Shortlisted for the SMU-HSBC sustainability and innovation award, Zeleros has gone from being a competition-winning university team to becoming a cutting-edge start-up bringing the exciting Hyperloop concept to market.
OpenGov Asia recently had to the opportunity to speak with Luiz Navarro, Chief Operating Officer, Zeleros. Watch the whole interaction on OpenGov TV here!
Mr Navarro explained how the hyperloop concept is not a new concept, but in fact, it dates back to almost over 200 years when a connection was sought to make a trading route from the UK to India. There were many ideas and early-stage concepts for this but a lot of them failed as they did not have the technology to deploy them.
But fast forward 200 years to the age of Elon Musk and SpaceX – he took this concept and rebranded the Hyperloop idea. He came up with this worldwide concept under the umbrella SpaceX and invited start-ups and universities to come up with ideas and technology proposals for the Hyperloop.
He went on to tell us that one of those working hard on this concept at the time was the Zeleros Founders and former University graduates in Valencia. They had competed in various competitions and won many awards in this field of expertise.
They were team leaders at “Hyperloop UPV”, University project awarded at SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2015, an event organized by Elon Musk, competing against world’s most prestigious engineering universities. Recently, the team achieved top 10 at the SpaceX competition in Los Angeles from among more than 300 teams worldwide. Their prototype “The Atlantic II” became the first Spanish hyperloop in history, combining autonomous propulsion with a new passive levitation system.
From the success and recognition of the technology at the research stage and in the competitive arena, they have decided to take a step forward and launch a new start-up to revolutionise ground transportation: Zeleros
Now a few years later, they have 25 people working full time collaborating with first-class collaborators internationally. This business started with three guys being courageous and having the passion to take the leap from research and competitions to bringing their business to market. Zeleros is one in six companies in the world that are working on deploying Hyperloop into the market.
The aim of Zeleros is to design and develop new hyperloop technologies to achieve a more efficient and sustainable transportation, which will allow to travel at 1000 km/h with renewable energies, combining the best from the aeronautics and the railway industries by means of a system of depressurized tubes.
The Future – leading the way in the development of hyperloop technologies
The Zeleros vision is to bring this to the next stage. By simplifying systems bring the power onboard the vehicle and reducing the cost of infrastructure call staff they are looking at taking away the complexity from the track
With this cutting-edge technology, there is a lot of work to do before realising the finished product. Currently, they are prototyping each subsystem which includes propulsion, levitation, braking etc.
By 2021 they hope to have a prototype ready which is 1/3 of the scale, 10 metres in length and running on a 3-kilometre test run at approximately 500 kilometres per hour so that they are able to validate the technology.
By 2024 they hope to start construction and by 2030 they hope to have the first fully operational Hyperloop working. In order to reach this final stage, there is a lot of fine-tuning and validation involved and they need to meet standards be certified.
They have partnered with countries such as Canada and France and they are working closely with the EU. They are involved in a technical committee in the EU dedicated to the Hyperloop and falls under the umbrella of the railway industry. The creation of this technical committee has given Hyperloop its own identity.
Regional hotspots for Hyperloop development and deployment
At the moment they are working closely with key players in Europe. This is what they consider where core development takes place. call star it is logical as they are unable to integrate more in terms of infrastructure. Once considered safe in the EU it opens the opportunity to roll out quickly to the rest of the world.
Other hotspots identified are routes in the Middle East. This region is ideal to roll out the technology, where financial support is readily available, which in turn could accelerate the deployment of Hyperloop in this region.
In Asia, Japan has its own technology with the bullet and has invested billions into this national infrastructure so it would not make sense for them to look at investing in the Hyperloop technology.
But in China where they have over more than 35,000 kilometres of real which is more than the rest of the world combined opportunities in this country would really accelerate past to market.
Another great option to consider is to deploy Hyperloop to connect Singapore and Kuala-Lumpur. The potential is great, shortening the travel time until 30 minutes (35 including boarding).
The Hyperloop is an innovative solution in terms of connectivity around the world, mobility, and timesaving travel.
In terms of sustainability, it a real viable alternative to aviation. It presents an opportunity to reduce air traffic congestion which doubles every 15 years. The Hyperloop will reduce 7 million tonnes of CO2 per year compared to air transport.
