The country's various science, technology, and innovation (STI) initiatives once again took the center stage, this time in ensuring safe water and sanitation during the second day of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
In a statement, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said that DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. stated the country’s situation on limited access to safe water and then listed the measures that the government, especially the DOST, are taking to address these challenges.
According to DOST, among these initiatives are the Harmonized National R&D Agenda with emphasis on the research priorities on environmental pollution control and management on water and wastewater management.
“Several programs and projects have been funded by the Department of Science and Technology that aim to provide access to potable water; develop cleaner, safer and compact technologies for application to industrial wastewater; develop materials that detoxify harmful substances in water; and conduct wastewater remediation," Solidum said.
"On water technologies, studies and output include the development of ceramic water filters at different scales and designs. A low-cost modular-type rainwater collection system was also invented and has been distributed to various local government units,” he added.
DOST's STI solutions extend to the use of frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to help curb water shortages in the east service area of Metro Manila, software that forecasts the water supply system of dams and its treatment plants, and remote sensing and Geographic Information System-plugin to train AI models to extract features from satellite imagery.
Solidum called upon CSTD members and relevant stakeholders to create enabling infrastructure, framework, tools, and environment that would help everyone to move forward in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6.