Making Digital Technology Work for the People

 (by GLADY T. REYES of DOST Regional Office VI)

Community lockdowns due to the COVID19 made it difficult for DOST VI to continue delivering Science and Technology Services especially trainings and seminars to its stakeholders. Face-to-face meetings were prohibited due to the possible health risks upon the resource persons and the participants. However, public service remained uninterrupted for DOST through the use of technology.

DOST VI employees had to remain productive even on a work-from-home scheme during the period of community quarantine. The Management Information Systems of DOST VI through the leadership or Mr. Garry Balinon devised a way to use technology to make virtual learning possible.

The MIS developed the Individualized Training and Empowerment for Advancement of Competent Human Resource (iTEACH) learning portal for DOST VI personnel in collaboration with a DOST VI quality circle team. Through iTEACH, 13 trainings were conducted with a total of 1,010 participants. These trainings enhanced the technical competencies of DOST VI employees in order to serve the public better.

Numerous MSMEs closed their business during the pandemic and they needed new business ideas and innovative business models to bounce back. DOST VI developed Expert-O or the Expert Online program which offers free webinars to MSMEs through DOST’s OneExpert portal. The goal was to help local industries recover from the economic impact of the pandemic, and provide ideas to many who lost their livelihood at the height of the pandemic. 

Four webinars were successfully conducted in collaboration with DOST Research and Development Institutes, the academe, and other partner agencies since the launching of Expert-O on June 23, 2020. The topics covered in the webinars include various technologies for commercialization from the respective agencies, the corresponding technology transfer procedures, food packaging, smart manufacturing solutions, and aquaculture-related technologies. The topics were prepared in collaboration with the experts from the Central Philippine University-College of Packaging Engineering, DOST-ITDI Packaging Technology Division, DOST-Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC), University of the Philippines in the Visayas-Technology Transfer and Business Development Office (UPVTTBDO), and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD). 

The client registration at the OneExpert portal has increased significantly from 2,253 to 3,092 covering the months of June to August this year indicating that more and more people are interested in exploring new business opportunities. More topics are lined up in the succeeding months.

We will get through this by seeing every challenge as an opportunity to better serve others. It starts with accepting that the world is bigger than what’s right in front of us. - Bernadette Smith. 

By making digital technology work for the people, the challenges brought about by the pandemic only became an opportunity for DOST and its partner agencies to better serve others. Afterall, the world is bigger than this threat right in front of us. 

(Mr. Gary T. Balinon is a Science Research Specialist II of DOST Regional Office VI)