Mr Navarro jokingly concluded they are “just crazy people trying to change the paradigm of long-distance travel and with the Hyperloop it will be there to serve that purpose”
The company have already won multiple awards but because they are working so hard and so fast on this project, Mr Navarro said they sometimes have little time to appreciate the things that they have achieved so far.
The SMU- HSBC Sustainability and Innovation award could potentially be the next award to be celebrated!
Watch the whole interaction on OpenGov TV here!
A new facility has been set up at the net-zero energy building at NUS Design and Environment (SDE). The OpenBlue Innovation Centre is a $50 million facility by Johnson Controls to create a future-ready built environment for Singapore and the region.
Supported by the Economic Development Board, the Centre is the latest to be housed at SDE4, which serves as a living laboratory to demonstrate and explore human-centric and integrated sustainable developments with public agencies and industry partners.
Other facilities at SDE4 include the 3D Scanning Laboratory, Green Building Technologies Lab, NUS-CDL Smart Green Home, and Urban Greenery Lab.
Smart, Safe and Sustainable Campus Strategy
Professor Yong Kwet Yew, NUS Senior Vice President (Campus Infrastructure), said, “NUS and Johnson Controls had collaborated on several campus projects and we are therefore very excited to extend our partnership through these new initiatives which are part of our Smart, Safe and Sustainable Campus strategies.”
“The opportunity to test Johnson Controls’ novel solutions on our campus and conduct joint research will help advance our ongoing efforts to build smarter, healthier and sustainable work, teaching and learning spaces for our staff, faculty and students.”
The NUS Kent Ridge Campus will serve as a testbed for a new breed of customisable, contact-free applications built on Johnson Controls’ OpenBlue platform.
Together with its ecosystem of partners, which includes NUS and Microsoft, the Centre is pioneering the use of a common configuration language that bridges core building technology, as well as behavioural, wellness and spatial data to develop solutions that meet new demands for safety and sustainability in connected spaces.
People-centric Integrated Design
Mr Visal Leng, President, Building Solutions, Asia Pacific, Johnson Controls, said, “The Johnson Controls OpenBlue Innovation Centre embodies our approach towards building dynamic and resilient spaces, injecting new lease of life into the built environment sector. Taking an unprecedented holistic and human-centric methodology, we are incorporating people and design perspectives, thus sparking greater innovation within industries and outside traditional boundaries.”
The Centre is expected to have more than 100 employees within four years, with strong focus on talent development with NUS at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. There will also be opportunities for collaboration on teaching and internship programmes.
A key area of partnership with Johnson Controls also includes joint research and innovation in the areas of built and urban environment, particularly in data analytics, sustainability and operations, as well as people and wellness.
Professor Lam Khee Poh, Dean of NUS Design and Environment, said, “We are thrilled to host the Johnson Controls OpenBlue Innovation Centre in SDE4 and to facilitate cross-disciplinary research and development initiatives across the entire NUS community. This partnership strengthens the School’s ‘Well & Green’ vision that emphasises a people-centric integrated design approach that generates sustainable and resilient value propositions in its endeavours.”
The PolyU Design Degree Show 2020, organised by the School of Design of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU Design), is open to the public until 25 October 2020. Going virtual this year given the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, the show has been specially designed to provide a 3D viewing experience, just like touring in person.
The annual show highlights student projects from both the bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes covering a wide spectrum of topics from various disciplines, namely Advertising Design, Communication Design, Environment and Interior Design, Social Design, Product Design, Digital Media, Interactive Media, Design Practices, Interaction Design, International Design and Business Management, Multimedia and Entertainment Technology, as well as Urban Environments Design. What’s new for this year is a section set up to showcase the work of doctoral degree students, making a total of about 150 projects on display in the show.
During the 3D virtual tour, visitors will see many creative and inspiring designs such as a future double-decker compartment for the ageing population, a mobile game for improving intergenerational relationships and a planter solution for sustainable living in densely populated areas, to name just a few.
The Dean of School of Design at PolyU stated that the show is a stellar highlight of the university’s teaching and learning, offering an invaluable opportunity to employers seeking the best designers; enlightening the public with world-class design, and inspiring secondary school students to pursue design as a career.
Enabling virtual viewing of different physical exhibits is unique among the world’s top design schools especially when students had to overcome a lot of challenges during this difficult moment under the pandemic.
