DICT eGov, BetterGov collaborate to build official gov’t website ‘Gov.PH’

• Courtesy of BetterGov.PH founder Jason Torres

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), through its eGovernment team, has partnered with civic technology group BetterGov.PH to develop Gov.PH, a unified national government website aimed at simplifying access to public information and digital government services.

The collaboration seeks to transform the citizen-led BetterGov.PH platform into an official government portal, providing Filipinos with a single digital entry point for government information and eventually public services.

DICT Undersecretary for eGovernment David Almirol Jr. said the initiative would open opportunities for Filipino developers and technology professionals to participate directly in building government digital platforms.

“The basic idea is to let the IT community participate in building better government systems and platforms,” Almirol said.

He emphasized that the DICT would continue exploring technologies developed by the local IT community for possible government adoption rather than duplicating existing solutions.

According to Almirol, the government has already opened 90 application programming interfaces (APIs), allowing developers to build applications and services that can interact with government digital systems.

BetterGov.PH founder Jason Torres said the partnership follows approximately 12 months of discussions on how the government and the technology community could work together to improve digital public services.

Torres explained that BetterGov.PH was originally developed to make government information easier to find and understand.

However, he acknowledged that maintaining another independent website would not fully address the challenges faced by citizens navigating multiple government platforms.

The collaboration instead seeks to build on BetterGov.PH’s existing design and user experience while integrating the platform into the government’s official digital infrastructure.

Torres also clarified that BetterGov.PH will continue its transparency initiatives and other civic technology projects independently of the Gov.PH collaboration.

Gov.PH to support regional languages, consistent design

The planned website will prioritize accessibility and a more consistent user experience across government digital platforms.

Torres said the project would introduce national government design guidelines covering website layouts, colors, language, accessibility, and other elements intended to make public-sector websites easier to navigate.

The team also plans to introduce translations into Filipino and regional languages, including Bicol, Hiligaynon, and Cebuano.

AI to simplify government transactions

Artificial intelligence is another planned feature of Gov.PH, with the DICT exploring conversational AI capabilities that could change how Filipinos access government services.

Instead of manually searching through government websites, users could eventually ask an AI-powered chatbot for assistance in finding information and navigating government procedures.

“So once you ask, the AI will respond. It will guide you, on the process,” Almirol said.

Almirol also announced that the DICT is preparing to launch version 2 of the eGovPH Super App on November 9, introducing agentic AI capabilities designed to simplify government transactions.

Under the planned upgrade, users would be able to describe what they need, allowing the AI system to guide them through the necessary steps and automate supported processes.

The official launch date of Gov.PH has yet to be announced.