed to help provide Filipinos with secure and fair elections. We support the COMELEC in coming up with recommendations, including the use of technology, to further strengthen the credibility of our polls,” said Mitch Locsin, FVP and Head of Enterprise and International Business Group at PLDT.
Mitch Locsin, FVP and Head of Enterprise and International Business Group at PLDT
From March 8-10, 2023, there was a multi-stakeholder conference at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City. More than 400 people went. Because the summit was powered by PLDT, people from all over the Philippines and the rest of the world were able to join the hybrid event online.
Aside from COMELEC officers, key government officials like President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, as well as lawmakers, law enforcement agencies, civic society organizations, election watchdogs, professional groups, members of the academe, and student organizations, attended the poll summit.
The COMELEC set up the multi-sector conference to come up with suggestions that will fix problems from past elections. These will be part of the agency’s plan to make the country’s election process even more modern. Some of the ideas include using digital technology to register voters, file certificates of candidacy, let people vote online, and do other things.
Early this year, COMELEC also went to PLDT and Smart’s Security Operations Center (SOC) in Makati. During the round table discussion, PLDT Enterprise, the corporate business arm of the PLDT Group, talked about existing solutions that can be changed to fit the needs of COMELEC. The unit plans to work with the agency on data storage and management while the poll body finalizes plans for its own facility.
Cyber Security Operations Group (CSOG) from PLDT and Smart also went to pre-Summit consultations to share the best cybersecurity practices that have helped them protect their assets from threats and attacks that cause trouble.
At the end of the summit, COMELEC gave Certificates of Participation to PLDT Enterprise and Smart for their valuable contributions that made the discussions and dialogues during the three-day event more interesting.
The work that PLDT and Smart are doing to improve the digital infrastructure of government agencies is part of a larger effort to improve the lives of Filipinos by keeping these important organizations safe from cyber-attacks. These projects show how committed the Group is to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, especially SDG No. 9 on Industries, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
