| Nicole Paterno |
Posted: July 24, 2009 10:01 AM |
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Joined June 5, 2009
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EDITORIAL - Focus on science
Updated July 24, 2009 12:00 AM
Forty years ago on July 20, a man walked on the moon for the first time. Filipinos joined the rest of the world in watching Neil Armstrong and then Buzz Aldrin disembark from Apollo 11 for the first moonwalk. A few days ago a younger generation of Filipinos watched footage of that momentous event on cable TV.
The other day Filipinos also wore light filters to watch the longest solar eclipse in a century, even if the phenomenon was seen only partially in the country. There is no lack of interest in scientific matters in the Philippines. Yet test results and international competitions have shown that Filipino students have fallen far behind their counterparts in other countries including those in Asia when it comes to science and mathematics.
This weakness has made the Philippines dependent on foreign technology transfer. Local industries lack the innovative cutting-edge technology that can make Philippine products excel in a highly competitive global economy. The impact of this weakness in the sciences and mathematics can be seen in various sectors. The country, for example, has been slow in developing a competitive local pharmaceutical industry, which is the best way to bring down the cost of drugs and health care. The country should look at India, which is showing that developing countries can compete in this field.
The so-called miracle rice, which helped ease global hunger many years ago, was developed in the Philippines. Scientists in advanced economies are now studying the simulation of the volcanic debris spewed into the atmosphere by Mt. Pinatubo to fight global warming. Filipinos can be involved in that kind of pioneering research, given proper education in the sciences starting from grade school. The curiosity, the willingness to learn and the capability are there, and must be nurtured for national progress.
We are talking here not about sending a man to the moon, but of simply developing our own cures even for common afflictions. The school curriculum was revised several years ago to give proper emphasis on the teaching of science and mathematics. The success of this program must be evaluated and the thrust intensified. |
| Gregory Raymund Divino |
Posted: October 5, 2009 9:25 PM
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Joined July 9, 2009
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I belong to the semiconductor industry and I have been connected with this Japanese company for almost 14 years now. It pains me to see China moving up the high value chain ahead of us. They are not only a low cost provider of consumer electronics. But they are now moving towards providing their own chips (integrated circuits) for their products. Even if we cannot become a global player right away we should at least be able to compete with China and other Asian countries.
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| Vincent Villamil |
Posted: October 8, 2009 6:54 AM
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Joined November 7, 2008
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We have seen our asian neighbors moving up. Taking a look at my country, I have seen some things lacking. China had great government support for innovation. Korea had a forceful but visionary leader. Japan is very proud of its samurai spirit. The Philippines is only using technology transfer channels to make money. We are not really after the technology. We dont have a global vision. We need to treat the country as one single company. We must have a strong CEO with a vision and who will lead us to achieve the mission. We need to have a purpose in this world. We need to thirst for a global brand name. We have The Philippine Batteries Inc for example to initiate some R&D since the trend for automobiles is going electric. TPBI should dream of a Philippine Eletric car!
We need to know where want to be, when, and collaborate tenaciously on how. Technology, as simple as BGN, can help spark the Filipino interest to dream - influence the public sector, institutions, the small shops to become bigger and global. |
| Nicole Paterno |
Posted: October 9, 2009 3:55 PM
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Joined June 5, 2009
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It's a bit sad 'no? But anyway, may I invite you guys to read an article I uploaded in the Blogs section of this website. It's entitled "Give me your scientists ..."
It's actually from The Economist. When I came across it, I just had to read it and it gave me a different perspective on how we should treat "brain drain". The analysis or reseach made - to me, ha - seemed to negate the issue of "brain drain". Please do check it out and let me know your thoughts by posting comments on the Comments portion below it.
Thanks! |
| Judith Magnaye |
Posted: December 23, 2009 12:28 AM
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Joined September 14, 2005
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My friend Christine and I had the opportunity of interviewing Mr. Dado Banatao of San Francisco via teleconference from New York last year. Christine drafted the cover page feature article on: "From Cagayan Valley to Silicon Valley: Achieving the Filipino Dream" and I edited it. This was for our issue focussing o the theme: migration and development. I am pasting below the salient points which I think are relevant to this discussion topic.
"You have always strongly articulated the need to influence the education in the Philippines, particularly in science and engineering. Was the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) receptive to your idea?
