DOST technopark to help small IT-based companies

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has inaugurated a P10-million technopark inside the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, aimed at assisting small IT-based businesses.

The Open Technology Business Incubator will provide a nurturing environment for new IT-based businesses that transform new technologies into useful and commercially viable services, said Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro.

Alabastro said the TBI, located along Carlos P. Garcia Avenue in Diliman, is open to small entrepreneurs who commercialize locally developed innovations in hardware, software, and peripherals that run on Open Source systems.

Alabastro said the facility will also link the small entrepreneurs to big IT firms.

The TBI — composed of 20 leasable units — will be managed by the Technology Resource Center (TRC), an attached agency of the DOST.

DOST Undersecretary Fortunato de la Peña said the TBI will charge locators low fees.

So far, the TRC has received a total of 11 applications, one of them engaged in graphic design and animation.

De la Peña earlier said UP administrators have already sought assistance from the DOST in crafting plans for the two technoparks to be established in the near future in addition to the new technopark in Diliman.

He said one will be near UP’s National Engineering Center and will specialize in housing locators who provide globally outsourced engineering services.

On the other hand, the Cebu City technopark will specialize in housing software development locators.

According to TRC director general Antonio Ortiz, business incubators are emerging as one of the most formidable tools applied in developing countries to advance their respective economies.

The Philippines currently has only a handful of existing incubators. Most are not publicly owned and not very accessible to start-up companies, he said.

The TBI is a project of the DOST in partnership with the Philippine Export Zone Authority and UP.