DOST: Technology use in infra projects to boost anti-corruption efforts

BACOLOD CITY - Technology can be utilized to help evaluate infrastructure projects for potential anomalies, according to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

In an interview during the HANDA Pilipinas 2025 Visayas Leg, DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. mentioned the digital twin technology, which, according to IBM, "is a virtual representation of a physical object or system that uses real-time data to accurately reflect its real-world counterpart’s behavior, performance, and conditions."

“We have presented this to [the Department of Budget and Management] because they have this digital innovation for monitoring and evaluation of infrastructure... We told them that if we wanted to look at the infrastructure, we needed to make sure that this infrastructure as proposed needed to be effective and efficient,” he added.

“When a specific project is now approved, then we monitor it not only after the construction but even during. We can use satellites, we can use drones, and we can use citizens’ reporting. To do that then, we need to make sure that the specs are mentioned and clearly made transparent in the dashboard,” he said.

The government's infrastructure projects, especially those related to flood control, have been plagued by corruption allegations, and Congress, the Office of the Ombudsman, and an independent commission are looking into who should be held responsible. 

The Office of the Ombudsman previously announced that it would use artificial intelligence (AI) to help with the investigation and prosecution of graft and corruption cases.

“In light of the digitization stage that we want to undergo, probably we will also seek to ask experts in artificial intelligence to help us process information faster. Because of the volume of the documents that we have and the volume of transactions, we may have to go AI, and we’re just having a consultant to give us advice very soon,” Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said last Friday during the Senate Committee on Finance’s deliberations into the proposed P6.390 billion budget of his office for 2026. —VBL, GMA Integrated News