Councilor Levy Lloyd Orcales has proposed an ordinance providing for city policies and strategies on research and innovation.
Orcales said that the ordinance shall encourage citizens to come up with outputs that are essentially beneficial to economic zones and the business sector in the city. This shall lead in the introduction of new or emerging products that have social and economic benefits.
Once approved, the ordinance shall provide guidelines on the promotion, integration and strengthening of city programs, policies, and strategies.
The ordinance shall also promote public participation in the innovation process and strengthen public information on Intellectual Property Rights.
Seeking to ensure a more effective coordination process, the ordinance shall likewise promote productive forms of interaction between the scientific community and the public and discover other opportunities for interaction.
In order to realize the objectives of the ordinance, a Baguio City Innovation Alliance, also to be known as the Incubator Baguio, shall be created to develop a local branding for innovation.
The Incubator Baguio shall be utilized as a major platform for the innovation continuum between the city government and its research and innovation partners. It shall be tasked to develop strategies in promoting the creation of new ideas that will be developed into new and quality products, processes, and services aimed at improving the welfare of low-income families and uplifting the lives of the oppressed, powerless, and marginalized groups, as well as create livelihood opportunities for these sectors.
According to the ordinance, the city government, through the Incubator Baguio, shall encourage and support the establishment of innovation centers and business incubators towards fostering skills and technology transfer, collaboration on innovation initiatives between small and big businesses, supplier development, access to finance, and creation of marketing opportunities.
The HEIs shall also be encouraged to identify and endorse to the city innovation alliance academic researches of their students to be deliberated upon for possible adoption by the city government into its policymaking and program planning and for possible funding and other forms of assistance that will support the completion of the research.
The composition of the Incubator Baguio shall be patterned after the “quadruplex helix model of innovation” wherein the involved sectors are represented by circles (helixes) that overlap each other, thus, showing interaction.
The Incubator Baguio shall consist of the city mayor; CIVIKA Futures Laboratory; heads of HEIs in the city or their duly designated representatives; the City Planning and Development Coordinator; the chairperson of the Sanggunian’s Committee on Ethics, Governmental Affairs and Personnel; Commission on Higher Education; Department of Science and Technology (DOST); National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA); Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI); Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA); and representatives from other allied industries and the business sector.
Members of the Incubator Baguio shall meet at least two times in a year to ensure proper deliberation on research and innovation initiatives to be adopted by the city government either as policies or program development.
Under the ordinance, a yearly research forum shall be conducted to be spearheaded by the city government in coordination with the Incubator Baguio. Researches from different sectors shall be accepted. The event shall accommodate national and international research consortiums and paper presentations particularly paper presentations that are generally geared towards addressing city issues. Submitted researches shall be considered by the Incubators Baguio for possible adoption and/or funding.
Moreover, the city government shall organize an innovation camp once a year to provide students and communities the opportunity to become critical thinkers, creative problem-savers, and active agents of change. The innovation camp shall also provide opportunities to techno-entrepreneurship, and product innovation for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The ordinance, once approved, shall declare the third week of the month of April of every year as Incubation and Start-up Week in the city to ensure the promotion and discovery of research and innovation strategies in the city.
A starting fund in the amount of P100,000.00 shall be earmarked in the budget of the City Planning and Development Office. The fund shall be used to support the city’s innovation camp, research forum, support for research and innovation, and promotion of innovation centers and research incubators.
The proposed ordinance has been approved on first reading and referred to the Sanggunian’s Committee on Ethics, Governmental Affairs, and Personnel for review.**Jordan G. Habbiling
