The need to accelerate the digitalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is constant in Southeast Asia. This is so that SMEs can remain relevant in the global market and gain a competitive edge.
The governments of many SEA countries are, therefore, ramping up efforts, at a national level, to push SMEs to be digitally-enabled and technologically equipped to meet the demands of an increasingly digital world.
Malaysia is evidently keen on achieving such goals by the year 2022, in line with governmental efforts to empower a digital society.
The country is actively taking on multiple initiatives to get businesses to leverage viable solutions that could help automate operational processes and achieve digital proficiency.
In particular, the government has prioritized digitalization efforts among SMEs to maintain relevance, maximize business efficiency, and increase productivity.
There is also a strong focus on digital payment capabilities as the country believes that enabling the service is a crucial first step to digitalization.
As a result, the government is working closely with banks to offer SMEs a seamless and interoperable integration with banking systems.
For example, one bank has put forward a set of application programming interfaces (API) to assist in automating payments and reconciling accounts for SMEs, further extending the availability of digital support.
The Chief Executive Officer of SME Corp stated that digitalisation is coming, given another two to three years, predicting that almost all SME will go into cashless payment.
Aside from digital payments, the country is also making an effort to fuel digitalization efforts and recognize those that have succeeded with implementing technology through the Enterprise 50 (E50) 2019 Award program.
The program is among the initiatives by the corporation to reward SMEs for various milestones, including digitalization.
SMEs were free to nominate themselves and were evaluated against a number of criteria to identify those that have adopted solutions and utilized technology tools effectively.
According to Said, SMEs that have submitted their application went through a rigorous assessment process based on various benchmarks, including technology adoption, innovative efforts, and management process.
Although only 10 winners were chosen, 78 companies seemed to have fulfilled all the criteria signifying the effectiveness of the country’s transformation strategies.
Understandably, the demands for digital capabilities will turbocharge technology adoption among SMEs, resulting in increased market value — helping drive the economy forward.
OpenGov Asia reported earlier that Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) will be working alongside a logistics start-up from Singapore on a cross-border eCommerce initiative to help drive Malaysia’s National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap (NESR).
The two will work to help Malaysian SMEs grow abroad by providing cross-border logistics solutions that can deliver their products throughout Southeast Asia.
Since its establishment in 1996, MDEC has been working to drive digital transformation across all sectors in Malaysia, including small-medium enterprises (SMEs). Among their initiatives is onboarding more merchants onto the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ).
The DFTZ is an electronic world trade platform designed to facilitate exports for Malaysian SMEs by providing platforms, e-fulfilment activities and enhanced trade facilitation measures.
To help MDEC drive the NESR further, MDEC and the company will jointly hold events to actively bring more Malaysian businesses onboard eCommerce and the DFTZ.
The firm will also link Malaysian SMEs to various eCommerce partners who will help Malaysian merchants obtain tools and expertise across the entire eCommerce ecosystem including international market entry and online marketplace listings, and more.
The Head of SME Adoption at MDEC stated that the logistics firm has been a big help in executing SME adoption programs to drive the NESR forward, particularly in helping merchants access international markets like Indonesia.
As medical technology advances, breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating various critical illnesses are achieved, and as the design of patient treatment plans becomes more precise and personalised, healthcare practitioners are expected to keep abreast of the latest developments to master the most sophisticated technologies.
In a cancer treatment team, members are specialised in their respective fields, yet they work together seamlessly to devise the most effective treatment for patients. One of the lesser-known of the specialists in such a team, the Medical Physicist, is responsible for formulating treatment plans, as well as monitoring and maintaining radiation equipment used to ensure the precise, effective and safe delivery of treatment.
Medical Physicists specialise in radiation treatment technology, with their expertise spanning from diagnostic imaging to radiotherapy, and they are “strong backers” of the cancer treatment team. However, a higher degree programme in Medical Physics was previously not available in Hong Kong or nearby regions.
To meet the future demand for Medical Physicists, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has, this academic year, launched the first Master of Science in Medical Physics (MScMP) programme in Hong Kong. The curriculum is designed to cover various aspects including health technology, physics and engineering, offering interdisciplinary training for professionals who are keen to pursue a career in the field of medical physics.
High demand for cancer treatment Creating local training opportunities
The ageing population in Hong Kong poses immense challenges to the local healthcare system and the rising demand for cancer treatment is one of them. To maintain the quality of healthcare services, it is essential to have more qualified professionals in the workforce.
