Signing of partnership agreement between CICT and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines last June 18.

Get Online Philippines!, the nationwide digital inclusion campaign highlighting the National ICT Month celebration spearheaded by the Commission on ICT (CICT) and its partners, the Philippine CeC Network (PhilCeCNet) and Netopia, is off to a good start.

Launched last June 18 at the CICT Seminar Room in Diliman, Quezon City, the campaign marked several milestones and firsts - the celebration of the first ever Get Online Day, the launch of ninety-two new Community eCenters (CeCs) under the Philippine CeC Program, the establishment of cooperation between CICT and its new partners, the turnover of the USD145,000 software grant from Microsoft, and the validation of the second draft of the Philippine CeC Program Roadmap for 2010-2016.

The kick-off ceremony was well attended, drawing at least sixty-two participants representing the various ICT players and stakeholders in the country and countless others who participated via the online chat platform.

In celebration of Get Online Day, CICT computer laboratories, various CeCs, public high school beneficiaries under the iSchools Program, and Netopia joined hands to simultaneously provide free computer use, including basic computer and Internet literacy sessions, helping Filipinos across the country take the first step towards getting online.

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) is taking the National ICT Month celebration this June one step further as it launches the first Get Online Philippines Day on June 18, Friday, at the CICT-NCC Building in Diliman, Quezon City. 

To mark Get Online Day!, CICT will  launch ninety-two new Community eCenters (CeC) during the ceremony to highlight the effort of government to make ICT technologies and facilities more accessible to the grassroots and to everyone.

Also, the CICT computer laboratories and offices, the CeCs which now number more than a thousand centers located in majority of municipalities around the country, public high schools that are recipients of computer laboratories under the iSchools program and the country’s leading Internet café, Netopia, have joined hands to provide free on-line computer use during the day to the general public. The CeCs are at the forefront of the comprehensive program to empower communities through ICT.