Yes, I am currently working with DECS on certain programmes. Sometimes, I also meet the President to fund things and luckily she is responding. But it is not enough. A cultural change needs to happen. It is a ground-up kind of initiative versus forcing people to think of science and engineering. If family cultures don’t change, there is no way that we can get out of this condition.
The problem is that we’re spending hundreds and millions of dollars on technology products. If we are properly trained, we can do these things. The industry is not showing any willingness to help the educational system- to train more people. However, this is a circular problem.
How do you think can we influence cultural change?
People have to remember that it is very difficult to understand science and technology especially to an ordinary parent or person. To make this happen, , I spend more time with major leverage players like the academe, the government, even engaging discussions at the President’s level. I help research institutions, participate in conferences, fellowships, speaking engagements where I can address the leaders of the industry and give them these key messages.
It is certainly hard to do this alone. Sometimes, I tell the leaders that your future may slip away- if you don’t invest in technology. Our nation is dying. Some people don’t appreciate this kind of message but I have to tell them. It really pains me because at the end of the day, we are all Filipinos.
We need to mobilize everyone to really care about helping the right way. There are practical things that we can do to help our country. But we forget about the strategic help that our country needs and these long term effects have more important leverage than just quick healing.
I have been telling people here in the US that there is not just enough wealth that the Philippine community can generate. We need to think about giving more money for high leverage things like education.
It is a given that majority of overseas Filipinos migrate as skilled workers such as nurses, seafarers and construction workers. Some are skilled white collar professionals such as engineers and accountants. They don't have graduate degrees in high technology. What are the opportunities for them to venture into technology entrepreneurship?
The only opportunity is for Filipinos to retrain and retool themselves. They have to work really hard and take some risks. We are just too content with the fact that we are here and that this is sufficient. I took it differently. I clearly understood the opportunities that one can attain here. Thus, I told myself that I need to compete and retrain.
Considering your capacity to help develop our talented IT graduates in the
Philippines, could you share with us what you have done so far towards this goal ? In your view, what has been the impact on the IT industry in the country?
It is hard to see the impact now since this will take time. My impact in the IT industry in the Philippines has been mainly through direct advising. It is hard to see the impact. But I want to affect the educational system first because this has a lot more leverage than direct input to the industry. The industry cannot be sustained without a credible work force.
What particular programmes have you undertaken to pursue this objective?
Five years ago, my wife and I started a programme where we have fellowships for professors from the University of the Philippines, College of Engineering. We sponsor one professor every year to go UC Berkeley to work side by side with the top experts, in research and education. I am beginning to see the impact of this initiative and we will continue with this programme. Aside from working on that level of research, these fellows spend a whole month here with me and my staff and show them how to make technology real. I show them how to fund technology start-ups. I purposely limit the scope of their work to here and the UC system because unless you spend time here, you don’t get the essence of what we do here.
We also sponsor young, bright elementary students from my hometown in Mallabac, Cagayan to Philippine Science High School. We are currently establishing a research institute at the UP College of Engineering.
Another thing that we started is to fund elementary public school teachers to obtain their graduate degrees in science and mathematics to make them more qualified teachers in math and science versus general education teachers. Our first batch included 6 teachers.
In addition to these programmes, you and your wife also started the Banatao Filipino American Education Fund in the United States. Can you tell us more about this initiative?
Our passion is really in science and engineering education. We help Filipino American high school graduates excelling in science and mathematics to pursue engineering degrees in college. Two classes have already graduated and we have 28 ongoing scholars. One of the main criteria is that they have to be 50% Filipino.
We do not offer just financial support but we also fund SAT review classes. Once they are in the programme, we have dinner with the new scholars, and their parents to know their families. The highlight of the year is that we hold a 3 day retreat for the scholars where we bring in top professors from the top universities, successful entrepreneurs, CEOs of technology companies, Phd students for them to get exposed to – to all the different things that they may encounter and to gain a better view of the industry. I thought that this programme should not only focus on financial help but more significantly contribute to an overall development of a good young mind, a well-rounded individual once they graduate. "
To read the full article, follow his link: http://www.friendsofpcs.org/ugnayan/ugnayan-vol3-iss2-web.pdf |