There are about 150 Medical Physicists currently practising in Hong Kong, serving at the Hospital Authority as well as in public and private hospitals. They possess both physics and medical expertise, playing a vital role in diagnosis and the formulation of treatment plans, as well as ensuring proper operation of equipment to achieve the treatment goal.
The Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of PolyU stated with the advancement of technology and patients’ growing expectation of higher service standards, there is a need for the additional workforce. Besides those working on the frontline, experts in innovative health technology at the back-end to achieve effective treatment are needed. Thus the new masters programme in medical physics will both prepare students for a career in medical physics and help to promote the development of the field itself.
Leveraging interdisciplinary expertise Striving for the well-being of patients
Medical Physics is an interdisciplinary field that crosses the boundaries of medicine, physics and engineering. The Head of the Department of Health Technology and Informatics of PolyU pointed out that the demand for radiotherapy is ever-increasing.
In Hong Kong, cancer has long been the leading cause of death and radiotherapy plays a crucial role in cancer treatment. In the past, no dedicated master programme was offered by local institutions, and people have little understanding of the role of the Medical Physicist.
It is hoped that through this new programme, more people will understand the importance of medical physics and hence help to open new research areas in this field.
The programme leader and Professor of the Department of Health Technology and Informatics, added that the programme is taught by an interdisciplinary team, striking a good balance between theory and practice by incorporating modules in health technology and informatics, applied physics, applied mathematics, biomedical engineering and computing. The aim is to broaden students’ perspectives in medical science and technology development and equip them with professional knowledge, relevant skillsets as well as research capabilities.
The Vice President (Education) of PolyU noted that the university is considering switching some of its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes from single-disciplinary to interdisciplinary, to better address societal needs. This new MScMP programme is a good example of PolyU’s interdisciplinary efforts. Thus, while students enrolled on this programme already have a bachelor’s degree in a specific discipline, they can acquire new professional knowledge in the areas of health technology, physics and engineering, and create a synergy of different subjects. This will provide a solid basis upon which they can develop a career in the field of healthcare.
Contribute to the community with medical physics knowledge
According to the President of the Hong Kong Association of Medical Physics half of the practising Medical Physicists in Hong Kong obtained a relevant higher degree overseas, while the other half pursued their master degree in physics or engineering in Hong Kong, and received “on-the-job” training while working as a Resident Physicist.
He is encouraged to see the launch of the first MScMP programme at PolyU, noting that Medical Physicists play a pivotal role in a medical team, although they spend most of their time behind the scenes, they are irreplaceable in the planning and implementation of cancer treatment. They are responsible for formulating treatment plans, calculating radiation doses, as well as testing and monitoring equipment to ensure that all arrangements are perfectly executed.
Currently, the minimum entry requirement for Resident Physicists in Hong Kong is a master degree in medical physics, physics or engineering-related subjects. While working as a Resident Physicist in a hospital, one can start taking a three-part professional examination. Generally speaking, it takes about four to five years to attain certified recognition as a Medical Physicist.
Authorities in the central city have put on trial the DaNang Smart City app for smartphone users to access public information services and connect with local authorities. The Deputy Director of the city’s Department of Information and Communications, Tran Van Thạch, noted that all local residents and tourists can download the app to search for information related to public services, tourism, rescue, bus trips, open data, smart car parks, hotlines, or send comments and complaints to the local government.
He said the application would be a step towards the city becoming ‘smart’, an objective the city has been following since 2014. Local authorities were available for all online connections or switchboard 1022; zalo 1022 and chatbot. In 2016, the city launched gopy.danang.gov.vn to get feedback on city services from the local community.
The online portal, available in English and Vietnamese, allows residents and tourists to conveniently post opinions and suggestions, as well as complaints on urban, environmental, administrative, and tourism-related services. Apps for public bus routes (Dana Bus and Bus Map) are also available from the Apple and Google Play stores.
All problems related to security, tourism, public disorder, environmental pollution, and administrative procedures sent via the website will be dealt with within three working days.
Da Nang was the first city in Vietnam to offer free wireless internet, with a maximum of 20,000 connections at a time for locals and tourists on major streets in the city, including living quarters, schools, and beaches. Da Nang plans to become a smart and green city by 2025.
