With the increasing demand for quality government service, use of connectivity to keep teams connected with one another is being utilized. One such collaborative technology which is slowly gaining its place is the use of video conferencing.

Regional Director Ofelia B. Domingo, as an advocate of the use of technology thru online solutions, pushed for video conferencing during the Department of Labor and Employment IX’s Management Committee (ManCom) meeting on February 12, 2019.

DOLE 9 made use of Google Hangouts which is a communication platform developed by Google that includes messaging, video chat, and Voice over Internet Protocol features. The said platform was chosen since it is free of charge and user friendly.

Members of the ManCom were informed of the exact date and time of the video conference and were given technical assistance through the Technical Resource Unit (TRU).

Director Domingo, shared that the video conference enabled her to still preside the meeting despite attending another official activity in Davao City. The same goes for Zamboanga Sibugay Field Office personnel who were in another location implementing DOLE’s livelihood program.

She further added that the use of this technology reduced the time and human energy involved in frequent traveling especially for field office personnel. Expenses for accommodation and per diem were also significantly reduced.

The ManCom secretariat also benefitted from the activity since lesser time is required in organizing and setting up of logistics in contrast to setting up a physical conference room and all the processes involved.

Director Domingo thanked the ManCom members for their attendance to the first video conference and lauded the TRU for the technical assistance in setting up the video conference. She also shared DOLE 9 may schedule the same for meetings other than the ManCom. END/Karen Claire Grafia with reports from Niwea Mae Ramos, ISA-II, TRU