‘Hyperconnected towns’ in Cebu with new app

Launching of the Cebu Forward App during the 9th General Assembly of LMP-Cebu Chapter on October 24, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Sugbo News

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A hyperconnected Cebu province.

This was the vision of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines – Cebu Chapter (LMP-Cebu) after it rolled out the Cebu Forward app.

During its 9th General Assembly last October 24, LMP-Cebu launched the Cebu Forward, a one-stop mobile application that provides essential information about a locality.

These included basic details about the local government, nearby tourist spots, important directories such as police and fire stations, community reports, and a virtual map and marketplaces.

Cebu Forward is now live and can be downloaded on app stores. It can accommodate up to 100,000 users.

Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco, who chairs LMP-Cebu, said the initiative was made to facilitate local governments’ transition to the digital realm.

“When I was elected LMP president in 2019, my commitment was to take the League of Municipalities to the digital age by providing innovations in governance that will surely help our 44 towns and to help them as far as connectivity with their constituencies,” said Frasco in a mix of Cebuano and English.

LMP-Cebu spent around P1 million for the purchase of over 40 ninth-generation iPads needed for the app, said Daanbantayan Mayor and LMP-Cebu Treasurer Sun Shimura.

The iPads were given to the mayors to run and manage the Cebu Forward App of their respective towns.

Cebu Forward was developed by Cebu-based software engineering firm Overcode which also set up Liloan’s vaccination app.

Michael Cubos, CEO of Overcode, said they developed the Cebu Forward app for free “as a gift to Cebu.”

Cubos said app-making and other similar digital services usually entail around P6 million to P10 million.

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/ dcb