The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) bannered the many inroads it has created in science, technology and innovations on the occasion of its recent Science Nation Tour for Region VII in Cebu City.
Now on its 5th leg, the Science Nation Tour is a nationwide roadshow highlighting the many DOST Filipino inventions, state-of-the-art technologies and innovations geared at improving global competitiveness, attaining inclusive growth and cultivating a culture of science and technology (S&T) in the Philippines.
DOST aims to provide innovative, cost-effective and appropriate technologies for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to aid them in developing world-class products, said DOST Assistant Secretary Raymund E. Liboro in his keynote address at the Technology and Innovation Exposition, one of the many activities in the roadshow.
One of its programs, the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program or SETUP, allows entrepreneurs to adopt local technologies to minimize their cost of production such as machineries that they would otherwise import, and maximize innovative manufacturing procedures that will save time and resources.
Under the SETUP program, eight key business categories are included, namely: food processing; horticulture and agriculture; marine and aquatic resources; gifts, decors and housewares; furniture; metals and engineering; pharmaceuticals and information and communications technology.
Liboro also presented another DOST development initiative - the Regional Food Innovation Centers which serve as nerve centers for food production and processing that meet international standards.
For Central Visayas, the center will be hosted at the Cebu Institute of Technology University and will formally be launched in July 2015.
The regional centers will provide MSMEs with technical support for product and process development, food testing, shelf life and sensory evaluation, consultancy, packaging and labeling, short-run production, incubator facilities and an information resource center.
“It is the ‘after’ that matters most and this would mean that such efforts of the DOST should lead to something beneficial to both the Filipinos and the Philippines and hope that our programs become the catalyst to transform the Filipinos and our country as we all walk toward change; living in a country described as a Science Nation,” Liboro concluded and called on all sectors to join the Department in making the Philippines a Science Nation meeting global challenges.
The Food Innovation Center and SETUP are just two of the many DOST knowledge products and services promoted during the Science Nation Tour. Other DOST inventions and innovations will be featured in the National Science and Technology Week on July 24-28, 2015 to be held at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. Details of the celebration can be viewed at www.science.ph or at nstw.dost.gov.ph. (S&T Media Service)
