EDUCATION IS OUR FUTURE

1. EDUCATION IS OUR FUTURE Jaime V. Ongpin Lecture by Senator Edgardo J. Angara

2. KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY AND ECONOMY HUMAN CAPITAL

3. ECONOMIC GROWTH & POVERTY REDUCTION SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION (STI) EDUCATION

4. Advances in STI around the globe Experiences of other countries in STI Philippine STI – direction, strategies, efforts Critical gaps and STI readiness; Recommendations for various stakeholders Overview of the Lecture

5. Trends in STI • Biotechnology • ICT • Nanotechnology • Neurotechnology

6. Trends in STI BIOTECHNOLOGY Agriculture & Food Medicine

7. Trends in STI INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ICT for Education & Development Widened access to knowledge Increase in opportunities and incomes

8. Trends in STI NANOTECHNOLOGY In engineering, chemistry, electronics and medicine In agriculture, farming, public health and the envionment

9. Trends in STI NEUROTECHNOLOGY Central nervous system Possible cure for Alzheimer’s

10. Bio-ICT-Nano-Neuro • Work in these fields will dramatically change various dimensions of our lives. • Developed countries have moved forward to new and dynamic frontiers, but the Philippines seems to be stuck in the lower-end of technology

11. Country Experiences in Development through STI NEW SOURCES OF WEALTH COMPETITION INNOVATIONS TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES

12. CHINA Country Experiences in Development through STI STRATEGIES: • Improvement of Education System → Higher Skills level of labor force • Mobilized resources for R&D • National Innovation System (NIS)

13. Country Experiences in Development through STI STRATEGIES: National Priority: S&T Investments in Basic & Heavy Technologies Creation of R&D Promotion Policies Integration of S&T Planning to overall planning process Technology transfers Strengthened linkages between industry, R&D institutions and financial institutions INDIA

14. THAILAND Country Experiences in Development through STI STRATEGIES: • National Science & Technology Strategic Plan in 2004 • Four Core Technologies: • ICT Materials technology • Biotechnology Nanotechnology • Building support for targeted technologies • Promoting awareness in S&T • Producing more S&T capabilities • Building infrastructures and institutions that promote STI

15. Lessons Learned from other Countries’ Experiences Heavy investment in basic public goods and services such as roads and ports, clean water, health and education Nurture and support to SMEs Strong support for higher education institutions, science academies, engineering societies, industry and trade associations Inter-institutional linkages among universities, industries, government research agencies, NGOs Good governance: transparency in the use of public resources, rule of law in social and business transactions, reward for risk takers and entrepreneurs

16. FILIPINNOVATION: STI in the Philippines STATE of STI in the COUNTRY: Science and Technology System remains poor Dearth of innovative ideas Commercialization of new products and inventions almost non-existent

17. FILIPINNOVATION: STI in the Philippines I. Poor S&T System: Human Resource Unpreparedness • Low number of S&T graduates: • 13% engineers and scientists, 9.5% IT • Low scores in science achievement tests of both elementary (52%) and HS students (39%) • Declining quality and number of teachers: • 90% Physics teachers are non-majors; 80% in Chemistry • Fundamental resource gaps in education: teachers, textbook, classrooms = Unacceptably large class size • Limited access to basic ICT tools: • Student-to-PC ratio of 1:26,000 in public elementary; 1:111 in high school; 46:1,000 computer ownership; Internet penetration 12th in Asia

18. FILIPINNOVATION: STI in the Philippines I. Poor S&T System: • Poor R&D • Public funding of R&D has been erratic • % of GDP – RP 0.11% • - Japan 3.12% • - Singapore 2.15% • No. of scientists and engineers in R&D: • 152 per million population – less than half of UN recommended ratio for sustainable dev’t • Private firms: • Few R&D initiatives and even lower efforts at maximizing S&T staff

19. FILIPINNOVATION: STI in the Philippines II. Lack of Innovation Culture: No overall policy framework to support STI Enabling policies do not encourage institutional linkages (e.g. linking DOST’s innovation promotion with DTI’s fiscal incentives) Labor Code out of tune with technological times

20. FILIPINNOVATION: STI in the Philippines III. Commercialization of products almost non-existent Weak university-industry linkages and other forms of networking Little or no incentive to innovate, hence RP has one of the lowest patent applications in the region

21. FILIPINNOVATION: STI in the Philippines Direction, Strategies and Efforts in STI: • Government Programs in STI: • NSTP 2002 -2020 • Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) • Philippine Research, Education and Government Information Network (PREGINET) • Scholarships and infrastructure development programs • Increased Budgetary Allocations • Academic Networking • Research consortium among six SUCs in CAR to support upland agriculture • Engineering Research & Development for Technology Consortium (ERDT)

22. Bigger investments in education and R&D Science and mathematics education improvement Inter-institutional linkages among universities, research institutes, government and business Transform ideas to high-value products Enact policies supportive of STI CONCLUSION:WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

23. CONCLUSION:WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? 1. Invest heavily in education, research and development Increase public and private investments in R&D R&D should help entrepreneurs utilize and apply technology to make “low tech” activities (e.g fishing and farming) innovative. R&D should respond to the development needs of the country.

24. CONCLUSION:WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? 2. Upgrade science and mathematics education at all levels • Undertaking education reforms must begin in Science and Mathematics education improvement • The quality of undergraduate Science and Math education directly affects the number of scientists and the capabilities of students who become engineers, researchers and teachers

25. CONCLUSION:WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? 3. Promote industry-academe-government linkages • Engage foreign and local business enterprises and draw on their capacity to finance R&D investments • Network with Overseas Filipinos involved in science, technology and engineering to bridge the technology gap

26. CONCLUSION:WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? 4. Transform ideas to high-value products • Do fundamental ICT R&D on cutting-edge hardware and software for ICT industry and applications • Move from contract assemblers of electronics and semiconductors to creators of systems and chips that run cellphones and computer to secure larger slice of global ICT revenue pie • ICT companies such as Globe, PLDT, and Smart should become significant R&D players rather than simply top importers of boxed solutions

27. CONCLUSION:WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? Create an enabling environment through public policy Congressional Commission on Science, Technology & Engineering (COMSTE) • Priority Areas: • Energy and environment • Electronics & Semiconductors • Information Technology & IT-enabled industries • Agriculture and food • Health Sciences • Science education & R&D Objective: To raise the country’s competitiveness through public and private support for strengthening science, technology and engineering R&D

28. CREATING THE FUTURE • pour massive investments in upgrading science, mathematics, and engineering education at all levels • unceasingly foster a culture that supports R&D in STI GOALS AIM: uplift the living standards of Filipinos STRATEGY: STRONG PARTNERSHIPS FOR COMPETITIVENESS • National and Local Governments • Policy-makers • Educational & Research Institutions • Media • Industries • Private Sector

29. Thank you!