DOST: Advancing science, technology agenda

best option for PHL growth

By
Alladin S. Diega
-
February 21, 2018

IN a recent meeting with members of the Makati Business Club and several foreign chambers of
commerce, the government’s chief scientist Fortunato dela Peña encouraged local and foreign
businessmen to invest in technology-related enterprises. Dela Peña, Secretary of the Department
of Science and Technology (DOST), said this is relevant as the government is now investing
heavily in science and technology.

The chief scientist cited advancement in health and medicine development with the county’s
numerous traditional medicinal herbs as focus, education, energy, disaster resiliency, and
climate-change adaptation, including enterprises that deal with creativity such as designs.

A civil servant for two decades now holding various teaching and civil-service positions up to
his appointment as top official of the DOST under the present administration, Dela Peña said that
for a time, the country seemed to have grown “resistant” to science- and technology-related
endeavors, although a core number of advocates persisted in pushing the science agenda.
The progressive minds seemed to have prevailed, the DOST official said.

Recently, the Philippines ranked 73rd out of 128 economies in terms of Science and Technology
and Innovation (STI) index, citing the country’s strength in research and commercialization of
STI ideas. The report also said that 60 percent of companies in the country offer training to
improve the technical skill of their employees.

Investment

HOWEVER, a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies highlighted the weak
ties between innovation-driven firms and the government, and it also identified the country’s low
expenditure in research and development (R&D).

According to Dela Peña, this is the reason the government is now extending all its efforts to
reach out with the private sector, explaining that STI plays an important role in economic and
social progress and is a key driver for a long-term growth of an economy.

Technology adoption, the official said, allows a country’s firms and citizens to benefit from
innovations created in other countries, and allows it to catch up and even leap-frog obsolete
technologies.

This can lead to significant improvements in productivity for existing firms in agriculture,
industry and services.

For one, long-term investments in building local capacity for technology generation can lead to
innovations that will give local firms a competitive advantage. This can result in the creation of
new firms and even entirely new industries.

For another, the local medicine sector has been showing potential, the DOST official said, citing
the case of two dozen local herbs or medicinal plants being studied as one example.

Lagundi

WHEN asked about the case of Lagundi (Vitex negundo), whose efficacy as medicine is being
challenged by drug manufacturers, DOST Assistant Secretary for International Cooperation Leah
J. Buendia said that the shrub was subjected to 20 years of stringent clinical trials and has been
proven consistently as effective.

“But since the DOST, and the government for that matter, is not into commercialization, private
companies are the ones who manufacture the component of the medicinal plant into
commercially available medicines,” Buendia said, adding that the agency only gives the results
which include the right formula and volume of the medicinal component.

Asked on the possibility that private manufacturers might knowingly dilute the required strength
for the medicine to be effective to cut cost and unwittingly made the medicine commercially
available ineffective, the official declined to comment.
She, however, assured that the private sector is working with the agency for the purpose of
commercializing discoveries made and studied by the DOST in partnership with the private
sector, as these “products would not help private companies profit but advance the country’s
agenda.”

The science agenda that, despite advances, is still in need of prioritization and more funding.
This agenda is in the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, which devotes an entire chapter
on STI.

STI culture

RECENT positive developments and advancement in science and technology notwithstanding,

there remains a low level of innovation in the country. This is brought by weaknesses in STI
human capital, low R&D expenditure and weak linkages in the STI ecosystem.

In the Global Innovation Index (GII) Report last year, the Philippines ranked 74th among 128
economies in terms of overall innovation, garnering a score of 31.8 out of 100. This is a slight
improvement from the score of 31.1, ranking 83rd out of 141 economies in 2015.

The country also ranked fifth out of seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean) that were included in the survey. The Philippines was ahead of Cambodia (95th)
and Indonesia (88th) but lagged behind Singapore (6th), Malaysia (35th), Thailand (52nd) and
Vietnam (59th).

The factors behind the weak performance of the STI sector include a weak STI culture, Dela
Peña said.

There is lack of public awareness and interest in STI and many sectors do not recognize,
appreciate and understand the use of technology- and science-based information in their daily
activities.

There’s also a number of weaknesses in social and professional culture, i.e., research culture in
universities, commercialization of results from public research, among others. According to Dela
Peña, a lack of awareness on intellectual property rights, in the research community and the
general public, still persists.

