Filipino companies can acquire strategic and relevant technologies for immediate incorporation in their research and development (R&D) activities which can be facilitated by a government program.
Rowena Cristina Guevara, Usec. for Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology, said the Business Innovation through S&T (BIST) for Industry Program is among the accelerated R&D programs for capacity building of R&D institutions and industrial competitiveness of the department.
“Acquisition of technology could be in the form of acquiring know-how/rights/blueprints of a registered intellectual property,” she said.
The procurement is through one of these methods: licensing of technology, outright purchase of technology, and acquisition of hardware/software for R&D, she added, noting that R&D does not include market research.
Guevara said Filipino-owned firms or their consortium/organization operating in the Philippines for at least three years are eligible to avail of such assistance under the BIST program.
All proposals for technology acquisition submitted should be in line with priority industries which include agri-processing (drug and herbal development); integrated circuit design; creative industries/knowledge-based services; information communications technology including artificial intelligence; food and nutrition; environment and climate change; agriculture, fishery and forestry; semiconductor and electronics; renewable energy; industrial waste treatment; infrastructure and logistics; and manufacturing.
Guevara said the proposal shall be a multi-year project from three to five years.
The refund shall be also for a period of three to five years, depending on the nature of technology acquired, while it shall commence on the third year of the project, she added.
Guevara said 70 percent of the eligible expenses will be refunded to DOST at zero percent interest, while 30 percent must be sourced out by the applicant. – Press release
April 24, 2024
