Program pushes for more science, tech experts

Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo and Commission on Higher Education chair Patricia B. Licuanan will be the keynote speakers at a global entrepreneurship symposium on science and technology, innovation and the role of S&T education and entrepreneurship in pushing the country forward, at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong on March 17. FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines—Top science and technology (S&T) experts, captains of industry and leaders in the academe will star in a global entrepreneurship symposium on science and technology, innovation and the role of S&T education and entrepreneurship in pushing the country forward, at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong on March 17.

Spearheaded by technology innovator and Silicon Valley hotshot Dado Banatao, the Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev)/United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Innovative Development through Entrepreneurship Acceleration (Idea) program will kick off with a series of hands-on entrepreneurship workshops for science and engineering students, with US and Filipino professors and entrepreneurs as mentors, from March 14-15 at the Asian Institute of Management Conference Center.

The PhilDev has launched a three-year program, with support from the USAID, which aims to develop more entrepreneurs in science and technology, spurred by a curriculum change in the country’s science and engineering education system.

The Idea Program will help develop S&T entrepreneurship education, provide trainings on market-led economic development, and develop science and engineering graduates who are adept in innovation-driven productivity.

Keynote speakers at the symposium will be Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo and Commission on Higher Education chair Patricia B. Licuanan. Among the panelists are University of the Philippines System President Alfredo E. Pascual; Ayala Corp. president Fernando Zobel de Ayala; National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan; Senators Paolo Benigno Aquino, Sonny Angara and Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares; and Banatao, PhilDev chair, who will also deliver the closing remarks.

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg will speak on US-Philippine bilateral programs on education, S&T, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Acting as moderators will be PhilDev trustees Jones M. Castro Jr., Paco S.A. Sandejas, Ronna Reyes-Sieh, Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Martin Pascual and Eric T. Manlunas.

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