In an effort to identify and resolve supply chain issues throughout the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, the public and private sectors have together developed an analytics dashboard and online reporting tool that will help the public to flag logistics bottlenecks to relevant authorities, and the government to resolve them.
The SCAn (Supply Chain Analytics) Dashboard allows key policy makers in government to better monitor the country’s supply chain networks by gathering information on logistics issues and incidents, as well as data collected by government agencies and other organizations, in one place. The SCAn Incident Reporter app, which you can download here, allows the public to directly report any issues they may encounter to the dashboard.
The goal for the systems is to allow the government to monitor and detect logistics issues, take appropriate measures, and monitor the progress of its interventions, both during the COVID-19 crisis – where government continues to guarantee unhampered movement of goods, particularly for essential goods and medical supplies – and beyond.
Development of the systems was born from a request by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to UPPAF-RESPOND to develop a tool that would identify logistics bottlenecks during the pandemic. In response, it enlisted the help of several industry organizations, including by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP), Export Development Council (EDC) and Philippine Exporters Confederation (PhilExport), to gather information on supply chain issues, as well as proposed solutions, from its members.
The dashboard will be supported by government agencies including NEDA, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA). The reporting app, meanwhile, was reviewed by the National Privacy Commission (NPC) and the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT).
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) approved the development of the dashboard on 15 April, and of the reporting app on 4 May. Both systems were officially turned over to the IATF in simple ceremonies held last 21 May at Camp Aguinaldo, attended by IATF co-chair and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, and NEDA undersecretary Adora Navarro, among others. Representing the private sector was SCMAP president-elect Pierre Carlo Curay.
“The IATF and National Task Force Against [COVID-19] can better respond to supply issues needed in the country’s fight against the pandemic,” Navarro said. “[There is a] need to urgently address supply chain disruptions which delay the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis … to avoid worsening the inequality across regions which is in part due to inefficient logistics, especially in the inter-island interface.”
SCMAP members and the public can take part in these efforts by downloading the app at iatf-scan.net.