According to statistics of the Department of Informatics, by September this year, the rate of online public services at level 4 reached 19.1%, nearly 4.2 times higher than in 2018. Nine ministries and agencies under the government and 15 provinces and cities reached a rate of over 30%. Typically, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) have provided 100% of online public services at level 4.
Earlier, MIC launched an online portal, which provides data on state agencies in service of political and socio-economic activities, contributing to the process of e-government building in Vietnam. New digital services, in the process of a digital government building, as well as open data will be provided on the portal. This will make it easier for the public to use them to serve research, study, or product invention, as well as offer feedback to state agencies to improve operating efficiency.
The state-owned group Viettel also recently developed an AI platform, which is part of a chain of events to introduce Made-in-Vietnam digital platforms to serve the national digital transformation program for 2025, with a vision to 2030 approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
As OpenGov Asia reported earlier, the platform is currently focusing on areas such as Vietnamese speech processing technology (Speech Processing), Vietnamese natural language processing technology (Natural Language Processing), and computer vision technology (Computer Vision).
An American multinational developer of analytics software has committed to up-skill a minimum of 500 students in analytics across Malaysia by the end of 2020, in response to increased demand for data science expertise. Under the banner of the firm’s Software Certified Young Professionals (SCYP), the program will collaborate with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to help drive the adoption of emerging technologies across the country.
Central to such efforts will be enabling students to work towards the certification in programming, machine learning and visual analytics through e-learning courses, supported by access to online communities and webinars.
The Managing Director of Malaysia at the firm stated that the company has a deep-rooted history in academia. Launching a program to empower Malaysian students with the firm’s analytics knowledge and expertise helps in answering the rising demand for technology professionals in Southeast Asia.
Business organisations need people who can make sense of data, manage and analyse it, build models and determine what information delivers the most value. Students with an analytical skillset will be highly sought after.
Once students have completed the e-learning courses and attended the associated webinars, a certification exam will follow before connections with SAS customers seeking young data science professionals.
Within Southeast Asia, “free or heavily subsidised” online courses are available to undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students who are enrolled at a university, business school or university college in Malaysia, Indonesia or Vietnam. There are currently three courses available for students in Malaysia and Vietnam, and five courses on offer in Indonesia, spanning data analytics, statistics, machine learning and virtualisation.
The CEO of MDEC stated that the agency’s strategic partnership with the software company aligns perfectly with its commitment to ensuring delivery of technology relevant programmes to Malaysian students and help Malaysians make the digital leap into the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The agency sees its public-private partnership initiatives such as the tech firm contributing to Malaysia’s overall growth of the data science skills required in the workforce to support the digitally-driven economy, which is also critical to meet the demand of the current and future job market.
Growing demand for tech professionals
OpenGov Asia earlier reported that Malaysians with niche skills in technology have far brighter prospects in 2020 as many sectors are hiring in their push forward with digitalisation. A Malaysia-based consultancy’s 2020 salary survey revealed that job opportunities and higher pay were expected for those in mid to high-level management positions in eight sectors.
Talents with niche skills who are changing jobs, on the other hand, are looking at an increment of up to 30 per cent due to demand outstripping supply, the firm’s Country Manager for Malaysia said in a statement accompanying the survey report.
The survey also encouraged as employers may be more open to hiring job seekers with the necessary tech skills but who may have less industry experience.
Moreover, as Malaysia invests more into its technological infrastructure, the more it will see tech talent flooding into the nation, thereby growing its digital economy and pushing forward its Industry 4.0 goals.
The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have officially renewed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) on 22 September 2020 to reaffirm both party’s continued commitment to help drive digital transformation across the Singapore business community, promote the adoption of digital technologies and position them to seize opportunities in the digital economy over the next three years.
Mr Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive of IMDA said, “Digital transformation is necessary for businesses to grow and thrive in this new economic reality. Companies that can quickly move to adopt digital technologies and leverage digital platforms, stand to benefit not only from operational efficiencies, but importantly, the potential to scale and reach more partners and customers beyond Singapore. As IMDA leads Singapore’s digital transformation, the collaboration we have with SBF underscores the importance of supporting our businesses to catalyse growth in our Digital Economy.”
The areas of focus include:
Digital Transactions between Businesses – Help businesses understand and adopt digital B2B technologies such as e-invoicing and e-signatures, through outreach and awareness activities, and work with key industry partners to raise their level of adoption.