Despite its availability, adoption and application of technologies among micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSMEs) and sectors like agriculture and fisheries remains low, he added.

Research

LOW government and private spending on STI is another factor behind the weak performance of
the STI sector, according to the GII report.

Investments in R&D are central for enhancing the country’s innovation ecosystem, the report
said. Expenditures on R&D and innovation activities, as well as the support given to the
development of human resources in various fields of science and technology (S&T), are the
parameters scrutinized in the monitoring and evaluation of STI.

While nominal R&D expenditures increased by 80 percent to P15.92 billion in 2013, the
proportion of R&D spending to GDP stood at only 0.14 percent. This is substantially below the
1-percent benchmark recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (Unesco) and the global average of 2.04 percent. It is also low compared to other
Asean countries, such as Vietnam, 0.19 percent, Thailand with 0.36 percent, Malaysia with 1.09
and Singapore’s 2.0 percent. The data is available online from Unesco’s Institute for Statistics.

The country’s relatively low ranking in the GII Report was pulled down by weaknesses in human
capital and R&D, with a score of 22.7 out of 100, ranking 95th. This is due to the low public and
private expenditures on education and R&D, as well as low tertiary inbound mobility. Tertiary
inbound mobility refers to the number of students from abroad studying in a given country, as a
percentage of the total tertiary or college enrollment.

The bulk of the R&D spending, about 60 percent, comes from the public sector. These were
directed to agricultural and industrial production and technology, protection and improvement of
human health, control and care of the environment, among others. Most of the R&D activities in
the country are still concentrated in the National Capital Region, Calabarzon and Central Luzon.

Manpower

ANOTHER indicator measuring the capacity for technology generation is the number of S&T
human resources engaged in R&D.

As of 2013, the country has a total of 36,517 R&D personnel, of which 26,495 are key
researchers, scientific, technological and engineering personnel engaged in R&D; the rest are
technicians and support personnel.

The figures denote that there are only 270 researchers for every one million Filipinos. Such ratio
falls short of the Unesco norm of 380 per million population and the 1,020 researchers per
million population average across developing economies of East Asia and the Pacific.

Of the total researchers in the country from the government, higher educational institutions
(HEIs) and private nonprofit sectors, 14 percent had doctoral degrees (PhD), 38 percent had
master’s degrees, while 34 percent had Bachelor of Science (BS) up to post-BS degrees. The low
number of researchers in the country reflects the propensity of the educational system in the
country to produce graduates outside of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or
Stem, programs—the disciplines where R&D flourishes. Nevertheless, the latest GII report
indicates that in terms of graduates in science and engineering, the country garnered a score of
25.5 out of 100, ranking 26th.

Capital
AN assessment of the country’s innovation system conducted by a program of the United States
Agency for International Development (Usaid) reveals that the supply of Stem graduates exceeds
local demand.

As a result, there is an out-migration and, worse, underemployment of many skilled, locally

trained scientists and engineers. The report by the Usaid’s Science, Technology, Research and
Innovation for Development, or Stride, program also cited a shortage in training for fields critical
for innovation, particularly in information technology. Such shortage contributes to the challenge
that many local companies face, especially in securing employees with the skills required to
grow the business.

This somewhat explains the nature of brain drain the country has. It is not so much because of
Filipinos not being “nationalistic” but simply because there is limited opportunity for people of
science to stay in the country.

However, Buendia said the issue of nationalism has some credence, if not the absolute answer,
citing the case of South Korea in the 1950s.

When South Korea was in its lowest in terms of economic level, the government called on all its
scientists and engineers scattered around the world to go home and help build their economy, and
many responded, she said.

According to Buendia, this brain drain contributes to the problem as potential researchers,
scientists and engineers, the key actors for the innovation ecosystem to flourish, prefer to seek
employment overseas due to better economic opportunities and potential for advancement. Since
knowledge and technology are mostly embodied in human resources, this emphasizes the
urgency to accelerate the development of R&D human resource.

Patents

THE output of R&D is commonly measured in terms of patents applied and granted to Filipino
residents.

However, reports show that many universities do not have the expertise to market their patent
portfolios for commercial use. Furthermore, technology generators face persisting issues on
technology ownership while researchers are constrained by the “publish or perish” phenomenon.

This results in the weak technology transfer system in the country.

An annual average of 209 patent utility models and 597 industrial design applications were filed
from 2005 to 2015. In the same period, an annual average of 54 patents, 446 utility models and
502 industrial designs were granted.

