“Digitalize Philippines!” – President BBM. “Digitalize An Internet Of THINKs Agriculture! (IoTA)” – Frank A Hilario, Blogger

Actually, we Filipinos are now “highly digital” with cellphones everywhere, for talking, texting and viewing – mostly personal. An excellent take-off point to create a “Digital Philippines.” We need a leader to announce it – and now we have President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr.

(BBM image from Bloomberg, bloomberg.com)

We already have the Department of Information & Communications Technology (DICT) and BBM has given the “marching order” to Secretary of ICT Ivan John Uy: “We need to digitalize the Philippines" (Raymond Carl Dela Cruz, 24 July 2022, “Bongbong Marcos Vision: A Digital Philippines,” PNA, pna.gov.ph). Mr Dela Cruz quotes Mr Uy as saying:

We see that there are so many things that are in store for us in this current administration. Our digitalization efforts will be pushing through with more vitality, with more energy, and we have a president who is digitally in-tuned with what is really needed in terms of information and communication technology to make the country really move forward.

“We need to digitalize the Philippines." Thank you BBM Sir, for seeing & saying that now, 2022.

What is missing there is the Vision – “Digitalize the Philippines towards what?” And my answer to my own question is, restricted to my own field of knowledge, Agriculture, being an alumnus of UP Los Baños:

“We need to digitalize Agriculture for a prosperous Philippines,” I say. I have been seeing that in the last 19 years.

For me, the concept of a digital library for Agriculture started in 2003 with the proposal of then-Director General of ICRISAT William Dar for the “Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture” (OpAPA). To operationalize OpAPA, as a PhilRice consultant, I wrote the digital book The Geography Of Knowledge (198 pages). Knowledge should always be for discovery in a digital library open 24 hours a day. (Nothing happened to OpAPA, sorry!)
(“Digitization” image from sourcetrace.com)

Mr Uy says, “Many of our rules on procurement, civil service, are very restrictive and medieval.”

And I say, “Many of our technologies in farming are very restrictive and medieval! Well, that goes with other countries, including the United States.

What do I mean by that? Example, plowing – we still use the disc plow, which was invented by North Carolina native Charles Angell Sr in 1882, or 140 years ago! (Kansas Historical Society, kansapedia). The disc plow destroys the soil structure and everything that goes with it, including availability of nutrients and moisture for crops.

Another American, Edward H Faulkner, discovered trash farming, which is minimum tillage with careful incorporation of plant materials with the topsoil (see my 21 April 2009 essay, “Not My Achievers’ Night. It Rained On My Parade!” A Magazine Called Love, amagazinecalledlove.blogspot.com).I re-invented it with the introduction of shallow rotavation; I am now recommending to digitalize Agriculture as the “Internet of THINKs Agriculture” (IoTA). THINKs – True? Helpful? Inspiring? Necessary? Kind? Swell! The best agriculture you have to think through!

The Internet of THINKs Agriculture should be available via a digital library in popular English language (translations later). IoTA can then become BIG!@517

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