Malolos City’s Journey to Becoming the Smart Historical City of the Philippines
Center for Strategic Futures
In 2023, the DAP-CSF (Development Academy of the Philippines – Center for Strategic Futures) piloted a complete LIPAD PH (Linking Innovation Partners towards Accelerated Development in the Philippines) program in collaboration with the City Government of Malolos. The program kicked off with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last June 8, 2023 by the DAP President and CEO, Malolos City Mayor, Regional Directors of DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) and DOST (Department of Science and Technology) Region III, Bulacan State University (BSU) President, Sentrify Technologies Corp. CEO, BSU Student Government President, Junior Chamber International Malolos President, and the Filipino Inventors Society Inc. National President.
The LIPAD PH program involved a series of strategic activities such as the conduct of a Smart City Assessment and Validation, Futures Thinking and Foresight, Solutions Ideation, and Roadmap Development. These activities were designed to help the City of Malolos achieve their smart city vision.
During the Futures Thinking and Foresight activity held last September 5, 2023 in Malolos City, several smart city visions were presented including the portrayal of Malolos as the “Kyoto of the Philippines”, given that Kyoto is being dubbed as the cultural city of Japan. It was also envisioned as “Home of Creative and Innovative People” with the city having improved educational curriculum that includes futures skills, effective transportation, and system digitalization. Another vision pictured Malolos City as a “Smart Heritage City” which involved the synergy of technology and good governance while preserving the culture and heritage of the city. On a relatively similar angle, it was also visualized as a place which shows “Harmonious Blend of Tradition and Innovation”, where technology enhances every facet of life. In the aspect of environment, citizen cooperation and compassion are being grasped in Malolos City as they seek to embed the local slogan, “Dakila ang Bayan na may Malasakit sa Mamamayan”. For transportation, Malolos City was depicted as having seamless mobility, enhanced accessibility, and improved safety for citizens. Aside from these visions, this activity will equip the city stakeholders with futures thinking and foresight skills and allow them to formulate and implement initiatives that are futures-ready and apt not only for the city’s current needs, but for its future as well.
Prior to the foresight activity, the LIPAD PH program implemented the Smart City Assessment and Validation activity that served as the basis for all the succeeding program activities. The gaps and challenges identified from the assessment were particularly relevant in targeting, sorting, and developing solutions and technologies as part of the program's Solutions Ideation activities. For Malolos City, the Solutions Ideation phase produced six (6) prototypes from the Design Sprint activity, matched nine (9) technologies from the Technology Matching activity, developed three (3) Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) from the Start Hackathon, and acquired three (3) solutions each for technology and non-technology categories from the Citizen Sourcing and Partner Pledging activity.
Currently, the City of Malolos is in the last phase of the program with the development of their Smart City Roadmap. Notably, this roadmap will serve as the city’s guide for all its development initiatives in the next 5-10 years.