In 2016, the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked the Philippines 86th out of 128 economies
for the number of patents filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty per million population.
Invention patents granted to local inventors represent the smallest share in number of intellectual
properties granted from 2001 to 2003. Industrial design and utility models consistently comprise
the majority of the intellectual property granted.

The country also needs to catch up in research publications since the number of scientific
publication in peer-reviewed journals per million population stands at 55, substantially below
that of Asean member-states like Singapore with its staggering 10,368, Malaysia with 1,484,
Thailand with 478 and Vietnam with 105.

Ecosystem

ANOTHER factor behind the weak performance of the STI sector is the weak linkages among
players in the STI ecosystem.

The 2009 survey of Innovation Activities and the 2014 Usaid-Stride Assessment of the
Philippine Innovation Ecosystem discovered that innovation actors have weak cooperation,
partnerships and trust among themselves. Most HEIs perceive collaboration with companies as
outside of their core missions and a risk to exploitation.

Consequently, firms report that difficulties in convincing HEIs of their shared interests stem
from resentment, suspicion and distrust. In effect, firms end up with little technical assistance
from the government and research institutions.

Another factor in this equation is restrictive regulations that hamper implementation of R&D
programs and projects.

The tedious government procurement process hobbles the immediate procurement of equipment
and other needed materials for research, which, in turn, delays the implementation of R&D
projects, the GII report said. This was confirmed by the Usaid-Stride study, which revealed that
restrictive regulations make the procurement of equipment and consumables for research
extremely slow and unnecessarily complex, decreasing research productivity, publication
potential, and speed-to-market of innovation.

In addition, the report said the government research grants do not compensate universities for the
salary of faculty members’ research activities. This practice is rarely seen outside the
Philippines.

The final factor in the weak performance of the STI sector is inadequacy of an STI infrastructure
that includes laboratory facilities, testing facilities and R&D centers.

Many existing hubs need upgrading to improve their services, which contributes to the lack of
absorptive capacity in research institutions, the Usaid-Stride report said. It also cited that the
public institutions failed to provide young researchers with equipment packages, particularly
those returning from PhD studies abroad with more advanced research agendas.

The country’s leading research institutions also remain concentrated in Luzon.

Hopes

DESPITE the many inadequacies, from funding to human capital, there are some technology-
intensive research and capacity-building projects which resulted in products which are currently
being used successfully.

One is the micro-satellite.

In April 2016, the country launched into space its first micro-satellite called Diwata-1. It was
designed, developed and assembled by Filipino researchers and engineers under the guidance of
Japanese experts. The Diwata (deity in English) satellite provides real-time, high-resolution and
multi-color infrared images for various applications, including meteorological imaging, crop and
ocean productivity measurement and high-resolution imaging of natural and man-made features.

It enables a more precise estimate of the country’s agricultural production, provides images of
watersheds and floodplains for a better understanding of water available for irrigation, power and
domestic consumption. The satellite also provides accurate information on any disturbance and
degradation of forest and upland areas.

The country also has the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Noah), which uses the
Lidar (light detection and ranging) technology. Project NOAH was initiated in June 2012 to help
manage risks associated with natural hazards and disasters. The project developed hydromet
sensors and high-resolution geo-hazard maps, which were generated by light detection and
ranging technology for flood modeling.

Noah helps the government in providing timely warning with a lead time of at least six hours in
the wake of impending floods.

According to Buendia, the country is now training the Cambodians on this technology, as part of
the partnerships among Asean countries, just like in the case of Japan which assisted the
country’s scientists and engineers in building its first micro-satellite.

Another hope lies in the so-called Intelligent Operation Center Platform.

Established through a collaboration between the local government of Davao City and IBM
Philippines Inc., the center resulted in the creation of a dashboard that allows authorized
government agencies, such as police, fire and anti-terrorism task force, to use analytics software
for monitoring events and operations in real time.

Initiatives

THE DOST, in cooperation with HEIs and research institutions, established advanced facilities
that seek to spur R&D activities and provide MSMEs access to testing services needed to
increase their productivity and competitive advantage.
One is the Advanced Device and Materials Testing Laboratories. The center houses advanced
equipment for failure analysis and materials characterization to address advanced analytical
needs for quality control, materials identification and R&D. Closely related to this facility is the
Electronics Products Development Center, used to design, develop and test hardware and
software for electronic products.

