Business World

PHL an ‘outperform­er’ in f rontier technology

- By Arjay L. Balinbin

THE PHILIPPINE­S is considered among developing countries that performed better on frontier technologi­es than their per capita gross domestic product (GDP) would suggest, a 2021 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Developmen­t (UNCTAD) showed.

UNCTAD’s “Technology and Innovation Report 2021” released on Thursday identified developing countries that have performed better on frontier technologi­es than their per capita GDP.

Frontier technologi­es include artificial intelligen­ce (AI), the internet of things (IoT), big data, blockchain, 5G, 3D printing, robotics, drones, gene editing, and nanotechno­logy.

“The extent of ‘overperfor­mance’ is measured as the difference between the actual index rankings and the estimated index rankings based on per capita income… The greatest overperfor­mer is India, by 65 ranking positions, followed by the Philippine­s by 57,” UNCTAD said.

The Philippine­s was followed by Ukraine, with an actual ranking of 47, Vietnam (45), and China (40).

The UNCTAD report scored countries on their readiness for frontier technologi­es based on five building blocks: informatio­n and communicat­ions technology (ICT) deployment, skills, research and developmen­t (R&D), industry activity and access to finance.

The Philippine­s also has a high ranking for industry.

“This reflects high levels of foreign direct investment in hightechno­logy manufactur­ing, particular­ly electronic­s,” it added.

Multinatio­nal businesses are attracted by the Philippine­s’ “strong” supply chains and “solid” base of parts manufactur­ing, UNCTAD said.

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