
Last March 3, 2016, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Deputy Director General for Patents and Technology Sector, Mr. John Sandage; and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPhl) Director of the Documentation, Information, and Technology Transfer Bureau (DITTB), Ms. Carmen G. Peralta, visited the University’s Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO) and paid a courtesy call to the Vice-Rector, Rev. Fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P. and the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, Prof. Maribel G. Nonato, Ph.D.
The Innovation Technology Support Office of the University of Santo Tomas co-hosted the whole-day National Workshop on Increasing the Capacity and Pace for Technology Scouting, Absorption, and Adaptation through a “Hub and Spoke” Structure (IP HUB), held at the Chairman George S.K. Ty Hall, 4/F of the Buenaventura G. Paredes, O.P. Building.
A capacity to innovate
The Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, Prof. Maribel G. Nonato, PhD, in her welcome address, cited data from the Global Competitive Index, which highlighted the vast room for improvement for the Philippines in terms of innovation and research, citing the urgency for stepped up efforts to for Filipinos to innovate and embrace technology. Nonato cited the report, which said that Filipinos have a great capacity for innovation, and underscored the need for harnessing such potential to transforming it into output, in light of global movements such as the ASEAN Economic Cooperation of 2015, among others.