The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Development Group (RDG) has launched tools for troubleshooting problems in the supply chain for goods and production inputs.
Launched on May 21, the Supply Chain Analytics (SCAn) Dashboard and SCAn Reporter are useful in planning supply chain-related interventions during and even post the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The tools were approved on April 15 by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the highest policymaking body on COVID-19 concerns in the Philippines.
SCAn Dashboard has five key components—incident reports; trip videos for major selected routes; survey of supply chain issues coming from supply chain players; links to other government dashboards; and summary information on the domestic and Asia-Pacific supply chain environment.
Information contained in the SCAn Dashboard is vital to both government and the private sector as the dashboard informs government agencies and industry associations of ground-level issues that need to be addressed to ensure the flow of goods and inputs is unhampered, NEDA said in a statement.
SCAn Reporter, on the other hand, is an application that is downloadable to smartphones and can help “reporters” of supply chain problems submit information to the SCAn Dashboard so that such problems can be addressed by concerned authorities.
Information that can be submitted through the app include type of reporter (e.g., public servant, transport service, concerned citizen, worker, company, and industry association) and incident type (e.g., real-time quarantine control point problem, permit-related problem, regulations, goods overpricing, and real-time road closures, traffic, and accidents).
Photos and videos can also be uploaded in the incident report before submission. If the incident reporter is an industry association member, he or she will be directed to the survey of supply chain issues.
During the launch, NEDA undersecretary for Regional Development Adoracion Navarro said, “The initiative started as a mere thought experiment on my part but I would have to give credit to the technical team of the University of the Philippines Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation-Regulatory Reform Support Program for National Development (UPPAF-RESPOND) for its excellent execution.”
UPPAF-RESPOND is providing technical assistance to NEDA-RDG for supply chain-related undertakings.
During the launch, UPPAF-RESPOND chief-of-party Dr. Enrico Basilio demonstrated through a communications campaign video how the supply chain players and other concerned citizens can help. He also handed over the UPPAF-RESPOND’s donation of equipment for the large-scale viewing and operation of the SCAn Dashboard at the National Incident Command-Emergency Operation Center.
In his keynote message, IATF co-chairperson and Cabinet secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles said, “We encourage everybody, not only supply chain players but concerned citizens as well, to participate in this initiative by downloading and using the SCAn Reporter app to report incidents that hamper the flow of goods and production inputs in your respective areas.”
He urged regional inter-agency bodies to take an active role in utilizing the SCAn Dashboard, monitoring incidents in various parts of the regions, and immediately solving problems at their level, or if the problems cannot be solved at their level, reporting to the national-level agencies or task groups the major issues needing action from the national government.
In a statement sent to NEDA RDG after the launch, Nograles further committed to assign a dedicated staff to monitor supply chain problems and concerns in fulfillment of his multiple roles as Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, Co-chairperson of the IATF-MEID, and Cabinet Secretary.