Online guided tours are arranged with student ambassadors to walk visitors through the show and share the creative ideas of some selected projects. Several online activities are also scheduled for secondary school teachers and students who are eager to learn more about PolyU Design.
These include live online chat sessions with PolyU Design students and an online Info Talk on the bachelor’s degree programmes offered by PolyU Design. Interested schools and organisations are more than welcome to contact PolyU Design for tailoring different activities to meet their needs. In addition, a treasure hunt game has been organised with more than 3,000 souvenirs to be given away (on a first-come, first-served basis) to those who take the virtual tour.
According to another report, PolyU Design has been an important hub of design education and research for Hong Kong since 1964. The school thrives on its geographical position in bridging the East and the West, allowing its students to develop their design strengths with a uniquely international cultural awareness at both professional and social levels.
In the 2020 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject, the school is ranked world’s top 15 in the area of art and design.
The School nurtures around 1,100 students every year in a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, with more than 40 PhD candidates. For our undergraduate programmes, we offer a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Scheme in Design in five major disciplines. The Master of Design programme includes specialisms in Design Strategies, Design Practices, Interaction Design, International Design and Business Management, Urban Environments Design, while the Master of Science programme specialises in Multimedia and Entertainment Technology.
The show features projects which include furniture for micro-apartments, a film about a revengeful stuntman and a game about vertical farming are among the 18 diverse student projects in this school show by PolyU Design. The featured projects were completed by 25 students studying across the “wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes” at the PolyU Design school, which forms a part of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Open Gov Asia recently had the opportunity to speak with the Co founder of RESYNC, a cloud-based energy management solution, Dr Jyantika Soni. RESYNC have been shortlisted for this years HSBC-SMU Sustainability & Innovation Grant.
A grant which provides sustainability-related start-ups with up to $30,000 in seed money. The funding can be used to accelerate the start-ups in their journey towards integrating sustainable practices and business models.
“The grid and buildings are evolving faster than ever, with localised generation using solar on their rooftops, electric vehicles in their parking, dynamic pricing from the grid, and a ton of data that can be collected without knowing how it can be utilised. The more troublesome thing is one user is seldom the same as another.”
RESYNC looked at how the grid was changing in areas which lack infrastructure and other expanding urban areas such as Singapore. They looked at diversification and the huge reliance on unsustainable sources of energy and the changing dynamics in the grid required a modern solution and that’s when RESYNC was incepted.
“We saw that multiple mixes of energy in the ecosystem can be very disruptive to the grid and at RESYNC we’re trying to solve that using an AI driven energy cloud which will ensure reliability and resilience to whatever source you are connected to” said Dr Soni.
This is where RESYNC comes in and solves the problem with a simple goal in mind. They figure out how to run a customer’s energy system at the lowest cost possible while maintaining reliability and sustainability when or if applicable. Taking into account your energy assets, both generating like solar and battery and consuming like air-conditioning and electric vehicles, grid pricing, and your appetite to keep your energy supply carbon neutral.
“It is not just about controlling where your energy is coming from but how you are consuming it as well” added Dr Soni
Our machine learning algorithms figure out your evolving consumption patterns and run it through an optimization algorithm to run your electrical systems at optimal cost and energy-efficiency. Using our on-ground real-time control, we provide action on the insights generated by the machine learning algorithms. And all of this can be visualized and analysed from our platform.
RESYNC provides sustainable solutions through forecasting, load shifting and developing a long term energy saving plan.
It is extremely important to forecast and to understand the demand profile of the business. If the only way you get to know about your peak usage is through your electricity, then you are already too late to take corrective actions. It’s essential to be able to forecast, with reasonable accuracy, your maximum consumption.
Load Shifting – with an established platform of ongoing measurement and management, businesses can take energy savings to the next level. Most business have peak as well as off-peak hours. By spreading the electricity usage over longer durations, businesses can lower their maximum energy demand. And RESYNC’s Energy management system solution will help automate this process without compromising on the operating activities.
A comprehensive long-term energy saving plan enables much better capital investment decisions. Armed with detailed data and realistic energy consumption estimates, managers can rationally weigh the benefits of energy-efficient new equipment versus their purchase costs and other related expenses such as decommissioning and disposal cost, production downtime, etc.
