IN PHOTO: RESOURCE PERSONS, DAP OFFICERS, AND PARTICIPANTS OF THE APO COURSE ON DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF INNOVATION POLICIES POSE FOR A PHOTO DURING THE EVENT’S OPENING CEREMONY.
The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), through its Productivity and Development Center (PDC), and the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) trained participants from APO- member economies on Design and Evaluation of Innovation Policies at the Citadines Millennium Hotel, Pasig City from October 23-27, 2023.
The 25 delegates from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Türkiye, and Vietnam engaged in a five-day training to enhance their competencies in designing and evaluating innovation policies.
The training also equipped the participants with understanding of the challenges of complex innovation ecosystems, methods and tools for designing and assessing the impact and effectiveness of innovation policies, and best practices of innovation policy design and implementation.
The training was led by APO resource persons Dr. Eva Diedrichs from Germany, Dr. Pun-Arj Chairatana from Thailand, and Dr. Francis Mark Quimba from the Philippines who talked about systemic and experimental innovation approaches, the importance of data in evaluating innovation policies and decision making, buy-in and communication to stakeholders, and facing and overcoming disruptions in implementing innovation policies.
Apart from the learning sessions, the participants visited the DAP’s Center for Strategic Futures to gain insights on innovation programs and initiatives that are in line with the Philippine Innovation Policy. They also visited the PhiliFintech Innovation Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to gain an understanding of financial innovation, its best practices, and challenges. SEC Commissioner Kelvin Lester K. Lee personally welcomed the participants and engaged in the open forum where he shared SEC’s innovations particularly on regulatory reforms on the use of fintech or financial technology to further promote financial inclusion and at the same time, protect investors and other financial consumers.
IN PHOTO: APO OFFICER, RESOURCE PERSONS, DAP OFFICERS AND STAFF LED BY ATTY. ENGELBERT CARONAN JR., AND PARTICIPANTS OF THE APO COURSE POSE FOR A PHOTO DURING THE EVENT’S CLOSING CEREMONY
Socioeconomic and Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Agency Director-General, Dr. Arsenio Balisacan, emphasized the importance of capacity building in his message. “It is indeed crucial for APO-member economies to be equipped with instruments and procedures for developing and evaluating innovation policies that propel economic development and contribute to socioeconomic development in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.
The participants showed their appreciation of the learning opportunity and gratitude to DAP and APO through a vote of thanks. Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University Associate Professor, Dr. Anothai Ngamvichaikit, from Thailand and Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Health Research and Development Supervising Science Research Specialist, Ms. Melissa Bulao, from the Philippines delivered the vote of thanks. Aside from thanking the organizers, they mentioned that they look forward to engaging and collaborating again with their fellow participants.
“Be champions of innovation! By working together, we can create, nurture, and sustain a culture of innovation in the area of policy making through cooperation and shared goals of improving productivity across Asia and the Pacific,” DAP President and CEO, and APO Alternate Director for the Philippines, Atty. Engelbert Caronan Jr., said in his closing message as he encouraged the delegates to collaborate and apply their learnings in innovation to improve productivity.
The DAP and the APO are committed to devising innovative approaches to promote innovative and inclusive productivity. For more information, visit www.dap.edu.ph, or email mgr@dap.edu.ph.
-Arvie Joyce Cayabyab