Digital Economy Agreements (DEA) and Cross Border Data Flows – Help businesses understand how they can leverage Singapore’s DEAs and initiatives such as the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules and ASEAN Cross Border Data Flows Mechanism to operate seamlessly across borders.
SMEs Go Digital Outreach – Support the development of digital platforms and outreach to SMEs to help them understand their current digital readiness and facilitate the adoption of suitable digital solutions.
Empowering People & Embracing Digitalisation for Resilience & Resurgence
Speaking at this year’s Future Economy Conference and Exhibition (FECE), Mr Lim Ming Yan, Chairman of SBF said, “The COVID-19 situation has highlighted the need for businesses to adopt digital transformation to remain relevant and competitive. This collaboration between SBF and IMDA seeks to provide relevant support to businesses in their digital transformation efforts, including efforts to push boundaries and explore new growth markets.”
FECE 2020, from 22 to 23 September, features 19 industry-leading speakers from businesses such as banking, logistics, e-payments and e-commerce.
Themed “Empowering People & Embracing Digitalisation for Resilience & Resurgence”, this year’s FECE is held online and more than 1,000 business owners and leaders have registered. The focus for FECE 2020 is on how businesses can optimise their digitalisation efforts and upskill their talent to reap sustainable business growth during this challenging period.
FECE 2020, now into its fourth annual edition, is organised by SBF in collaboration with five government agencies as strategic partners – Ministry of Trade and Industry, IMDA, SkillsFuture Singapore, Enterprise Singapore and Workforce Singapore – and 26 trade associations and chambers as supporting organisations.
Adoption and convergence of cloud, virtualisation, cybersecurity technologies, etc. have caused a dramatic change in the financial services industry significantly impacting its functioning. Further, most organisations were already on their digital journey when the pandemic hit – forcing a seismic shift in urgency and scope of the transformation.
The OpenGovLive! Virtual Breakfast Insight on 22 September 2020 engaged delegates from the financial services industry across ASEAN to better understand the impact of digital disruption in this sector. The session witnessed overwhelming attendance and engagement from senior digital executives, keen on sharing and learning more about this timely and highly relevant topic.
The pressure to transform digitally should not out innovation on a back seat
The session was opened by Mohit Sagar, Group Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, OpenGov Asia.
Mohit concurred that the financial sector industry was seriously hit during the pandemic and were, for the most part, reactive in their response.
Before COVID, organisations were working hard balancing different aspects of their business – regulations, stakeholders, customers, employees – in a F2F, physical context. With strict stay-at-home, remote working and quarantine measures in place, almost all fiscal and commercial transaction transitioned online. The need to go digital almost immediately, besides managing the regular aspects of business, has put the financial sector under immense pressure.
Under such pressure, Mohit cautioned delegates, organisations must not hold back on innovation. In fact, the industry should look at the pandemic as an opportunity to pivot – to ramp up digital transformation.
None the less, in this expedient endeavour, operational resilience must be maintained and security strategies must be reassessed. Existing protocols and processes must not only be maintained but need to be strongly augmented – adding new chapters as appropriate and necessary.
Mohit encouraged delegates to prioritise the well-being and happiness of employees as much as that of their customers. In urgent times like these, it is a well-trained, motivated and committed workforce that will help organisations stay afloat and thrive.
In closing, Mohit advised delegates to must partner with the right people who are experts in this field, it if they want to correctly balance the different aspects of their business efficiently and have a smooth transition into the digital world.
Empower and augment employees to achieve operational resilience
Elisha Harrington, Head of Financial Services Innovation, ServiceNow shared her insights with the delegates.
Elisha spoke about operational resilience as a driver of transformation and coordinated delivery of business outcomes. She echoed Mohit’s sentiments about financial institutions being under a lot of pressure as they were pivoting to paradigms that were unknown to them.
They had to deal with technological shortcomings, cybersecurity issues, connectivity gaps, compliance requirements, etc. along with adjusting to remote working. In such an environment, operating at scale necessitates that employees collaborate across teams and work with each other virtually.
Elisha opined that operational resilience comes down to an institution’s ability to absorb shock and set out risk tolerances for those parts of the business that are highly critical to its survival.
The strategy to survive she proposed, and indeed, thrive rests four main pillars: People, Technology, Facilities and Supplies. These pillars need to be in place and need to be consistently and continuously improved.
