By: Apipa Bagumbaran
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — Northern Mindanao marked the National Innovation Day with a three-day program and exhibition held at SM City CDO Uptown from April 22-24, 2024. Dubbed “Northern Mindanao Regional Innovation Program and Exhibit (Norminripe) 2024,” the event convened experts and innovative leaders from across the region to showcase the region’s innovation landscape and unlock its untapped possibilities.
With the theme “Reshaping the Future and Advancing Filipinovation in Region X,” the initiative was led by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. (Oro Chamber).
Senator Loren Legarda, in a video message, stressed the importance of innovation for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), advocating for accessible innovation opportunities to benefit all. “Finding the next great idea only to benefit the largest corporations will only make innovations less affordable,” she emphasized.
To open the Northern Mindanao Regional Innovation Program and Exhibit (NORMINRIPE) 2024, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-10 regional director Mylah Faye Aurora Cariño, Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. (Oro Chamber) President Jesus Jardin, and Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-10 Deputy Regional Head Apipa Bagumbaran pressed the digital buttons for the ten 10 priority areas in the National Innovation Agenda and Strategy Document (NIASD) 2023-2032. (Photo by: DCC/PIA-10)
Legarda is the author of MSME Law and the co-sponsor of the Philippine Innovation Act. Last year, she supported the National Arts and Crafts Fair which highlighted the role of innovation in empowering local communities and preserving cultural heritage. Several MSMEs from Mindanao joined the fair, one of which was the Tagolwanen Women Weavers Association from Malaybalay, Bukidnon, which uses ‘sudsud’ grass in their hand-woven crafts such as bags and mats.
Beyond mere exhibitions, NORMINRIPE also aims to foster collaboration and dismantle barriers to innovation.
NEDA regional director Mylah Faye Aurora Cariño emphasized that through Norminripe, they can get ideas for policy support and program adoption by government agencies and industry bodies.
“By having this celebration, we hope to improve the assistance of the government to our researchers, to our innovators. There are already many programs that support our innovators, researchers, and budding scientists but we can still do more. Hopefully, through this program and exhibit, we can pick up ideas that we can support in terms of policies, or great ideas that can actually evolve into a program that perhaps the DOST or DTI can adopt, or the Oro Chamber can pursue,” she said.
The event’s opening day also featured insight sessions on Northern Mindanao’s role as a regional innovation hub, strategies for bolstering innovation ecosystems, and best practices for investment attraction.
Visitors stopped by the Department of Science and Technology booth at the Northern Mindanao Regional Innovation Program and Exhibit (NORMINRIPE) 2024 held at SM City Cagayan de Oro, April 22-24, 2024. (Photo by: DCC/PIA-10)
Virgilio Fuertes, DOST assistant regional director for technical operations, highlighted the event’s diverse activities, including innovation talks, interactive games, and competitions like the “Panagtigi: Innovation Quiz Bowl and InnoVenture: Startup Pitch Challenge.”
The DOST will also recognize the most innovative local government units through its Amihanang Mindanao Breakthrough Innovations and Technologies Awards or AMBIT Awards.
Exhibitors for the three-day event included the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), DOST, Department of Energy, Philippine Textile Research Institute, ILIGANiCE and iDEYA Center of Innovation and Technopreneurship of Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), FABLAB Mindanao, Central Mindanao University/Northern Mindanao Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (NOMCAARRD), Food Processors Association of Northern Mindanao (FOPANORMIN), Northwestern Mindanao State College of Science and Technology, and the University of Science and Technology of the Southern Philippines (USTP), among others. (APB/PIA-10)
