Government grants for research and development (R&D) activities continue to increase as universities and R&D institutions become more active in pursuing new discoveries in numerous fields, particularly biotechnology, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Graciano Yumul Jr., Department of Science and Technology undersecretary for research and development, informed the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines.) that grants in aid (GIA) given to schools and the R&D sector reached P700 million in 2007.

The figure, Yumul said, is a huge improvement from the P400 million given in 2006 and P250 million in 2005.

Last year, the universities and R&D sector received P375 million of the P700 million total grant. Other GIA programs include science and technology promotion (P175 million) and technology transfer and utilization (P150 million).

The six priority R&D fields, Yumul added, are biotechnology, information and communication technology, health and pharmaceuticals, environment, alternative fuels and agriculture.

“Intellectual-property and technology-transfer issues are increasingly becoming important. Universities and research and development institutions [RDI], though starting, already have some success stories,” Yumul said.

The good thing, he said, is that IP initiatives, programs and platforms are currently provided and nurtured by the government.

The IP Philippines recently conducted the First National Conference on Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialization to teach universities ways to take advantage of the economic benefits of their inventions and innovations.

“Universities and research and development institutions are the country’s centers of innovation. Linking their innovations with the market will attract more investments, generate employment and enhance the country’s competitiveness,” Adrian Cristobal Jr., director general of IP Philippines, said.

Cristobal said universities and RDIs must start developing and implementing IP policies within their communities to lay down the rules of ownership, rights and obligations that will guide innovators.

“Only when these rules are clear will commerce participate in technological development and commercialisation,” he added.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) projects that palay harvest for January to June may exceed 7.1 million metric tons (MMT).

THE government continues to fill its rice warehouses in Central Luzon with imported stocks while keeping aside the 25,535 bags of unmilled grains earlier procured to offset the impact of the lean season, which came much earlier than usual.

THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) regional office in Davao is pinning its hopes on Administrative Order (AO) 225 to enable the region to achieve rice self-sufficiency in the near term.

Government grants for research and development (R&D) activities continue to increase as universities and R&D institutions become more active in pursuing new discoveries in numerous fields, particularly biotechnology, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s biggest power distributor, said Wednesday that its customers will experience a P0.4234 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) reduction in the generation-charge component of their June electricity bills.

IN the face of unrelenting increases in the price of oil, former President Fidel Ramos on Tuesday suggested that the government should look closely into other indigenous sources of power, instead of the administration pinning its hope on a revived Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (Bnpp).

WHAT is required to succeed in business and in management is a formula that’s been shifting over the past decade or two in some very important ways. Career paths and approaches to work that were winners throughout much of this century are no longer paying off well. Nevertheless, a significant number of people are still trying to use the old strategies, with frequent encouragement from most major institutions: big business, big labor, government and education.

WITH the advent of electronic commerce (e-commerce) in the country, online shopping has slowly made its way to the Filipino buying culture. Today, more and more Internet-savvy consumers are stepping into “virtual retail outlets” to find a vast collection of products, ranging from the simple to novelty, or from cheap to classy.