Additionally, technology and supplier resilience are critical in keeping organisations going. Elisha outlined three major components under this:
- Technology Supply Chain
- IT resilience and Outsource
- Cost of Resilience
Elisha concluded by highlighting the need to transform the risk and controls management across the organisations. To successfully transform, there needs to be integrated risk management which coupled with workflow optimisation will lead to better customer outcomes.
Digitisation is essential to serve customers effectively and efficiently
Kaspar Situmorang, Executive Vice President & Head, Digital Center for excellence at PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia spoke to the audience from a scale of operations perspective. For organisations serving a large number of customers more effectively and satisfactorily, Kasper felt, it is imperative to go digital.
To underscore his position, he then shared that his organisation’s digital transformation strategy that has two major focus points: First is digital business optimisation, that focuses on increasing efficiency and productivity by bringing in new business processes. The second is making the business digital, that includes creating new business models, generating new revenue streams and improving gross margins.
Kaspar stressed that good customer experience in both digitising and digital is their organisation’s top priority. To do that, they utilise AI as to both expand their customer base and better the customer experience.
He listed five critical competencies in which they invest heavily to grow: People with the right customer-centric mindset, Open Innovation Ecosystem, Data-driven organisation, Agile way of working and Scalable, reliable and secure technology
In conclusion, Kaspar shared the transformation framework of his organisation that comprises:
- Digitising core: Digitising their existing services. transactions and business processes
- Digital Ecosystem: Building an ecosystem to offer products and services beyond core business
- New Digital Propositions: Creating and launching an independent greenfield digital bank in Indonesia
He also shared various examples of the products and services under the above three categories to give delegates a better understanding of their work.
After Kaspar’s presentation, it was time for a more interactive and engaging session. The delegates were polled with a series of questions that was the foundation for discussion around the topic.
On the first question regarding major challenges faced by their organisation in operational resilience, a majority of delegates voted for lack of definition for ‘client business Services’ across organisations (30%).
A senior executive from Malaysia shared that it was imperative that the top management, (who grant the budget and the IT personnel in an organization), are aligned in one direction; if they are not aligned then there will be a lot of ambiguity around the business goals and objectives.
On the next question regarding the most important consideration for the future of their organisation, over half (52%) of delegates voted for data-driven decisions, i.e. using insights from big data and advanced analytics in workforce decision making.
A delegate from Singapore shared that he chose this option because he has observed that while there is a lot of data, it is not easy to assimilate and draw insights from it. So that is a journey they need to undertake.
On the final question about the need to do things differently in your organisation, the largest section voted for creating a better digital experience for customers (37%).
A delegate reflected that they chose the above option because it is a changing environment for the customers as well. Due to the pandemic, they want to go more and more digital. They want to avoid coming to the branch physically for things. So, the focus is on creating a better digital experience for customers.
After the polling session, Elisha addressed the audience with closing remarks. She thanked all delegates for their participation in the session.
Elisha concluded that if organisations have a good handle over their system, service health and necessary automation in place, they have the ability to start to innovate the core business services. This allows employees more time to add value to the core rather than spending time resolving simple/routine problems or getting lost in too many fragmented systems. This is the ultimate goal of service excellence.
She signed off by reminding delegates that ServiceNow solutions can assist and support them in attaining this goal and encouraged them to reach out to the ServiceNow team to explore ways they can collaborate.
The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and the Cuban Ministry for Communications held an online training course: “Designing and developing big data systems” for Cuba. It was officially opened at Hanoi and La Habana. The training course took place within a week with the coordination of the Embassy of Cuba in Vietnam and two of Vietnam’s leading ICT groups: VNPT and Viettel.
According to a press release, the objective of the course was to provide advanced knowledge about big data such as analysing, designing, and developing big data systems for IT application and e-government development in regulatory agencies.
The course will aid Cuba to solve challenges and tools for big data as well as related content. It attracted nearly 50 attendants from Cuba’s Ministry of Communications, ministries, sectors, corporations, and ICT enterprises.
Topics conveyed by Vietnamese lecturers and experts from the Authority of Information Technology Application (MIC), VNPT, and Viettel included: general knowledge about big data; big data processing; the storage and handling of big data; infrastructure requirements; how to manage big data using IPv6; analysis and presentation tools, models, methods and techniques math for analysing and integrating big data, etc.
