ANGARA TO DOST: USE S&T TO SOLVE KEY NATIONAL PROBLEMS

Senator Edgardo J. Angara urged the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to direct their research projects toward solving key challenges facing the country today, such as disaster mitigation and food security.

Angara called for a more relevant DOST during a discussion forum today hosted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and the DOST.

"Science and technology (S&T) are not created in a vacuum. The DOST has to have a keen sense of the country's needs so that they can steer their projects to address these needs," said the lawmaker, who chairs the Senate Committee on Science and Technology.

"Taxpayers' money go into the funding of the DOST, and the taxpayers must likewise feel the effects of the DOST's innovations," stressed Angara.

Part of the relevant DOST is making technology available where it is most needed. Angara urged the formation of innovation clusters to stimulate S&T development.

He encouraged the creation of a long-term national agenda that involves cooperation between the academe and industry through public-private partnerships (PPPs). In this way, new discoveries and expertise generated by the academe can be cascaded down to the general public through patents, commercialization and manufacture of new products and technologies, and the training of new technicians and practitioners by experts in a given field.

"Such cooperation will drastically increase the impact of S&T in our society," said Angara. "Our country's 50 years of investment in S&T must be demonstrated in our capability to solve problems, create high-value products and services, and generate new high-tech jobs for our people."

Angara believes that this DOST revamp will help foster a culture of innovation which will put Filipino knowledge and creativity at the forefront, and significantly improve the quality of Filipino lives.