TO nurture the culture of startups it has to start in the academe.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 7 are calling on schools to embrace the skills of tech-savvy students to strengthen the innovation scene.
Maria Elena Arbon, DTI 7 assistant director, told SunStar Cebu that the startup community needs more support during the early stages and that schools play an important role and are the perfect avenue for this tech-savvy generation to master digital skills.
“It is about encouraging students to ideate something, to create a solution to a particular problem. It is a culmination of ideas and basically, there is always potential. There are a lot of pivots during the process of creating a startup and it is good that they are starting now even among fourth year students,” said Arbon, referring to the growing number of schools that have signified support in growing the startup ecosystem here.
Arbon said there is an increasing awareness in the local scene when it comes to startups.
“DOST and DTI are working together to strengthen the innovation ecosystem so we can give more support to startups that are coming out. The awareness is increasing and there are so many who are already jumping into this, but we see gaps,” she said.
These gaps include the startup’s capability to compete in the economic aspect.
“That is what is lacking among our startups. There is so much on the technology but they lack in the business aspect,” she said.
DOST 7 Provincial Director Tristan Abando said sustaining a startup is not just focusing on the technology but also making sure it is profitable.
“They are developing applications that have potential in solving pressing concerns in the community. But there needs to be more knowledge also on its capacity to delve into e-commerce,” he said.
Abando said angel investors and venture capitalists not only look at the function of a startup but also its business model.
A startup is a company that is in the first stage of its operations.
According to the first study profiling of the Philippine start-up ecosystem by PwC Philippines and the DTI, there are currently more than 300 startups in the country and over 200 of them are actively operating.
On May 16 this year, the Senate passed on third and final reading Senate Bill 1532 also known as the “Act Promoting Benefits and Programs to strengthen, promote, and develop the Philippine Startup Ecosystem” and was authored by Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV.
The bill targets to provide benefits and incentives in the form of waived application fees, refund of fees for permits and certifications, and expedited processing of permits and certificates. Included also in the bill is a provision of P10 billion Innovative Startup Venture Fund that the entrepreneurs can apply for.
Recently on Nov. 26, nine developer teams from different universities competed in creating mobile applications during the first Mobile App Venture Challenge in Cebu.
The competition challenged fourth year information technology and business students to unleash their creative skills and build mobile applications that benefit the community and are sustainable. (JOB)