THE past year was definitely memorable that it had to be named twice: 2020. Many could consider it a year of the great upset, when so much was lost: jobs, businesses, travel, even lives. But it could also be the year of the radical reset as it became the fulcrum towards going more fully digital.
The Science and Technology Information Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-STII) is one of the smallest of the 18 agencies of the Department with a mere 0.48 percent of the entire DOST budget in 2020. And yet, amid the pandemic, we found out that with our “little mandate,” we actually have a big voice.
Here are the eight lessons we learned from this challenging environment:
Lesson 1: Remember your friends
EARLY in the quarantine period, we dug into our personal pockets to send food packs to many of our media contacts who lost income opportunities. We organized a virtual memorial for one who passed away. We engaged our friends in virtual pressers so they can continue to report stories on S&T.
Charity begins at home and we ensured that our own employees were safe by strictly following prescribed health standards. We enforced the work-from-home arrangement. We paid out salaries and benefits on time to assuage economic fears. We supported mental health to overcome the longer-term impact of the lockdown. By taking care of our own, we ensured the continuous delivery of our services amidst the pandemic.
Lesson 2: Make size matter
WE did not consider size a liability, instead we focused on our strengths. We leveraged our two major programs, which were included in the National Priority Plan of the National Economic and Development Authority for 2020: STARBOOKS, a digital S&T library in a box, and DOSTv, our broadcast program.
On February 14, 2020, DepEd signed a MOA with DOST-STII adopting STARBOOKS and including it in their learning commons. We developed three mobile apps to make STARBOOKS even more accessible on Android gadgets. While our physical library facilities were shuttered by the quarantine, more than 2 million accessed our contents online.
DOSTv, on the other hand, began livestreaming in 2016 and eventually went on television via PTV4, GMA7, and GNN cable channel, and was also aired in RadyoPilipinas 1. Through the lockdown, DOSTv became the voice of the department for the outside world.
Lesson 3: Identify your spokesperson and be heard above the din
DOST is a house of experts but only three are designated official spokespersons for the Department: Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, Usec. Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, and Usec. Renato U. Solidum. They make it easier for the media and the public to relate with the organization and for the organization to have a source of information that is authoritative, credible, and reliable.
Lesson 4: Pivot
IF at first you don’t succeed, pivot! We needed to recast our plans and programs to adapt to shifting circumstances.
Our broadcast programs with the networks had to be suspended because of quarantine restrictions so we quickly reverted to livestreaming. Thus the DOSTv Weekend Wrap Up was launched seven days after the lockdown and later on became the weekly DOST Report, the platform for Sec. Boy dela Peña to share the latest developments in S&T.
The annual National Science and Technology Week celebration had to be conducted virtually for the first time in November 2020. Our social-media campaign reached more than a million people and with influencers, we had almost 1 million views on Tiktok alone!
Lesson 5: Perform
IN the pandemic, the need to innovate, to go beyond the usual, to create greater value added was more acute. Perform we did:
- STARBOOKS was installed in 482 sites with help from our regional offices, bringing the total number of sites to 4,962. The number of users increased 114.53 percent to 7,796 and the number of materials accessed rose 38.76 percent to 527,554.
- Our librarians responded to 12,662 online requests with 99 percent satisfaction rating. An online library tour was launced with 2,728 students reached and with 90.32 percent satisfaction rating. Our webinars on library services had 4,901 participants, 17,276 reach, 5,904 engagements, and 10,000 online views.
- The number of posts on social media in 2020 declined by 22.05 percent, but enjoyed a 37.56-percent increase in reach totaling to 5,626,417. Engagements hit 7,364,781.
To enhance our capability to perform and deliver on our mandates, we collaborated with partners who provided support in terms of additional resources, content, and expertise.
Lesson 6: Excel
SURPRISINGLY, amid the pandemic we harvested a good crop of recognition and awards.
- DOSTv received three Anvils from the PR Society of the Philippines, bagged four Gandingan awards from UPLB, and was a finalist in two categories of the Catholic Mass Media Awards
- The Commission on Audit gave DOST-STII an unqualified opinion on our financial statements, the highest audit rating for a government institution
- DOST-STII also maintained our 9001:2015 ISO accreditation with no non-conformities and 2 best practices
So Pivot, Perform and Excel became our PPE during the pandemic, enabling us to survive and even thrive through this most difficult period.
Lesson 7: Monitor, Evaluate, Recalibrate
THE pandemic underscored the need for data to drive our communication efforts. We engaged external organizations to assist us in monitoring our efforts. They truly added value, boosted our confidence, and helped us win!
The national level of awareness on S&T news was at a low 6 percent in 2017, doubled to 13 percent in 2018, went up to 16 percent in 2019, and jumped 7 percentage points to 23 percent in the time of the pandemic.
We delivered 1,045 promotion services and generated P1.5 billion worth of media values.
Lesson 8: Be grateful. We’re still here!
THE most important lesson we learned from this pandemic is gratitude. We are grateful that our workplace is safe and clean and that no one got infected by the virus in our premises. We are still here. And we are more deeply committed to communicate Science For The People because it is what allows us to hope, to thrive, and to succeed.
Feedback will be appreciated via e-mail to richardburgos.stii@gmail.com.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s premiere association for senior communications professionals around the world. Richard P. Burgos is the director of the Science and Technology Information Institute of the Department of Science and Technology. A seasoned communicator, he has helped build some of the biggest brands in the information technology industry such as IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems.
PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.