The Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) launched Thursday, April 8, nine new projects on artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R&D).
The DOST-PCIEERD said the projects will be undertaken by the DOST-Advanced Technology Science Institute (ASTI), and four universities, which include University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin), De La Salle University (DLSU), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and Caraga State University (CarSU).
“AI is one of our priority areas as it truly can boost the country and usher us to the fourth industrial revolution. As a powerful agent for good, AI can disrupt traditional processes and provide solutions and opportunities that Filipinos can maximize,” said DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Parinigit.
The nine AI projects are the following:
-Autonomous Societally Inspired Mission Oriented Vehicles (ASIMOV) Program, which will be implemented by DOST-ASTI and UPMin.
-Harmonized Aerial Watch and Knowledge-based Survey (HAWKS) Project, which will be handled by UPMin
-Robot for Optimized and Autonomous Mission-Enhancement Response (ROAMER) Project by the DOST-ASTI
-Philippine Sky Artificial Intelligence Program (SkAI-Pinas) by UPMin
-Intelligent Structural Health Monitoring via Mesh of Tremor Sensors (meSHM) Project by DLSU
-Development of Multi-lingual Chatbot for Health Monitoring of Public-School Children Project by DLSU
-Towed Camera System for Marine Litter Monitoring by UPMin
-Automated Software for Faster Spectroscopy Analysis by UPLB
-Intelligent System for Traffic Control and Management by CarSU
"These projects are a testament of our shared goal of uplifting our nation by making innovation work for the Filipino people,” Paringit said.
During the virtual launch, DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Peña noted that the DOST invested P328 million, from 2018 up to present, on AI to stimulate rapid scientific growth of the sector.
"As the premiere science and technology agency in the Philippines, we will continuously invest more on R&D projects and initiatives under its priority areas such as the development of AI conversational agents, cybersecurity, and AI Robotics for disaster risk management, infrastructure, and smart factories, among others,” he said.
"We will also extend our support to R&D projects that will utilize quantum computing and development of 5G products and services,” he added.
DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Rowena Cristina L. Guevara said the nine AI projects seek to capacitate and empower the country’s educational institutions.
"We believe that many Filipinos, including our young researchers and scientists, are competent and can do more to leverage AI and data science in the Philippines,” she said in her message.
"Through this program, we hope to see more R&D projects and initiatives that will spur the development of AI-powered technologies in the country. As we position ourselves as a powerhouse for AI in the region, we hope that our researchers, scientists, and engineers will train their sights into this emerging field and channel our human capital into harnessing their skills and knowledge for AI R&D.”
Guevara said as the premiere science and technology body in the country, the DOST will continue making change happen through research and development to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
"DOST will be relentless in serving the Filipino community by providing world-class research products and technologies.”