Mobile app for business registration in the works

MANILA, Philippines — The government is looking to launch within two months a mobile app that would allow individuals to register their businesses, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

In a press conference, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the government expects to launch the end-to-end business registration mobile app “within two months at the most.”

A team composed of representatives from the DTI, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Quezon City local government unit (LGU), Philippine Health Insurance Corp., as well as the New Zealand Creative HQ have developed a prototype mobile app allowing end-to-end business registration.

 “We are happy to note that the prototype is a viable concept. But more tests are being completed in order to further validate,” said Lopez.

He said upon initial tests, it took him 15 minutes to provide the information required by the app to register a business.

Asked about the standard time for individuals to complete the business registration using the app, he said it is expected to take less than an hour.

While the prototype is available, he said agencies like the SEC, Bureau of Internal Revenue and LGUs would have to be integrated and linked to the app before it could be made available.

“When they (agencies) integrate, their internal system will just have to be aligned,” he said.

In the same event, DICT Undersecretary Denis Villorente said the government would push to make the app available before February so it could be taken into account in upcoming global competitiveness surveys.

The end-to-end business registration mobile app prototype was developed using Design Sprint, an approach from Google Ventures to answer critical business questions through design, prototyping and testing ideas with customers.

Since July, the DTI has organized a series of Design Sprints workshop and successfully developed a prototype for a portal on LGU information, and a framework for the Philippine Business Number.

The government is developing the One Central Business Portal to make it easier to set up businesses in the country by consolidating government requirements in one application form and making it available online or through the mobile phone.

Through the development of this portal, those who want to register their business will no longer have to visit and transact with several government agencies separately.

The One Central Business Portal is being developed in compliance with Section 13 of Republic Act (RA) 11032 or Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018 which mandates a central system to receive applications and capture application data for business clearances, permits, certifications or authorizations issued by the LGUs.

“We do not just automate the process but transform the way government is doing business by offering a feasible, viable and desirable solution for the customer,” Lopez said.

In accordance with RA 11032, DTI shall turn over the prototypes for the One Central Business Portal, including the framework of the Philippine Business Number and the end-to-end registration to the DICT for possible integration with other government systems and foroperating and maintaining the system.