Cebu hosts 1st tech business incubator summit on Friday

The Summit features educational sessions, group discussions, networking, and workshops for participating incubators and stakeholders in order to help raise their potential for generating employment and investment. (Google maps)

CEBU CITY— The 1st Philippine Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Summit takes centerstage Nov. 24 here at the Victoria Hall of Cebu Parklane International Hotel.

The national TBI Summit gathers technology and startup players from all over the country to explore outstanding entrepreneurial and innovation issues.

In a press conference on Thursday, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said the inaugural TBI convention aims to maximize President Rodrigo Duterte’s socio-economic goals.

“Through this TBI Summit, we hope to provide more opportunities to the people, reduce inequality among Filipinos, and spread economic growth all over the country,” Guevara said.

The Summit features educational sessions, group discussions, networking, and workshops for participating incubators and stakeholders in order to help raise their potential for generating employment and investment.

DOST Secretary Fortunato Dela Peña will be among the keynote speakers on Friday. He will speak on “building ecosystems of innovations in the regions through meaningful science and technology initiatives.”

Guevara will likewise talk about the DOST TBI Program, while Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Nora Terrado will speak on the “Fablab as a strategy to capacitate technopreneurs in the region.”

Dr. Azra’iShu’ib of TechnoPark Malaysia has also been invited to talk about his country’s journey towards building fourth generation TBIs and their ASEAN cooperative scheme in business incubation.

The Higher Education Institution Readiness for Innovation and Technopreneurship (HeIRIT) program, which seeks to provide a platform for fuelling innovation and intrepreneurial growth, will also be launched during the Summit.

The HeIRIT program is aimed to make the country’s leading universities and academic institutions as catalysts for the country’s tech and startup ecosystem to grow and develop.

A memorandum of agreement will be signed between the DOST and the 20 university partners which will serve as TBI host institutions for the HeIRIT program.

The 1st TBI Summit is organized by the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) in partnership with the University of the Philippines-Cebu Campus, UP-Cebu inIT, and TechTalks.ph.