■ CEBUANO ENTREPRENEURS ENCOURAGED TO INVEST IN LOCAL TECHNOLOGIES
Of 74 Filipino innovations launched in 2016, some 28 have been commercialized Creative and artificial intelligence identified as industries for development
Nine homegrown technologies were showcased yesterday during the DOST 7’s first Technology Transfer Day in Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. The Technology Transfer Day is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) as part of its mandate to ensure Filipino technologies are maximized for the benefit of society and local industries, as guided by Republic Act 10055, or the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009. The DOST official is hopeful the event will build meaningful partnerships and forge technology transfer deals between industry players and the DOST’s leading innovators.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is encouraging Cebuano entrepreneurs to invest in locally developed technologies and adopt them for the mainstream market.
Nine homegrown technologies were showcased yesterday during the DOST 7’s first Technology Transfer Day in Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
The exhibitors were carefully selected by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).
The Technology Transfer Day is an initiative of the DOST as part of its mandate to ensure Filipino technologies are maximized for the benefit of society and local industries, as guided by Republic Act 10055 or the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009.
According to DOST undersecretary for Research and Development Rowena Cristina Guevara, the agency launched 74 Filipino innovations last year, of which 28 have been commercialized.
“This is already a good number because in business it is only 10 percent that gets commercialized,” said Guevara.
The DOST official is hopeful the event will build meaningful partnerships and forge technology transfer deals between industry players and the DOST’s leading innovators.
Current local innovations are in the areas of agricultural productivity, industry competitiveness, countryside development, environment and disaster risk reduction management, and quality healthcare.
The DOST, according to Gue- vara, is investing 10 percent of its budget on research and development (R&D) technology transfer.
She said bringing all these technologies into the mainstream market would help the economy move forward as it addresses relevant issues and would make products become competitive enough to generate higher income.
Guevara added that the DOST has identified two new industries for R&D development—creative and artificial intelligence (AI).
She said R&D investments, especially in AI, are important as these will help the country sustain its momentum in the out- sourcing sphere.
Quoting a study from the International Labor Organization, Guevara said that if the country fails to invest in AI, it could lose 89 percent of its call center jobs in the next decade.
Forty-nine percent of jobs in manufacturing would also be compromised if the country fails to adopt automation and robotics in the operations.
Meanwhile, the CCCI yesterday signified its strong support for the DOST’s initiatives on technology transfer, citing science and technology as a resource and opportunity that local industries can tap.
“It is the chamber’s mission to strengthen the capabilities of the business community for global competitiveness. CCCI, together with the DOST, hopes to bring about a culture of technological innovation in entrepreneurship as we step up Cebu,” said CCCI president Melanie Ng.
“Entrepreneurs are at the center of progress, and we at CCCI will continue to provide supportive ecosystems for our entrepreneurs, thus bringing their businesses to the next level,” she added.
The Philippines inched up from 74th to 73rd in the 2017 Global Innovation Index (GII).
The report, released annually by Cornell University, Insead and the World Intellectual Property Organization, noted that the Philippines led in information and communications technology services exports in the Asean region, although Singapore was the top performer in most of the indicators.
Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom are the world’s most innovative countries.
The GII 2017 noted a continued gap in innovative capacity between developed and developing nations and lackluster growth rates for R&D activities, both at the government and corporate levels.