The Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) 2014 National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) opened on a grand note at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City with the presence of no less than Senate Committee on Science and Technology Chairperson Sen. Ralph G. Recto.
Sen. Recto enjoined members of the scientific community including DOST officials and guests to invest more on research and development (R&D) as he decried the lack of human resources in science and technology (S&T) related fields. “There are only 78 full-time R&D researches for every 1 million Filipinos,” he told the audience during the opening ceremony this morning.
According to the senator, DOST correctly identified the 8 Outcomes or targets around which the Department’s initiatives are built. These outcomes are agriculture, enterprise development, industry, IT-BPM, government connectivity, health, education, and disaster preparedness.
Addressing the DOST community, Recto said that the Department hit the target in identifying these needs and to meet these needs, S&T should be harnessed. Politicians can advocate for S&T in loud voices, declared Recto, “but only scientists can find the solutions.”
Earlier, DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo explained these 8 DOST Outcomes on which the 2014 NSTW exhibits and fora are based. “These outcomes are transformative, meaning they will change how we do things,” he said, adding that these outcomes interweave with one another as strategies for fast-tracking national development especially with the coming ASEAN integration of 2015.
