Leaders in the public and private sectors agree science and technology have to walk the government mantra of inclusivity to help alleviate poverty and enable the Philippines to leapfrog its ranking in the Global Competitiveness Index.
During his keynote address during the July 21 opening of National Science and Technology Week 2016 at a local restaurant, Engr. Elpidio M. Paras, Regional Science & Technology Ambassador for Business, said that “while the DOST’s primary mission is to guide and take a leading role in S& T, I would like to believe it can do more.”
Reg 10 S&T Ambassador for Business Community Engr Elpidio M. Paras delivers his keynote speech during the opening of the DOST-10 National Science & Technology Week 2016
“In other neighboring countries such as Taiwan, S&T expenditure is over 2.9% of national budget and the MOST (Ministry of Science and Technology) has for years championed and financed programs that have allowed a small country to leverage its brain assets to be Ranked Top Three in the world in a good number of products and innovations,” Paras stressed.
He cited how Taiwan has risen over the past decades to become the world’s #1 in the world in Foundry, IC packaging and testing, CDs and glass fiber; #2 in the world in IC design, Personal navigation devices (PNDs), LCD panels, IC substrates, silicon solar batteries, ABS plastics and #3 in the world for WLAN, OLED panels, PC boards, nylon fibers, and polyester filaments.”
During his opening remarks at the same program, Regional Director Alfonso P. Alamban of the Dept. of Science & Technology Region 10 (DOST-10) said one indicator of competitiveness is “how we are perceived by the business sector, which dictates how our products and services should be received by the world market. One tool is the Global Competitiveness Index which ranks over a hundred countries along certain parameters.”
DOST-10 RD Alfonso P. Alamban
Alamban cited how the Philippines steadily rose from its 85th rank in 2010 to 47th by 2015, a jump of 38 ranks.
“While the macroeconomic environment made a substantial contribution towards this improvement over the last 5 years, the innovation factors tremendously made an impact on this progress,” Alamban noted. Ranked 111th in 2015, it climbed 63 ranks to 48th by 2015.
This was made possible through government procurement of advanced technology products, company spending on research and development and industry-academe linkages and the availability of scientists and engineers, he added.
But Paras believes the Philippines can do even better.
“The country’s new mission should be to be able to create and make new, wider market leading products and technologies that will spearhead a new era in manufacturing for the Philippines,” he stressed.
Engr Elpie M. Paras, Region 10 Science & Technology Ambassador for Business Community Sector
“We need to have new long, medium and short term goals, something that will leverage not only our human resource assets, but our vast mineral resources as well. There is so much silicon in our beaches, that China has been dredging mountains of black sand in many locations. Why haven’t we explored on how to process silicon so we could make solar panels cheaper?”
Despite the country’s increasing focus on research and development through industry-academe linkages, Paras said it still lags behind the so called Tiger Economies of Asia. For instance, the Philippines latest budget for higher education related to S&T is a mere fraction of what Taiwan spent in 2010 (47.97-million TWD or PhP 70.57-billion).
“I am sorry to compare ourselves to Taiwan, but just 4 decades ago, this nation which has an area smaller than Luzon, was poorer than the Philippines. Today, it is an economic powerhouse ranked among the top 15 countries in the world.”
In comparison, Alamban mentioned in his earlier remarks how the Research and Development Intensity (the ration of R&D Expenditures to Gross Regional Domestic Product) is only .13%, even lower than the Philippines R&D Intensity of .14%.
“What we should strive for is really the RDE itself, which is only 1.38% of the country’s expenditure of about Php 16 Billion,” he added.
“Clearly, we need to ask Congress for additional budget; how else can we compete with other countries, when we are not investing as much in Higher Education?” Paras said. “Human resource is one of our greatest assets. Shall we be contented to be just OFWs or call center operators? There is so much talent that is wasted here in this country.”
In addition, Paras recommends the construction of science parks in each of the country’s main island groups “for a start”.
“As in Taiwan, the science technology parks and innovation corridors in Hsinchu, Taoyuan, Taichung, Keelung, Tainan etc., have reached prominence in the development of products and equipment related to renewable energy, LED and LCD panels, electric vehicles, precision machinery, optoelectronics and biotechnology. When I was building satellite antenna systems in the 80s, I had personally visited startup companies in the science park in Hsinchu and the companies I got equipment from are now giants in the industry.”
Not the least, he recommended that DOST link local scientists, inventors and innovators who have products which fail to enter even the domestic market due to lack of funding to the right investors so the time to commercialize would be much shorter.
Alamban accepts doing all these remains a challenge in spite of the recent economic gains which should be leveraged “to focus, explore and innovate further.”
“Under this year’s slogan , Juan Science, One Nation, we should continue to support the DOST in its mission:to be the direction provider, leader and coordinator of the country’s scientific and technological efforts, ensuring that these are geared and utilized in areas of maximum economic and social benefits for the people,” Alamban stressed.
“Our aim is to bring down the fruits of these developments to the ordinary Juan on the streets or barangay. For only through a secured economic and social well-being can we have a united and contented citizenry.”
Alamban explained Juan Science means that technology for economic and social improvement should be accessible to an ordinary citizen for him to make a meaningful contribution to nation-building.
DOST-10 RD Alfonso Alamban, Cepalco SVP Ralph Paguio & UC-1 CEO Elpidio Paras cut the ceremonial ribbon for DOST-10’s National Science & Technology Week 2016 Exhibit at the Grand Caprice, Limketkai Center on July 23, 2016
“This is why this year’s celebration of the National Science and Technology Week deliberately included regional celebrations,” he noted. “This is to further enhance the awareness that at the regions, the forefront is technology commercialization, with the aim of enhancing enterprise productivity and competitiveness for these to be able to provide higher employment opportunities.”
Thus, the rationale for the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) as DOST banner program: to inspire more companies to take risks by showcasing successful enterprises which had availed of SETUP.
“This is of course towards the end line of the STI value chain. The chain starts with concepts then moving on to research and development. We hope we have more of this activity in the region,” he said.
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