The event is one of the activities in a series of activities celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Cuba and the Vietnam – Latin America Relationship Development Plan in 2020.
In the framework of cooperation between the two ministries, in July 2019, MIC coordinated with VNPT, Viettel, and Bkav to organise training courses on cybersecurity in Havana for Cuba. Furthermore, to promote the specialised ICT cooperation between the two, MIC undertook several activities like participating in the La Havana international book fair in Cuba, publishing two books in Spanish and copyright granting activities, exchanging radio and television programs, and promoting images and the relationship between the two countries.
In the coming time, MIC will host an investment promotion conference in the field of ICT with Latin American countries in October and continue to host a 01 information security training course for Cuba, scheduled for November.
Vietnam has also been providing support to Laos’ digital transformation. As OpenGov Asia earlier reported, thanks to a program under Viettel, all citizenship data has been uploaded to the system, improving the capacity to manage data and information about people, and helping reduce administrative procedures. This is the first time that Laos has implemented the management of electronic civil status instead of the registration of civil status as before.
The unit in Laos was the first licensed by the Central Bank of Laos to officially deploy mobile money and is also the only company developing this service in the country, offering a new secure and quick payment method for more than six million people. This field is expected to generate 30-50% of Unitel’s telecoms revenue in the future. Founded in October 2009, the Viettel subsidiary operates across all 17 provinces and cities in Laos and has led the market for eight consecutive years. It is also the Laos government’s partner in implementing the country’s key e-government systems.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary, Fortunato T. Dela Pena, has announced future-proof initiatives through research and development programs and private sector collaboration.
According to a press release, the Secretary mentioned that the DOST’s new programs and initiatives are set to future-proof industries and the environment amidst the pandemic. Among the programs the secretary mentioned are the integrated mapping, monitoring, modeling, and management system for the Manila Bay or the IM4 Manila Bay Program and the Charted Dream.
The IM4 Manila Bay program aims to characterise Manila Bay and its watersheds and the link environments. The Charted Dream project aims to develop technology for the management and utilisation of dredge materials from the Tullahan -Tinajeros rivers system. The team from the DOST-Industrial Technology Development Institute and the Department of Public Works and Highways have already met to identify possible sampling sites and are already preparing initial laboratory analysis.
These projects are said to complement the government’s current initiatives in cleaning up the Manila Bay and its adjacent rivers and tributaries. The Tullahan- Tinajeros River system is a 27-kilometer long river system and a major tributary of Manila Bay. It spans from La Mesa Water Reservoir in Fairview, Quezon City, all the way to Manila Bay. It is one of the most polluted waterways in Metro Manila.
The secretary also mentioned other DOST programs such as the Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage the Philippine Economy or CRADLE. The program aims to help create collaborative research and development between the academe and the industry by working with the private sector in identifying problems; academe and other research institutions will provide science-based solutions.
Currently, there are 18 new projects from 18 private companies that have partnered with 11 universities to work in the areas of new pharmaceutical products, research on the dietary fibre of sugarcane bagasse (the natural antioxidant on sugarcane), the development of new materials from carrageenan, “soysage”, a sausage derived from okra, and nursery tanks for shrimp production.
Apart from that, research will be conducted on the development of tomography imaging devices, semiconductor packaging and electronics products, and home energy storage and energy management.
DOST has also announced it will stage the 2020 National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) celebration in virtual mode for the first time, in November. It aims to highlight the efforts and initiatives of DOST and the entire scientific community in the area of research and development; practical technologies; innovation in agriculture, industry, and health; technical services and training; and financial assistance to entrepreneurs to help citizens adapt to COVID-19.
Technologies and services will be featured by DOST agencies and regional offices, academe, and private sectors in the virtual exhibit. Several webinars and other virtual activities will take the spotlight during the seven-day festivity, a release noted.
In the previous NSTW celebrations, all techno-exhibits and activities were usually held for five days either at the SMX Convention Centre or at the World Trade Centre in Pasay City.
From 1993 until 2019, the NSTW has been celebrated during every third week of July pursuant to Proclamation 169. However, in August 2019, by virtue of Proclamation 780 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, the NSTW celebration will now be conducted every fourth week of November. The change of date was meant to ensure “maximum participation” of schools, students, stakeholders, and the public during the week-long celebration due to the change in the academic calendar of most universities, schools, and educational institutions.
