DOST Sparks Innovation by Providing Php110 M in Grants to Universities to Do R&D for Local Companies

  
 DOST USec Rowena Cristina Guevarra 

The  Department  of  Science  and  Technology  (DOST)  catalyzes  innovation breakthroughs in the country through academe-industry partnerships in research and  development  (R&D)  through  the  Collaborative  R&D  to  Leverage  Philippine Economy (CRADLE) Program.   For the year 2019, 24 grants, totaling PhP110M were funded by DOST in universities and R&D institutions to do R&D for Filipino companies all over the country.
 CRADLE  is  specifically  designed  to  foster  collaboration  between  academe  and local  companies  to  improve  competitiveness  and  catalyze  innovation. 
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 it already serves a specific local company with an R&D problem.  The program assists the company by  finding  a  partner  university  or  a  research  and  development  institute  (RDI) equipped  with  experts  who  can  solve  the  problem  and  the  facility  to  undertake the R&D.   Aiming  to  standardize  the  therapeutic  application  of  sambong  plants  through artificial  intelligence  system,  the  Pascual  Pharma  Corporation  sought  the expertise  of  the  Technological  Institute  of  the  Philippines  (TIP)  in  2017.  The project’s  output  will  help  the  company  innovate  and  improve  the  agricultural practices and the extraction process of sambong plants. 

Batangas Egg Producers Cooperative (BEPCO) partnered with University of the Philippines  Diliman  (UPD)  to  solve  their  problem  of  oversupply  of  eggs  during summer  leading  to  low  price.  UPD  will  develop  an  egg  white  powder  and granules from low these value eggs which can be used for baking purposes. The project will help the company in developing a new product.

 Through  the  CRADLE  Program,  the  industries  are  able  to  tap  the  expertise  of researchers from the academe. The program gives companies the opportunity to upgrade,  expand  and  become  more  competitive  in  business  through  research and development.

Interested parties may send their inquiries to the Science for Change Program - Project  Management  Office  through  email:  s4c.ousecrd@dost.gov.ph,  phone: (+632)  8837-2943  /  8837-2071  local  2510,  or  S4C  Facebook  page: dost.s4cp