THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it will be offering to bidders a project to build a Cyber Training Facility as part of the government’s National Cybersecurity Plan.

DICT Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity Allan S. Cabanlong said in a text message Sunday that the department will initiate the first step of the bidding process today with a Request for Information (RFI) meeting with interested participants.

“RFI will give solutions providers the opportunity to join and show their solutions so the government can benefit… This is the first step,” he said.

“After the RFI, (the next stages are) pre-procurement, publication of ToR (terms of reference), pre-bidding, submission of bids then opening… We target the opening of bids for around the last week of July or August,” he added.

Mr. Cabanlong said the project is expected to cost around P300 million and will be funded through the General Appropriations Act of 2019.

“Need ma award ng December 2019. Next year na start ng implementation whoever wins (The project has to be awarded by December 2019. Next year will be the start of implementation for whoever wins),” he added.

The project to be bid out will have four components: the ICT Equipment Testing Lab, Malware Lab, Cyber Range and Training Facilities.

In a statement last week, the DICT said the Cyber Training Facility will augment the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Plan 2022, which calls for the training of more cybersecurity professionals.

“The National Cybersecurity Plan (NCSP) 2022… has identified the cultivation of existing talent and developing new ones thru the creation of a Cyber Training Facility as one of its strategies,” it said.

The facility will provide training and certification programs to develop local talent that the DICT said is needed to build a base of individuals that could address emerging cyber threats. It will also house the ICT Testing Lab and Digital Forensics and Reverse Malware Lab.

Meanwhile, the Cybersecurity Management System Project (CMSP) that the DICT awarded to the joint venture of Integrated Computer Systems, Inc. (ICS) and Israel’s Verint Systems, Inc. is expected to be completed by July.

“’Yung CMSP tapos na halos… Opening sana July last week (The CMSP is almost complete. We’re targeting opening by last week of July),” Mr. Cabanlong said.

The P508-million project involves the creation of a centralized cyberthreat monitoring system. — Denise A. Valdez

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