Business continuity through the pandemic and future plans
The business has been successful even during the pandemic, “the plug and play aspect really plays to our advantage especially during these times when movements are really restricted but the technology is not.” They are able to ship the product and bring customers on remotely
RESYNC are involved in many projects across Asia such as India Singapore and Indonesia. They operate in the B2B area selling technology to reliable energy developers, for example, Sembcorp in Singapore. Many of the companies they are working with already work with government to improve real time energy efficiency. So far they have been making strides towards many strategic partnerships with utility providers in the region.
In the future they hope to expand to Europe and further in Middle East. They are currently in discussions in the Middle East, regarding energy monitoring for smart buildings. In Europe they have been a finalist for Seedstars and they have deservedly been a recipient of many awards internationally. And now shortlisted for this years HSBC-SMU Sustainability & Innovation Grant.
The HSBC-SMU Sustainability & Innovation Grant provides sustainability-related start-ups with up to $30,000 in seed money. The funding can be used to accelerate the start-ups in their journey towards integrating sustainable practices and business models. Selected start-ups will enter IIE’s incubation programme – Business Innovations Generator (BIG).
BIG is a four-month programme where budding entrepreneurs are guided in the start-up journey to develop them into successful ventures.
One of the start-ups to be shortlisted this year is SenzIQ Pte Ltd.
OpenGov recently had the opportunity to have a virtual chat with three of its founders Mr Azeem Khan, Mr CH Kong and Professor Rajesh Balan to find out more about their solution, its technology, how their products will improve sustainability, and plans for the future.
Back to where it all began
SenzIQ Pte Ltd has an interesting story, it all began with researchers at the Singapore Management University’s (SMU) LiveLabs Urban Lifestyle Innovation Platform, or LiveLabs for short.
LiveLabs was launched on 5 November 2012 and was funded by the National Research Foundation Singapore and run via the Interactive Digital Media Programme Office.
LiveLabs was conceived as a testbed to trial research prototypes in real-life environments. It ran for seven years, from 2012 until 2019
Among the technologies developed at LiveLabs, the one that received the most traction was the LiveLabs Indoor Location Tracking & Analytics solution, which allows venue operators to conduct indoor analytics of how people move inside indoor spaces using just Wi-Fi.
They have turned data from smartphones, wearable devices and the physical environment into powerful insights using advanced sensor technology and real-time analytics.
The technology from LiveLabs is now entering a new phase, in the form of a new startup founded by Professor Balan to commercialise the technology, called SenzIQ Pte. Ltd. Professor Balan is the former LiveLabs co-director, and is SMU Associate Professor of Information Systems.
Understanding how people move through spaces
Mr CH Kong, CMO of SenzIQ says it has one mission: “help businesses understand how people move through their spaces”.
To do this they can track each individual’s movement across space and time in an indoor location. This data is aggregated to understand how people utilise and move indoors.
SenzIQ is an Indoor Location Tracking & Analytics solution, which allows venue operators to conduct indoor analytics of how people move inside indoor spaces using just Wi-Fi.
The solution provides both retrospective insights, such as heat maps, visit durations and group sizes; and predictive insights, such as the locations they are likely to visit next.
The Technology
The system utilizes the enterprise Wi-Fi networks of businesses to monitor the location of Wi-Fi based devices such as mobile phones and laptops.
The technology uses public Wi-Fi networks to track the location of smartphones in real-time as they move around. The data is fed back to a dashboard that building owners can then use to understand how people interact with the space and manage their operations and logistics accordingly.
The devices are a proxy for the person in most cases therefore tracking the Wi-Fi device provides an insight into the movement of the person carrying that device.
The unique proposition of the technology is that it is a pure software play, and this enables it to work with most enterprise Wi-Fi networks without infrastructure augmentation or modification.
Optimising buildings and office spaces and analysing traffic flow at events
Based on this technology, they have developed two separate products. One deals with space analytics and the other with event analytics.
The space analytics product helps offices understand the usage of key spaces such as meeting rooms, suggests measures to improve the utilization based on actual occupancy and proactively implement approved measures.
“For example, in a university, it is very important to figure out where to put your seminar rooms, meeting rooms and study spaces, and to know whether your meeting rooms are underutilised or over utilised,” Professor Balan said.
The event analytics product helps event organizers study, compare and contrast and run what-if analysis of layouts and movement traffic patterns during events.
Since both products are part of the workflows of the businesses utilizing them, it is expected these products to become a key component in the value.
