The Year 2016 is a springboard year to inculcate stronger concepts of

productivity and efficiency in S&T education to further the

administration’s goal of “inclusive growth” among our fellow Filipinos.

As such, utilizing technology towards preparing the future, our

policies must be grounded in sound science, one that is oriented to
improve linkage with industry and fast track the creation of more
innovation centers that will ensure the rollout of tangible benefits for
our society. For the science and business community, it must plan the
future together, while we in government must demonstrate clear
intent of our commitment to inspire scientists and engineers of
tomorrow and reshape our economy into one that rewards creation
and generation of knowledge to the highest possible means.

The Department of Education, our partner agency, has the challenging

task of building up a critical mass of highly trained S&T human
resource through scholarships, trainings, promotions and educational
advancement initiatives. It truly complements our mandate, which is
to accelerate the pace of knowledge-driven development through S&T
in accordance with its growth potential in the country.

Viewed from these, it can therefore be claimed that the challenges to

our mandates on research and extension are long-standing and
deeply entrenched, but we are blazing new trails with renewed
dedication to meet these challenges guided by our development
agenda. We aim to provide breakthroughs and achievements in S&T
through research and extension for the benefits of the local
community as a whole.
Our work does not end here because we shall also further explore the
role of Public Private Partnership and the development of new
technologies through research and development programs that will
solve national concerns, particularly on health, agriculture,
environment, disaster response and risk reduction, and among other
timely issues that need to be addressed.

Moreover, our desire to find ways and means to make new

technologies accessible to the people in the rural areas is also the
essence of our countryside development thrust, since we need to
convince more people about S&T and its benefits toward improving
their lives. On a more general view, we must help also improve the
competitiveness of homegrown industries like business process
outsourcing, electronics, mining and renewable energy. It is also a
need to develop our huge potential to advance emerging technologies
like advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, nanotechnology,
genomics and advanced food production technology. In the process,
our creative initiatives that promote interconnectedness and
distribution networks pave the way towards efficient delivery of
government and social services for better public service.

With our strong pro-industry and pro-people stance, we must always

advance our motto – local technology works! Thus, strengthening the
culture of research capability building seminar-workshop such as this
will produce serviceable innovations, build links with the business
community, thereby create sustainable means of income for our own
scientists, and in a more larger perspective, uplift people’s lives.

Thank you.