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By Ike Suarez, Correspondent
Another technopark in the Diliman, Quezon City campus of the
University of the Philippines is set to start operations this
December and will be administered by the Technology Resource Center
of the Department of Science and Technology.
Plans are also afoot for the establishment in
the near future of two more technoparks within the UP System, one
once more in Diliman and another in the Cebu City campus of the
University of the Philippines.
UP presently has one technology business
incubator in the southern portion of its Diliman campus parallel to
Katipunan Avenue even as its technohub in the northern portion of
its campus along Commonwealth Avenue is set to operate soon. The
first is managed by the Ayala Foundation while the second by the
Ayala Corp.
DOST Undersecretary Fortunato de la Peña told
reporters the new technopark shall be located near their agency’s
Advanced Science and Technology Institute office in UP Diliman. It
shall specialize in housing locators who commercialize locally
developed innovations in hardware, software, and peripherals that
run on Open Source systems.
Undersecretary de la Peña spoke with reporters
during a break in the Science, Math, and Engineering Conference at
the Ateneo de Manila University in Loyola Heights, Quezon City. The
August 14 event had been organized by the Joint Senate-House of
Representatives Commission on Science, Technology, and Engineering.
The SME Conference had been organized to gather
inputs for planned legislation to enable the Philippines to become
more competitive in the innovation-driven and knowledge-based
economy of the 21st century.
Undersecretary de la Peña said UP
administrators have already sought assistance from the DOST in
crafting plans for the two technoparks to be established in the near
future in addition to the new technopark to be established near ASTI.
He said the first would be near UP’s National Engineering Center
and would specialize in housing locators who provide globally
outsourced engineering services.
On the other hand, the Cebu City technopark will
specialize in housing software development locators.
Undersecretary de la Peña said the ASTI
technopark’s establishment has been funded by P10 million given by
the Philippine Export Zone Authority to the DOST. Of this amount, P9
million has been set aside for facilities and equipment.
Undersecretary de la Peña said the locators
will be housed in converted container vans. They will be similar to
converted container vans used by project managers in construction
sites. The technopark will have 20 to 24 locators and the DOST has
asked PEZA to grant it export zone status.
He said the TRC will charge locators monthly
fees costing less than what they would have to pay if they were to
lease space in commercial areas. If requested, the TRC could also
charge locators extra fees to handle their administrative functions
such as accounting and payroll processing.
Undersecretary de la Peña said the ASTI
technopark is envisioned to be self-sustaining within three years
after start of operations.
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