With the use of these technologies, venue partners such as malls, convention centres, office campuses and airports, will enable businesses to customize and deliver relevant location specific messages to their customers.
This personalized location specific incentives allow customers market leadership through innovative technology driven solutions.
“From our own research and research papers published by Gartner and others, we know this is likely to be a potentially huge market worldwide. Indoor location tracking technologies alone is estimated to be worth USD $12B by 2021.”
“So far the technology has been deployed in major university campuses in Singapore, including SMU, in malls as well as at the Suntec Convention Centre, and at tourist attractions such as the Singapore National Museum and on Sentosa Island”, said Professor Balan Rajesh, Co-Founder, SenzIQ Pte Ltd.
Space optimisation driving sustainability
By analysing the use of public and private spaces, ‘Smart Buildings’ can use these data insights to reduce energy consumption, optimise the functionality of the space and identify opportunities to make the building more productive and efficient. This all leads to creating more sustainable spaces and buildings.
This is an attractive solution to organisations wanting to reduce their carbon footprint, to building developers wanting to reduce costs and create a more sustainable option, and for many existing large premises wanting to better understand how they can use their space more effectively and efficiently.
The next stage
Years of research has been done, many many years of expertise has been invested into the technology, the products and now starting the business – the next stage now is to accelerate the solution to market.
With the HSBC-SMU Sustainability & Innovation Grant, the funding can be used to do just that – fast track the SenzIQ journey to developing their sustainable solution and business model.
Singapore has published for the first time, a list of 100 women who achieved outstanding accomplishments and made significant contributions in tech, in an inaugural Singapore 100 Women in Tech (SG100WIT) List.
The SG100WIT List aims to recognise women with exemplary contributions to the tech sector and celebrate female role models in tech.
The List was announced by Patron of the Singapore Women in Tech movement (SGWIT), Mrs Josephine Teo, who is also Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Home Affairs, at a webinar last week. The webinar also discussed the future of women in tech and the power of a diverse workforce.
The organisers of SG100WIT List – the Singapore Computer Society (SCS), in partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Mediacorp – received more than 850 nominations from members of the public following an open call for nominations in March this year.
“I am astounded to have received over 850 very commendable nominations for the first-ever Singapore 100 Women in Tech initiative. This is solid affirmation of the many very capable women in our midst who are trailblazers and inspirational role models in their own right” said Dr Chong Yoke Sin, President of Singapore Computer Society.
The 100 women who made it to the list have been carefully selected and evaluated by a panel of influential leaders from business, industry, academia. The List is part of the Singapore Women in Tech (SGWIT) initiative, which brings together industry, government and community partners to attract and develop more girls and women for the growing tech sector in Singapore.
The President of Singapore Computer Society added “I would also like to commend the extensive work done by the Nomination Committee and Selection Committee who had the difficult task of deliberating over a list of similarly well qualified and accomplished nominees to come up with the shortlist. Every single one on the list of nominees is a star in what they do. Congratulations to the 100 ladies who made it to the inaugural list!” .
Mr Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive of IMDA, said on congratulating the 100 women personalities, “What I saw in common is their passion for technology. Whether they are advancing new algorithms or building new businesses digitally, the diverse roles they are in exemplify our strong infocomm industry. We hope to encourage even more women to follow these role models and seize opportunities in the vibrant tech sector in Singapore.”
Ms Tham Loke Kheng, Chief Executive Officer of Mediacorp, said, “Congratulations to all for being recognised in the SG100WIT List. Behind each of your stellar achievements lies a personal story of grit, character and a commitment to excellence. Mediacorp is proud to showcase your stories to inspire the next generation of female infotech professionals.”
PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.sgwomenintech.sg/
Singapore has retained its overall top ranking as Asia’s most innovative nation in the latest Global Innovation Index (GII) released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Cornell University & INSEAD. It has held this position since 2014.
The GII ranks world economies according to their innovation capabilities. Consisting of roughly 80 indicators, grouped into innovation inputs and outputs, the GII aims to capture the multi-dimensional facets of innovation.
Singapore continued to top the Innovation Input Sub-Index which gauges elements of the national economy which embody innovative activities. and maintained its 15th position in the Innovation Output Sub-Index which captures actual evidence of innovation results.
