Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez underscored the need to develop an inclusive, innovation-led industrial and entrepreneurship ecosystem that will upgrade the competitiveness of the Philippine (PH) agri-industry, manufacturing and services sectors, thus improving productivity, output generation, and later on income of every Filipino.
This after the trade chief and other government officials completed the study mission (last week of August) in the United States (US) on building an inclusive innovation system in the Philippines.
“The objective of the mission is to study how we can build a stronger platform of inclusive innovation-led industrial and entrepreneurship ecosystem that will support our core sectors, ensuring their sustained growth and ability to generate more jobs and business opportunities, as Dutertenomics’ way of solving poverty,” said Sec. Lopez.
The study mission also aims to align the quality and capacities of Filipino manpower to the challenging requirements of the sectors, especially in view of today’s economic integration and development in artificial intelligence (AI), according to him.
DTI and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) recently initiated the formation of the country’s inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem that will promote the collaborative efforts among the government, research and development (R&D) institutions, the academe, the industries and the private organizations to support greater innovation and technology application to support PH’s core industries.
Other PH agencies including the Department of Agriculture, Commission on Higher Education, Department of Education, Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) and industry groups shall be part of the ecosystem that will encourage the infusion of continuous innovation, science and technology in the country’s economic sectors to generate more competitive and higher value added products.
The government concluded said study mission to the technology and innovation hubs and ecosystems in the US such as the Silicon Valley in California, the Research and Technology Park (RTP) in North Carolina, the Small Business Innovation Research, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and the National Academy of Science Foundation in Washington.
DTI and DOST will lead the convening of all enablers in the innovation ecosystem to map out the overall framework and programs to be implemented.
“We shall soon present this to the President, with a corresponding draft Executive Order that will manifest the importance given by the President in championing this vision to make the Philippines an inclusive and innovation led advanced economy,” Sec. Lopez concluded.
To maximize the trip, DTI has also met with current and potential investors in San Francisco and New York to update them of the sustained robust economic performance under the Duterte administration, the rebound in the industry, manufacturing and agriculture growth performance, faster investment growth, and turnaround in the exports performances.
DTI met with the executives of Wells Fargo and Western Digital in San Francisco, as well as with the US-Philippines Society, the American Apparel and Footwear Association, and the Shearwater Healthcare Services in New York.
According to Sec. Lopez, the country’s quest for innovation should enable Filipinos to prepare for the requirements of the future, upgrading their skills and income-generating capacities.
“The stronger linkages within the ecosystem should support the development of our industry clusters in the regions, benefitting from better technology inputs and promoting productivity in the value chain. This will complement efforts we do in improving the ease of doing business and the aggressive infrastructure program,” he added.
The mission also benefitted from the sharing of recent technologies developed by the group of Dr. Dado Banatao, the most successful Filipino technology entrepreneur in the US and leading computer technology developer. His group developed the fast computing chip for computer and similar gadgets. Dr. Banatao showed DTI his facilities and game changing projects, including a stronger WIFI service that can upgrade PH’s broadband speed.
The study mission is organized with the assistance of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Science and Technology Research and Innovation for Development (STRIDE) project with RTI International.