The Liveable Cities Challenge, in cooperation with the British Embassy and Globe Telecom, has launched the LCC dashboard designed to aid local government units, investors, and residents in making informed decisions and determining areas for improvement using data.

The dashboard, which Globe is hosting on the Amazon Web Services cloud, is an online platform that provides an interactive visual profile of the country’s 146 cities and contains multi-year data with over 100 indicators. 

It initially covers 10 data categories, namely Demographics, Labor, Education, Local Economy, Doing Business, Mobility and Connectivity, Health,  Urban Environment, Resiliency and Emergency Response,  and Safety and Security. More relevant data with new features and functionalities will be added in the future. 

“Through the dashboard, we can see how each city is performing and diagnose areas for focus and improvement. This way, the government will have a better sense of policy and intervention; businesses will have more informed choices as to where to invest and locate; and citizens will have a basis for better participation and engagement with their city government,” said Bill Luz, LCC Chairman.

Cities are the primary movers of economic growth and innovation but they have also become the center of society’s most pressing economic, social, and environmental issues such as disaster preparedness, traffic congestion, lack of mobility and logistics options as well as delivery of public goods and services, according to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

In order for cities to adapt to the rapidly changing technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as well as to new societal challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, Lopez said they must be able to measure themselves on how they are fairing on these fronts.

The Secretary underscored that data plays an important role in local governance by promoting transparency and public trust.  

To this, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto noted that without data, decisions will just be based on gut feel or opinion which is not always correct.  

“In the absence of data-driven governance, it is really very, very difficult to decide or govern. We want to decide not just based on what the leaders think or say but based on what the data say,” Mayor Sotto said.

British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce, on the other hand, said that the LCC dashboard is a product of the United Kingdom’s continued commitment to good governance, transparency through tech solutions, inclusive urban development, and long-term resilience.  

“In the short term, we hope that the dashboard will establish the necessary baseline platform to influence pandemic-related analysis and decision-making processes.  In the medium or long term, we hope that the dashboard will infuse an innovative approach and collaborative attitude towards a more sustainable and inclusive city planning and governance approach,” he said.

The innovative project was made in partnership with the DTI-Competitiveness Bureau's Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index, the League of Cities of the Philippines, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, and platform creator, Delivery Associates.

Globe strongly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) particularly UN SDG No. 9 that highlights the roles of infrastructure and innovation as crucial drivers of economic growth and development.