MANILA – Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Monday said that the PCOO is considering the conduct of a virtual media conference patterned after the first National Information Convention held last 2018 in Davao City.

In a radio interview, Secretary Andanar urged media practitioners to take part in this “collab” where the state of the information and communication technology in the country may be discussed.

“I think it would be very exciting to hear the insights of everyone, especially that the first National Information Convention was about three years ago,” he said.

“I am sure that there are new breakthrough ideas that our media partners have implemented, including best practices that they have applied in news delivery through radio, television and online news portals,” he added.

On February 19, 2018, PCOO launched the very first NIC in Davao City which aimed to strengthen the partnership between public and private sector communicators.

With the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Secretary Andanar said that they will consider a virtual conference that will be broadcasted live on-air by partner media entities for the public to witness the said event as well.

The PCOO chief added that it was through the NIC where the government was able to gather information on relevant issues that need to be addressed in order to upgrade the capability of government media and public information officers.

One of the results of the NIC was PCOO’s decision to build the first Government Communications Academy.

“The NIC led to the creation of the Government Communications Academy because the overwhelming demand raised during that time was upgrading of skills for government information officers and strengthening the relationship between government and private media,” he said.

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