NGA 911 eyes cities for growth

By Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel

WHEN Ishka Villacisneros first began advocating for a modern 911 system in the Philippines in 2019, the idea was often dismissed as fiction rather than public policy.

“If you asked someone to call 911, they’d say, ‘Isn’t that just in movies?’” she said in an interview with BusinessWorld. “I was going back and forth here for probably three years. Almost anyone I talked to had no idea what 911 was.”

At the time, emergency response in the Philippines was deeply fragmented. Ms. Villacisneros, a Filipino-American who is chief financial officer at US-based Next Generation Advanced 911 LLC and president at Next Generation Advanced (NGA) 911 Philippines, said emergency services were spread across thousands of local hotlines run independently by villages, police stations, fire departments and local government units.

“Before, we had several emergency lines across the whole Philippines,” she said. “Imagine every barangay, 40,000 barangays. You need to figure it all out.”

That fragmentation often translated into slow or failed responses. Calls were misrouted, unanswered or passed between agencies without clear accountability.

In September 2025, the Department of Interior and Local Government launched the P1.4-billion Unified 911 System, consolidating emergency response nationwide under a single number. NGA 911 was appointed to provide the emergency technology that powers the system.

Ms. Villacisneros said the impact was immediate. Average emergency response time has fallen to under five minutes, a sharp improvement from earlier response times that could stretch into hours or result in no response at all.

“Before NGA 911, the response time was like two hours or never,” she said. “But on average, it was never.”

NGA 911 generates revenue by licensing and selling its next-generation emergency response systems to governments and public safety agencies. It also makes money through partnerships with telecommunication companies that resell or integrate its systems.

Ms. Villacisneros said NGA 911’s next phase would focus on expanding regional hubs and satellite command centers to strengthen coverage and improve disaster response nationwide.

Unlike legacy emergency systems that rely largely on landline calls, NGA 911 was designed to handle a broader range of communication channels. At the center of the network is NEXiS Connect, the call-handling platform that receives, routes and manages emergency requests across command centers.

Emergency call centers can now receive text messages, photos, videos and messages sent through mobile apps, alongside traditional voice calls. GPS-based location data are transmitted automatically, allowing dispatchers to locate callers even if they can’t clearly describe where they are.

The platform also lets command centers integrate data from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and other local government systems, giving dispatchers real-time situational awareness during emergencies.

“This is how emergency response works in developed countries,” Ms. Villacisneros said. “We brought that same capability to the Philippines.”

She said the integrated digital backbone has improved coordination across agencies, enabling faster decision-making and clearer lines of responsibility during crises.

BRIDGING THE GAP
While call-taking and dispatch have improved, Ms. Villacisneros said one challenge remained: maintaining visibility and coordination once responders are deployed.

“There’s a point where the call taker no longer knows what’s happening on the ground,” she said.

To address this, NGA 911 Philippines recently  launched the Unified Platform for Communications and Dispatch (UPCAD), an upgraded system that will be integrated into national 911 services.

UPCAD is designed to strengthen real-time communication between call takers, dispatchers and first responders operating in high-risk environments.

“UPCAD allows us to bridge that gap,” Ms. Villacisneros said.

The system is being rolled out with support from PLDT Inc. and ePLDT Inc., which provide network infrastructure and cloud hosting for the Unified 911 System. It is also backed by French software firm Streamwide S.A., which develops mission-critical communication platforms, and RugGear, a maker of rugged communication devices for emergency and industrial use.

Streamwide’s Team on the Run app enables secure, fast coordination beyond traditional handheld radios, letting responders share voice, data and situational updates in real time.

Ms. Villacisneros said the Philippine experience shows that a developing country could operate an emergency response system on par with those in advanced economies.

Since the system’s launch, she said NGA 911 has received inquiries from public safety agencies across the region seeking to understand how the platform was implemented.

“They are looking at what the Philippines has built and how it was implemented,” she said.

Vietnam’s police, Indonesia’s national security sector and the Royal Thai Police have all expressed interest in benchmarking the Philippine system. Beyond Southeast Asia, agencies in Qatar, the Maldives, Mexico, Brazil and Canada have also reached out to study the technology and operating model.

“The goal from the beginning was to make the Philippines a model for public safety,” Ms. Villacisneros said. “Now, other countries are following.”