Singapore continued to perform well, ranked 1st globally, in the traditionally strong indicators of ‘Political and operational stability’, ‘Government effectiveness’, ‘Tertiary education’ and ‘High tech manufacturing’.
Ranked 2nd globally in ‘Government’s online service’, ‘Regulatory environment’, ‘Investment’ and ‘knowledge intensive’ employment, the continued good performance in these indicators are a nod to the country’s efforts to build a strong and active IP regime. Singapore also improved on the ‘Mobile app creation’ indicator, moving up three places to 7th globally.
“We are pleased with the overall rankings, which reflect our ongoing innovation journey. IPOS’ digital efforts, which are part of the national digital transformation roadmap, have been accelerated by Covid-19 and continues to bolster our position as an innovation hub” said IPOS CE Mrs Rena Lee.
“Besides being fully digital for all our IP application services since 2014, IPOS has enhanced our mobile app for trademark applications, the first of its kind in the world, conducted fully virtual IP dispute hearings, converted our face-to-face trainings to online modules and increased the frequency of complimentary online IP business and legal clinics.”
“IPOS is continuously innovating to give enterprises a business edge during the pandemic where time is of the essence. We are also encouraged to see significant movement in the indicator measuring the proportion of female employees with advanced degrees as well as our credible showing in the inaugural ‘Global brand value’ indicator” said Mrs Lee.
Singapore also ranked number 1, from 36th last year, for the ‘Knowledge Workers – females employed with advanced degrees’ indicator for the first time. This indicator measures the proportion of female employees with advanced degrees, out of the total employed.
A new indicator ‘Global brand value’ was added to the GII for the first time. It better recognises the commercial importance of brands in the marketplace. This indicator looks at the total value of a country’s brands in Brand Finance’s top 5,000 global brand database, as a proportion of GDP. Singapore was ranked 13th.
Globally, Singapore has maintained its position as the eighth most innovative country in the world, standing alongside Switzerland, Sweden, United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Denmark and Finland.
The Department of Science and Technology in region II – Cagayan Valley, Philippines launched Einstein 1K (Engaging Innovation by Nurturing Significance Thousand Excellent Ideas in the North) via Facebook Live Streaming.
Einstein 1k has gained recognition for its timeliness as it gives hope and endless possibilities while coping with the health crisis. DOST Regional Office II Director, Engineer Sancho Mabborang said that the project is designed to put Region II in the innovation arena. They want to do this by creating sustainable synergy among the project partners, nurturing the research and development ecosystem in the country.
The project aims to register 1,000 patents that will include Utility Model, Industrial Design, Copyright, and Trademark, with the goal of attracting researchers and inventors to become Career Scientists. They are looking to establishing a reward system for approved Intellectual Property (IP) policies and create spin-off companies by mainstreaming Industry 4.0 and SETUP 2.0.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between DOST-II and the Property Office of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Cagayan State University (CSU), Batanes State Colleges (BSC), Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU), University of La Salette – Santiago City, Saint Mary’s University, Saint Paul University of the Philippines, University of Saint Louis (USL) and Quirino State University (QSU) was done virtually.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines’ contribution will be to formulate and implement plans and policies to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights in Cagayan Valley while also ensuring its efficient delivery in the area of quality and reliable services.
IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba highlighted the role of the organisation – to promote innovation and encourage the creation, utilisation, protection of and respect for IP in the region by aggressively providing Cagayan’s innovators and creators with more capacity-building activities like IP seminars, patent writing and search workshops and coordinated activities with the PCCI Region 2 that will set opportunities for technology matching and commercialisation.
The PCCI Region 2’s role will be to assist member universities and colleges in looking for potential investors for their generated technologies. The regional business group will also promote the new technologies in both the public and private sectors.
For its part, the DOST Region 2, will provide technical and financial assistance; closely monitor and evaluate the project’s implementation and progress, including identifying problems and remedies to avoid delays in achieving its objective; and provide administrative and managerial support necessary for the smooth implementation of the project.
Data shows rapid increase in the seven consecutive years till 2019. Applications for patent inventions, utility models and industrial designs impressively rose by an average of 77%. Last year, a total of 122 filings were recorded.
For trademarks, the average yearly growth from 2013 to 2019 stood at 31%, with last year’s applications ending at 129. The Philippine government hopes that the trend will double in the years to come to drastically heighten the commercialisation of these beneficial Philippine innovations.
