Three new research laboratories will be established in various areas in the country to support research and development (R&D) projects in the regions, the science and technology agency said.
The research facilities will be built under the Institution Development Program (IDP), said the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD).
Among the facilities to be established is the Artificial Intelligence (Al) Research Center for Community Development (AIRCoDE) that will be located in Camarines Sur State Polytechnic Colleges.
This aims to strengthen the research capabilities of AI enthusiasts, faculty, and students in the field of AI, such as deep learning, computer vision, among others.
“The establishment of the AI Research Laboratory will be a primordial step in the Philippines' continuous development to be at par with the current trends of Artificial Intelligence in other countries,” the DOST-PCIEERD said in a statement.
A ParSU Microbiology Testing Laboratory (MTL) will be also put up to complement the existing research activities of Partido State University – Goa Campus in Camarines Sur.
There is also the Mindanao Natural (MinNa) Language Processing (LProc) Research and Development Laboratory to be built at the University of the Immaculate Conception in Davao City.
The IDP provides support for upgrading of research laboratories and facilities of academic and research institutions where there is an inadequacy of research expertise or facilities.
It also seeks to improve or set up research laboratories, procure laboratory equipment and provide research grants aimed at developing research capabilities.
Research projects
Meanwhile, the DOST-PCIEERD will also provide funding to five research projects through the Regional Research Institution (RRI) program.
These projects are the following:
- Development of Halal Compliant Restructured Goat Meat Products that aims transform goat meat and milk into value-added and halal compliant products.
- Design, Development, Testing and Implementation of Fuzzy-Proportional Plus Integral (PI) Power Factor Correction Controller (PFCC) for 10 kW Load, which will be implemented by the Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT-U).
- Application of Blockchain Technology to the Guimaras Mango Supply Chain that aims to ensure the authenticity of the mango products exported.
- Development of Optimized Pineapple Fiber Scraping Machine which seeks to develop an optimized mechanical pineapple fiber extractor in terms of the extraction capacity.
- Utilization of Banana Peel, Canistel Fruit and Brown Rice in the Development of Composite Flour, a project that plans to utilize banana peel, canistel fruit and brown rice in developing composite flour.
The RRI is designed for new researchers and new institutions in doing R&D in the regions.
Its goal is to develop research capabilities and increase the available researchers, scientists, and engineers in the priority sectors through regional consortia program.
DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Enrico Paringit lauded the project leaders in their efforts to uplift the R&D capabilities in their respective regions.
“These capacity building programs under the Human Resource Development Program (HRDP) continues to advance and strengthen Filipino R&D in keeping up with the times,” Paringit said.