As their titles connote, these books look they are not easy reading: Science for Scale: Stories of How Companies Embraced Innovation for Growth; Science for Success: Stories of How Science and Technology Can Help Your Business; and Science for Social Change: Helping People Help Themselves.
But as the idiom says, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Rightly so, because between the books’ covers are stories that are light-reading and inspiring features of success and best practices in applying science and technology (S&T).
They aim for the development of small and medium enterprises, startup companies and local communities.
Consider these topics: Nutridense’s Rimo rice-mongo curls to fight malnutrition; lagundi herbal cough syrup; Kezar’s affordable 3D printing; low-cost dengue detection kit; coffee farming among the B’laans in South Cotabato and R&D La Union; nata de coco based CocoPatch wound dressing; innovation in local wine making and other food products; use of technology for innovation; and many others.
Another milestone for DOST
The three books were launched recently by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), sort of a “detour from the pandemic” and “another milestone of the DOST,” Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said during the virtual launching.
They were part of the first books series “Science for the People” that present the very essence of Filipinnovation, or Filipino innovation, the policy set by the DOST with other government agencies a decade ago to help lead the country to growth and development.
De le Peña said “witnessing scientists and engineers working hand in hand with people from business and industry” present a “good combination that leads to better productivity and quality” of products.
“The very reasons why we put together our aspirations, inspirations and stories is to present the human side of science as well as the inspiring story of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs taking on the challenges of working together with science, technology and innovation as their common backbones,” he said.
More importantly, he added, the books also “tell the story of each Filipino” whose life has been strongly affected by S&T.
“In the pages of the books, we see the positive changes in communities and how people learned to help themselves through what we call social innovations,” he said.
He expressed hope that the readers “will get inspired and be moved like how a small farmer, or a startup, or a budding entrepreneur was touched by [S&T].”
‘Pictures show how S&T make change happen’
Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said that when one read the book, “the building blocks of research, development, innovation and creativity are demonstrated using businesses and examples of entrepreneurs.”
“I really love the pictures… they say so much more about how [S&T] make change happen for our businesses and Filipino entrepreneurs,” she said.
Guevara added: “By the time you reach the end of the book, you will conclude that indeed science and entrepreneurship will really go a long way for the country’s economic growth, industry competitiveness and a better life for every Filipino.”
The authors
The book Science for Scale: Stories of How Companies Embraced Innovation for Growth was authored by Winston Damarillo, a digital transformation pioneer behind the company Amihan Global Strategies.
Science for Success: Stories of How Science and Technology Can Help Your Business was written by the tandem of friends Maret Follosco-Bautista, chairman and president of companies under the CL Follosco Group, and Robina Gokongwei-Pe, president and CEO of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc.
On the other hand, Science for Social Change: Helping People Help Themselves was authored by Dr. Segundo Romero, president of the Universities and Research Councils Network in Innovation for Inclusive Development in Southeast Asia.
‘Sparks of transformative change’
In Science for Scale, Damarillo, in his introduction, said, “There is always a better way…. This book talks about the stories of scientists, entrepreneurs and companies in different stages of innovation to drive their growth and success.”
The first step to coming up with a game-changing product, technology or anything, is putting in hours of mental labor and experimentation to arrive at a prototype, he said.
“[I]n this book, you’ll definitely meet people who have achieved success—from a university professor who concocted a cleaning agent in a school laboratory and wound up starting her own company, to a CEO who is putting Philippine manufactured electronics on the map and in self-driving cars of the future,” he said.
Science for Success, co-authors Bautista and Pe said that being children of entrepreneurs, the best way to learn a business is from the bottom.
“In tough times, entrepreneurs display grit to steer the people they are responsible for toward a stable future,” they wrote.
They said the book “tells stories of innovative individuals all over the country who have embraced [S&T] as a strategy for survival and growth.”
Through the book, they said, they would like to add another superpower to the business owner’s toolkit: “a focus on [R&D], inspired by innovative individuals all over the country who have embraced [S&T] as a strategy for survival and growth.”
In Science for Social Change, Romero said that in writing the book “I learned that there are genuine breakthroughs in poor, rural and marginalized areas, and that there are people trying to improve their living conditions.”
He added that always, “creative and highly motivated individuals start the change process,” sometimes, it comes from within the community, sometimes it is introduced from the outside.
“These are the sparks of transformative change that we must now apply,” Romero said.
The book, Science for Change, however, has yet to be published in November.
Expert reviews
Scientists and communication experts reviewed the books.
Dr. Adelaida P. Lucero, former chairman of the Humanities Division of the DOST-NRCP and professor at University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD), and Academician Dr. Alvin B. Culaba, past president of NRCP and Distinguished Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering at De La Salle University Manila, reviewed the book Science for Scale.
Lucero wrote that the book “was written for easy reading/understanding, with the ultimate goal of making the public appreciate [S&T].”
For his part, Culaba said, “Damarillo did an outstanding work by providing an easy-to-follow and candid real-life account of the significance of science in every aspect of life.”
For Science for Success, the reviewers were National Scientist Dr. Lourdes J. Cruz, also a past president of NRCP and professor emeritus of the Marine Science Institute, UPD, and Dr. Elena E. Pernia, vice president for Public Affairs of the UP System and professor at the College of Mass Communication at UPD.
Cruz wrote, “The book delivers each lesson through stories that explain the problems encountered, and the S&T-based solutions that resulted in the improvement of a process, product and opportunities.”
For the “usual scientist like me with no business sense,” Cruz said, “it can serve and as an eye opener and a primer.”
For her part, Pernia wrote: “Science makes good business, and business needs science. This is the main theme of the book, Science for Success—a delightful and engaging reading whether one is an entrepreneur or thinking of becoming one.”
Without a doubt, she said, the book is a “valuable contribution to business-cum-science literature,” and “it helps strengthen the advocacy for science communication in the country.”
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, DOST Undersecretaries Brenda Nazareth-Manzano and Renato Solidum, and Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion graced the book launching and gave messages on the importance of the link between entrepreneurs and science, technology and innovation.
1 comment
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