Manila: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has partnered with global data analytics company Qlik to speed up delivery of relief goods and strengthen coordination across its Field Offices (FOs), helping ensure faster assistance reaches Filipinos affected by disasters.

According to Philippines News Agency, Assistant Secretary Johannes Paulus Acu±a of the DSWD's Information and Communications Technology Management Service (ICTMS) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) stated that coordinating disaster response has long been a data challenge. During major disasters, DSWD FOs and the Central Office had to reconcile multiple and separate reports on affected populations, relief inventories, as well as distribution status before allocation decisions could be finalized.

'We deal with granular data and rely on estimates when a province is hit. We base decisions on historical data available at the time, so our food pack replenishment strategies were often driven by estimates,' Acu±a said. To address this, the department worked with Qlik and Philippine technology partner Micropinnacle Technology Corporation to establish a unified operational view across all FOs.

Qlik, a data integration, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) platform, helps organizations transform raw data into actionable insights for faster, more informed decision-making, consolidating information from multiple sources into shared dashboards. This gives regional and national teams a single, trusted source of near-real-time information. Through Qlik's platform, DSWD teams can monitor affected populations, evacuation centers, relief inventories, and aid distribution and response activities, with improved visibility.

According to Acu±a, food aid replenishment can now be achieved within 24 hours of field-identified needs in certain scenarios. The DSWD also estimates operational savings of 5 to 10 percent through improved resource allocation and planning, ensuring resources are directed where they are most needed.