To address exporters’ concerns anytime, the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) launched its 24/7 chatbot in the Tradeline Philippines web site, tradeline.dti.gov.ph, on August 10, 2020.
In its beta version, the chatbot, named EVA or Export Virtual Assistant, is available at the Tradeline Philippines homepage—tradeline.dti.gov.ph—to answer questions about exporting Philippine products and services.
EVA is being trained to answer common questions about exporting requirements, finding foreign markets, as well as queries about DTI-EMB programs and services, among others.
Since the chatbot is in beta version, users are encouraged to send their feedback about their experience at embkpd@dti.gov.ph. Other concerns about exporting can be addressed to exports@dti.gov.ph.
“The chatbot is in its early stages and might not answers all kinds of questions yet. But we are continuously building up EVA’s knowledge base to make her more helpful and intuitive,” said DTI-EMB Director Senen M. Perlada.
The bureau chief emphasized that EVA is part of the agency’s digital transformation strategy to better serve existing and aspiring exporters.
“The pandemic has pushed everything online. The DTI-EMB has been a strong advocate of digital transformation, especially for MSMEs. We are adapting to the next normal through launching EVA, making our processes fully online, and getting our MSME exporters in various digital platforms, among others,” said Perlada.
The chatbot was made using the Azure Bot Service under Microsoft Azure. The fembot graphic ID is based on an avatar from https://www.botlibre.com, the open source chatbot and artificial intelligence platform.
In a related development, the bureau has also launched the QR Code of Tradeline Philippines recently to provide its stakeholders a convenient way to access the Bureau’s web site.
Tradeline Philippines is DTI-EMB’s business intelligence platform that aims to deliver timely and relevant information and assistance to existing and potential exporters to enhance their capabilities and competitiveness as suppliers of quality goods and services to global markets.
It is also positioned as DTI-EMB’s main information and communications technology tool in providing its stakeholders with an integrated export information system that will provide regular trade statistics reports, market and product information, supplier and buyer databases, and other trade-related information to its valued stakeholders through the Web.