The University of the Philippines convened researchers and academics, industry and government leaders, and community partners for Inoblasyon: The UP Innovation Summit, held May 5 to 6, showcasing the impact of the university’s research breakthroughs and partnerships with several industries and sectors.
“It is not enough [for UP] to produce leaders. We have to start creating more discoveries and innovations that can actually affect people’s lives. In other words, we have to be a university of impact,” UP President Angelo Jimenez said as he opened the summit at the SMX Convention Center Aura in Taguig City.
Jimenez further highlighted that the event sought to leverage UP’s expertise by engaging various industries, grassroots communities, and civil society in co-creating innovative solutions that respond to national challenges and development priorities — underscoring that “innovation is public service.”
He urged that UP “must now act as an anchor institution connecting research with policy, ideas, and most importantly, action” especially with the establishment of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, which was formally launched during the summit.
UP Vice President for Research and Innovation Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. opens the summit. Photo by Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.
VPRI Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. likewise called for the strengthening of systems that enable innovation to thrive, such as access to government funding and institutional support for researchers, startups, and social enterprises: “Impactful research requires not only brilliant ideas but strong institutions, efficient processes, and the capacity to translate knowledge into outcomes at scale.”
Government leaders expressed support for the summit, including Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Department of Information and Communication Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda, Department of Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr., and Department of Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary Nylah Rizza Bautista who heads the DTI Competitiveness and Innovation Group.
Delivering the summit’s keynote speech, Anuj Jain, director of Nanyang Technological University Singapore’s Graduate Research Innovation Program, underscored the need to establish a cohesive innovation ecosystem in the country, where the translation of ideas is “intentional and well-orchestrated… from lab to market and to a global scale.”
Plenary sessions throughout the two-day summit discussed the strategic importance of university-industry collaborations in driving nation building, innovations for sustainable and resilient energy systems especially amid global shocks, social enterprises and their impact in empowering marginalized sectors, as well as successful chip design collaborations in the local semiconductor industry.
Afternoon sessions, meanwhile, featured knowledge exchange discussions and UP-developed technologies, startups, and research in several innovation clusters addressing the needs of various sectors and industries.
Concluding the two-day summit, UP Vice President for Public Affairs Marian Coquia-Regidor said that the event signaled UP’s “renewed commitment to what UP stands for — honor, excellence, and service — now expressed in innovation that is shared, inclusive, and deeply rooted in the needs of the Filipino people.”
Inoblasyon: The UP Innovation Summit was organized by the OVPRI and the UP System Technology Transfer and Business Development Office in partnership with the Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs.