The country aims to develop innovation hubs that can bring more entrepreneurs together in support of the government’s new industrial strategy.
Trade Assistant Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba said the regional and local inclusive innovative hubs, the cornerstone of the department’s Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy or i3S, can bridge the gap between innovation and entrepreneurship.
“The Philippines’ new industrial policy is innovation-focused,” she said.
Aldaba said the regional inclusive innovation hubs create a regional ecosystem made up of universities, research and development (R&D) laboratories, science and technology (S&T) parks, incubators, fabrication laboratories, co-working spaces, investors and local government units (LGUs), startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises.
The strategy focuses on electronics, auto, aerospace, chemicals, information technology-business process management and agribusiness, she said.
While the Philippines has gradually improved in terms of innovation based on the Global Innovation Index 2017, Aldaba pointed out that the country needs to deal with its weaknesses, which include ease of starting a business, science and technical articles and ease of protecting minority investors.
“These weaknesses need to be addressed in order to engender more innovation and entrepreneurship in the country,” she said.
The trade official said innovation and entrepreneurship, which are among the five major pillars of i3S, involve the regional inclusive innovation hub, government-academe-industry links, market-oriented research, R&D centers, innovation incentives and shared facilities and support for startups. (Philexport News and Features)