DTI set to roll out AI Roadmap
We are signaling our intent to reinforce a national culture of innovation as well as of entrepreneurship
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to launch the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Roadmap next month that will foster the development of innovation, deemed as the best tool so the country may surpass the challenges during this unprecedented time of the Covid-19 pandemic, and later on emerge from it much stronger and more prepared for the future.
This was announced by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez during the virtual launch of the first-ever “National Innovation Day” on Wednesday, bringing together government agencies, such as National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Science and Technology, as well as the World Bank, in gearing the Philippines to reinforce a national culture of innovation, as well as entrepreneurship.
“DTI has several key initiatives to contribute to building our innovation culture, like the Industry 4.0 Roadmap to help industries step up to the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We are launching the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Roadmap this May to guide the adoption and utilization of AI technologies in agribusiness, manufacturing, and services industries,” he said.
Lopez maintained that in order to provide practical solutions for the daily problems the country faces, there is a need to collaborate and pool collective resources to make things happen.
“On this first Innovation Day, we are signaling our intent to reinforce a national culture of innovation as well as of entrepreneurship. I came from an entrepreneurship advocacy, and innovation is key and critical to any entrepreneurial undertaking. And part of your entrepreneurial journey talks about continuous innovation, as you try to level up your value and contribution to society. Moreover, we want to equate the idea of a “Madiskarteng Pinoy” with the idea of a Filipino who is both innovative and creative,” the Trade chief noted.
DTI’s collaborative efforts have resulted in a milestone when the Philippines climbed four notches higher in the 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII), ranking 50th out of 131 economies, and the recognition as an “innovation achiever” for the second year in a row.
Further, Lopez relayed that with the passing of Republic Act (RA) No. 11293, or the Philippine Innovation Act, the country can now position innovation at the center of its development policies, making the government to harness innovation efforts to help Filipinos, especially those who have been marginalized.
“Furthermore, we can enable our micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) to be part of the domestic and global supply chain, while catalyzing the growth of our industries and local economies. This is what we have been saying to our MSME constituents: Innovation is not limited and not a monopoly of large enterprises. In fact, for MSME to become large enterprises, innovation should be at the front and center of their business models,” according to Lopez.
In attaining this, Lopez suggested that an inter-agency council, chaired by President Duterte, should be crafted to develop the national innovation strategy that provides a roadmap and the strategies for improving innovation governance to deepen and accelerate innovation efforts.
Particularly, he stated that the law establishes an innovation fund to strengthen entrepreneurship and enterprises engaged in developing innovative solutions benefiting the poor and the marginalized, as well as innovation centers to establish support collaborative research and development, and extension initiatives among academic or educational institutions, research and development centers, and business.
DTI has several key initiatives to contribute to building our innovation culture, like the Industry 4.0 Roadmap to help industries step up to the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.