The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has invested P110 million this year to partner academe and industries.
The P110 million went to 24 approved projects in more than 15 regional engagements, Rowena Guevara, DOST undersecretary for Research and Development, said yesterday.
The DOST’s CRADLE (Collaborative R&D to Leverage Philippine Economy) program funded universities and research institutions to do R&D for Filipino companies, she said.
CRADLE is meant to create relationship between academe which has the facilities and industries which have the market knowledge to commercialize technology, Guevara said.
“CRADLE is specifically designed to foster collaboration between academe and local companies to improve competitiveness and catalyze innovation,” she said. “It also aims to improve the country’s innovation ecosystem by facilitating the smooth transition of new technologies from universities and R&D institutes to industries or from laboratory to market.”
The advantage of CRADLE is that it serves a specific local company with an R&D problem, Guevara said in a press briefing.
The program assists the company by finding a partner university or a research and development institute equipped with experts who can solve the problem and the facility to undertake the R&D.
One of its projects showcased yesterday is the standardization of the therapeutic application of sambong plants through artificial intelligence.
Pascual Pharma Corp. sought the expertise of the Technological Institute of the Philippines in 2017. The project’s output will help the company innovate and improve the agricultural practices and the extraction process of sambong plants.
Another is the partnership between the Batangas Egg Producers Cooperative with the University of the Philippines Diliman (UP) to value add to the low price of eggs during summer due to over supply.
UP will develop an egg white powder and granules from the poultry eggs that can be used for baking purposes. UP’s College of Home Economics will help the cooperative in developing new egg-based products.