There are also high-performance computing facilities that perform tests and run computationally
intensive applications for numerical weather prediction, climate modeling, as well as analytics
and data modeling and archiving.

The Philippines could also boast of its Genome Center, a core facility that combines basic and
applied research for the development of health diagnostics, therapeutics, DNA forensics and
preventive products, and improved crop varieties.

According to Buendia, the country also has drug-discovery facilities, which address the
requirements for producing high-quality and globally acceptable drug candidates. She said the
Philippines also has nanotechnology centers, which provide technical services and enabling
environment for interdisciplinary and collaborative R&D in various nanotechnology
applications.

Buendia said there are also radiation processing facilities that are used to degrade, graft, or
crosslink polymers, monomers, or chemical compounds for industrial, agricultural,
environmental and medical applications. The Philippines could also boast of its Die and Mold
Solutions Center, which enhances the competitiveness of the local tool and die sector through the
localization of currently imported dies and molds.

These reflect that we are advancing, albeit slowly, to a culture that embraces STI as a sure path
to growth, according to Dela Peña.
 DRAFT
Science and Technology Agenda
in a Federal Philippines
Background, approaches and enabling specifics
A.
Background
Science and Technology for Industry
Any industrialization cannot happen without science and technology, and the support of scientists and
engineers.
We are
good in
training many technologists and scientists,
providing scholarships and other
educational tools and have a good crop of graduates
in the medical profession
s, engineers scientists and
agriculturists, but are not able to
harness th
e potential and build the needed knowledge capital.
Many
of our scientists are lured abroad in spite of the restrictions in their scholarship grants, or sell their
patents to foreign corporations. Until such a time that they can find sustainable and reward
ing avenues
to hone their science skills and build new knowledge in the Philippines, we still have much work to do.
This is why many of them are OFWs who support the Duterte candidacy and seek genuine change.
Innovation Culture
What recent success we have
had with the saltwater lamp, the salamander tricycle and the Diwata 1
microsatellite is a good start but only indicates that we have a long way to go before we create an
innovation culture.
Innovation can only happen with enough scientists and technologist
s per capita to
develop an “innovation ecosystem.”
Asean
Integration requires competitive technology
Science and technology help us understand nature and the world, and enables us to lead full lives trough
new and innovative means. It therefore requires th
at we as Filipinos, expand our science and technology
base to enable us to
compete in an integrated ASEAN.
B.
Two major approaches
1.
Stronger
Research and Development
in the regions, not just Manila
-
expand research and
development initiatives by providing mo
re grant support for R and D through the DOSTs sectoral
planning councils such as PCIERD, PCAARD and ASTI in cooperation with universities in the
regions. The science initiative must be distributed to the regions especially those where food
 production need
s to be improved
, industry needs to grow
and where innovation needs to
be
developed. This is critical in
light of climate change and expensive electricity
and the need to
disperse industry and economic activities
.
2.
Strategic projects
in five
areas:
Renewable energy
-
we need new technologies to enable high electricity yields in limited space
with less dependence on natural resources to enable us to meet our COP 21 commitments,
while lowering the price of electricity.
S and T for industry development
-
we need stronger participation of our scientists and
engineers if we want to revitalize our basic industries such as the steel industry.
F
aster and cheaper internet
–
we have
A
sias slowest internet, yet our archipelago needs it t
bridge gaps and build ne
tworks
.
increased food production
-
given limited lands, technology is needed to expand yields while
increasing quality of output and being less dependent on foreign inputs like fertilizers
climate change adaptation.
We need cutting edge technology to en
able our farmers to adapt to
changing climates and the need to do away with technologies that destroy the capacity for good
healthful yields.
C.
Enabling mechanisms
and specifics
1.
More Research grants through the DOST and its sectoral planning councils and i
nstitutes
2.
Strengthen the
Balik Scientist Program and retention program for current young scientists
-
our
young scientists must be engaged through actual research projects.
Many of our scientists and
engineers are OFWs who support our candidacy. We need the
ir help to uplift our countrys
 technology and we hope they come back.
3.
S and T cooperation within ASEAN
-
especially on the space program and climate change
adaptation.
4.
Cooperation between industry and the science community by involving them in the sectoral
planning councils.
DOSTs programs for SMEs (Such as SET
-
UP)
needs to be replicated further.