Technology Empowerment for Education, Employment, Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (Tech4ED) is a program of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) aimed to harness ICT resources and opportunities to bridge digital divide and alleviate poverty in unserved and underserved communities in the Philippines through establishment of facilities called Tech4ED Centers. Among its objectives is bringing ICT closer to every Filipino by reaching out to vulnerable sectors like Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL). With an evident social and economic marginalization felt in prisons, it is in these trying times that it has become essential for PDL to be given opportunities and renewed sense of purpose. In the promotion of universal education equality and freedom, integration of ICT services and learning have proven to become a powerful tool in the creation of an inclusive society regardless of people's social or legal circumstances. With these realities, DICT Region IV established 10 Tech4ED Centers packaged with computers/laptops across the CALABARZON and MIMAROPA Regions from 2016 in partnership with Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and has revamped inclusivity in prisons thus bridging the social, digital and education divide by giving access to ICT opportunities for Alternative Learning System and online selling of livelihood products, currently serving 3,352 inmates from the existing centers. ICT-enabled services were also made available to inmates such as e-Dalaw or virtual visitations, Tele-Hearing of Cases, e-Legal Consultations, Tele-Psychology and Tele-Medicine. Promoting grassroot development for inclusive growth and poverty reduction, Tech4ED Centers in prisons made it possible and convenient for persons behind bars to access wide range of ICT services despite their isolation including the sustained provision of ICT skill trainings that ensures PDL are equipped and prepared for their return to society while enabling their smooth transition from incarceration to freedom.

https://dict.gov.ph/

• Philippines

• The unemployed
• Remote and rural communities
• Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL)

The establishment of Tech4ED Centers by the DICT in partnership with Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) is a national digital inclusion initiative to execute the provision of access to ICT-enabled services for the Persons Deprived of Liberty by providing them with digital means of promoting growth and development.

Empowering lives in prisons through Information and Communication Technologies can be replicated by more institutions considering the current statistics of 470 jails in the Philippines housing a total of 131,311 Persons Deprived of Liberty per BJMP Actual Jail Population Data as of September 30, 2022.

The forged partnerships of the Department of Information and Communications Technology with other institutions and agencies towards igniting the bridging of digital divide with the establishment of Tech4ED Centers and learning opportunities in partnership with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) have made it possible to provide programs for Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) and take into account their welfare and development despite their prohibited conditions.

These BJMP Tech4ED Centers provided an innovative approach to the functions of the Bureau by ensuring the continuity and sustainability of the project being taken part by a dedicated center manager, for the maintenance and up keeping of the ICT equipment within each center as well as the ability of assisting and conducting of trainings for the PDL in ICT Literacy.

With the continued expansion of service delivery by the Tech4ED Program of the DICT, more centers in jails are eyed to be launched and sustained following the present initiatives and developing more for improvement and greater impact.

The project is enjoined by the WSIS’ declared principle of Building the Information Society in the new millennium. Working on the DICT Tech4ED’s commitment of building an inclusive and developing Information Society, the project envisions an environment empowered by ICT with priority on vulnerable and underprivileged sectors like the Persons Deprived of Liberty. Aimed at bridging the digital divide, we promote e-literacy, education and trainings for everyone to gain access, utilize and share information and knowledge to achieve their full potential while promoting everyone’s sustainable development and improving the quality of life for every Filipino. Upholding the vision of enabling individuals, communities and people to be part of an information society for all, lifelong learning is promoted by equipping the inmates with timely and relevant digital skills which is rooted from the foreseen termination of detainees’ service of sentence and their much awaited re-entry into the society. The project promotes inclusive societies for sustainable development and provides access to justice for all, regardless of gender or background, in building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions to create confidence and security through the use of ICT resources for development.