Puerto Rico gov’t gives update on its digital transformation
With the goal of advancing the government’s digital transformation, the Puerto Rico Innovation and Technology Service (PRITS) is developing initiatives focused on user experience to drive the island government’s digital transformation.
The efforts to centralize technology aim to standardize interagency systems and procedures.
“We have chosen to strengthen the infrastructure by maintaining and updating systems, with parameters and controls that increase cybersecurity and connectivity, as well as improving the classification of data,” said PRITS Executive Director Antonio Ramos-Guardiola.
Eleven agencies have successfully migrated as part of this data consolidation process.
Ramos-Guardiola explained that this process has paved the way for important projects such as the Online Electronic Identification System (IDEAL, in Spanish), which consolidates and digitizes government documents and certifications to simplify processes for the island’s residents.
“IDEAL is an example of innovation and digital transformation that stems from attention to infrastructure and will enable the implementation of other efforts. Initially, IDEAL was a tool for interagency use, but we have managed to increase the potential of this tool. … Soon, it will be expanded to municipalities and eventually to the private sector, becoming the first government technological development in the hands of the private sector,” he noted.
Ramos- Guardiola also announced that in the upcoming weeks, details will be provided on two core projects: Vacu ID 2.0 and Refugios.
Initially, Vacu ID 2.0 will centralize vaccine documentation, while the system developed for Refugios aims to refine the demographic data on shelter occupants across the island to better allocate resources.
Furthermore, Ramos-Guardiola, accompanied by the Puerto Rico government chief information security officer, Poincaré Díaz Peña, elaborated on the Puerto Rico Digital Parental Controls Promotion Act, filed at the House of Representatives.
Ramos-Guardiola and the government’s chief information security officer, Poincaré Díaz-Peña, discussed the Puerto Rico Digital Parental Controls Promotion Act. The legislation mandates the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO, in Spanish), in collaboration with PRITS and the Public Service Regulatory Board (JRSP), to guide residents on implementing parental controls on digital applications and devices.
Retailers that sell such devices as smartphones, tablets and laptops must provide customers with access to the parental control guide provided by PRITS in December via a QR code on purchase receipts or through text message or email, and in paper form if electronic distribution is not feasible.
In December 2023, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi launched a cyber-education initiative to emphasize the importance of supervising the online content accessed by children and young people, addressing their exposure to potentially harmful content that can be found on online, such as in social media, as well as in video games.
