The Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology celebrated its 35th Anniversary, with the theme “Creating Stronger Ties and Forging Ahead Together," on 13 December 2022 at the Novotel Manila Araneta City. The celebration was intended to recognize the value of partnerships, working together, supporting each other, and rebuilding together. 

The agency has prepared co-located events tailored to the needs of guests and participants to showcase projects and services geared towards developing innovation-driven and infrastructure-enabled research and development solutions. 

Dr. Franz A. De Leon, the agency’s Director shared that for the past 35 years, DOST-ASTI has been productive in meeting its objectives and mandates to its full fruition and operationalization. 

“We have been showcasing innovations in different fields such as network technologies, weather sensors, and high-performance computing. We have been pioneering efforts on ongoing R&D projects with the use of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in space technology, education information infrastructure, and electronic product development, to name a few. Hence, to culminate a year full of championing and applying S&T innovations to our people services, we want to share with you our gratitude,” he added. 

For the past 35 years, excellence in research has been the intellectual engine that drives the Institute through the innovation pipeline. Through DOST-ASTI's projects and services generated by research and collaborations, the institute has become an agency that propels nation-building by fostering a culture of innovation amongst its stakeholders. 

DOST-ASTI believes that it is necessary to invite representatives from the private and public sectors to learn more about the agency’s available technologies because many of these are immediately applicable to the local government as well as local communities around the country.  

The agency also put up exhibits showcasing technology demonstrations, tools, as well as products, projects, and services that the agency has developed over the years. 

Below is the information on the co-located events in celebration of DOST-ASTI's 35th anniversary:

2nd Joint COARE-PREGINET Stakeholders’ Meeting
Organized by the Information Network for Open and Viable Applications and Technology Exchanges (INNOVATE) 

The theme for this year’s meeting is “Converging capabilities, Creating new opportunities, Forging ahead”, which captures what COARE & PREGINET have realized in the past four (4) years since the first Stakeholders’ Meeting was held back in 2018. Now more than ever, COARE & PREGINET have come to see the value of partnerships, working together, supporting each other, and rebuilding together. COARE & PREGINET’s partnerships with various organizations are significant in providing their services to their stakeholders, and this is the highlight of this year’s Meeting. There will be presentations from COARE & PREGINET’s partners from various sectors. COARE and PREGINET will also provide updates regarding their activities. The Women in HPC Philippines will also be formally launched – an initiative that aims to create a strong and reliable community for women in the field of HPC and advanced networking, where women can participate and feel empowered and valued. 

PREGINET & COARE 

PREGINET is the national’s REN which exists to support the needs of the growing research and education communities within the country by providing a high-speed network. PREGINET enables collaboration and connection of its local stakeholders from various SUCs, private academic institutions, and government agencies, to the global network of RENs from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, and Australia regions. The national’s REN also acts as a means for transferring large data sets that will benefit its stakeholders.  

COARE is a high-performance computing (HPC), cloud, and storage facility. COARE aims to foster collaborations among institutions by enabling multiple data integration between ASTI-initiated projects and other collaborative projects with other agencies that have high requirements for compute resources and data storage. COARE provides a platform for easy storage, analysis, and sharing of scientific data by providing the following services: HPC/Supercomputer, Science Cloud, and Data Archiving. 

 

Project Launching
Organized by Resilient Education Information Infrastructure for the New Normal (REIINN) 

The REIINN Project aims to develop and implement innovative solutions to support distance learning and to address the digital divide in the country during and beyond the pandemic. 

Given the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, many educational institutions across the world have resorted to virtual, non-face-to-face modes of interaction and content delivery. In order to facilitate the continuity of learning during this pandemic, several technology-driven tools and applications were adopted for the so-called “new normal in education.”  

The majority of these distance learning modalities are highly independent on access to the internet. However, almost half of the world’s population has yet to maximize the potential benefits and economic growth that the internet provides. Project REIINN proposes a collective approach to ensure the continuity of learning during this pandemic and to address the challenges brought about by the digital divide. Although the issue of the digital divide is no longer new, the current pandemic further highlighted the urgency to bridge this gap. Access to the internet and information is crucial even before the pandemic, as it prepares and equips individuals for a burgeoning digital economy.  

Through technology-based interventions coupled with appropriate policies, access to the internet and information in unserved and underserved areas will be the new normal. 

 

MOA Signing & Project Update
Organized by the ASTI- Automated Labeling Machine Project 

Advanced Science and Technology – Automated Labeling Machine (ASTI- ALaM) is the ASTI component of the Philippine Sky Artificial Intelligence Program (SkAI-Pinas). The (1) capacity-building of DOST-ASTI researchers and engineers to AI-based solutions development using DOST-ASTI COARE, and (2) development of deep learning models are the goals of the project. 

Through this project, an optimized workflow for developing machine learning and artificial neural network-based models for different application domains will be established. The optimized model development workflow will be supported by dedicated AI technology development hardware to be hosted and managed by DOST-ASTI.

 

Space Science and Technology Applications Turnover Ceremony
Organized by the Space Tech Team of DOST-ASTI 

Over the years, the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) made a working system to receive, generate, and supply data we harnessed from space. The PEDRO Center made it possible for us to communicate with satellites in space. Services like the DATOS Help Desk, the SARwAIS Project, as well as the GRASPED Project from the STAMINA4Space Program, made use of these data to generate maps and foster informed decision-making policies for our clients and stakeholders. 

Last 25 April 2022, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) signed an agreement to formally transition these projects and services to PhilSA, signaling the success of DOST to push forward the roots of space technology in the Philippines.  

Today, we celebrate the people behind the success of the thriving space science and technology community in the country.  

This time, we leave these capabilities in the hands of PhilSA-- confident that they will further cultivate these space S&T assets for the benefit and future of the Filipinos. 

Indeed, science will always be for the people. 

 

Re-launching of the EPDC
Organized by the Electronic Product Development Center 

Electronics Product Development Center (EPDC) is the country's first dedicated government electronics development and one stop shop facility that is capable of providing design, prototyping, and testing services for PCBs, which mechanically supports and connect electronic components, as well as full electronic devices.  

EPDC is a facility that can be used by individual, schools, companies and the government to design, develop, and test electronic products for their intended applications.  

 In its more than three decades of existence, the Philippine electronics industry has concentrated on the lowest segment of the value chain, that is manufacturing (assembly and testing), and has seemingly created a niche in this area, particularly in semiconductor electronics.  

 Assembly of components and end-products is an important part of the electronics supply chain, but the Philippines should also focus its development on other higher value-added parts of the chain by moving up to the left or right of the Smile Curve.  

 According to a study made by the Nomura Research Institute (NRI) of Japan, the gaps in the supply chain can be addressed if the country supports and invests in the local research and development capability by putting up an R&D, electronics laboratories, and testing facilities.  

EPDC aims to become the foundation for providing all-around electronics development support to the Philippines.    

 

NETMESH Enhanced Applications Launching
Organized by the Fixed and Mobile Benchmarking System Project (Netmesh) 

In the Philippines, the National Telecommunications Commission, or NTC is the primary agency that looks into the welfare of Internet subscribers, ensuring that they get the Internet speed that they are paying for. The NTC released Memorandum Circular 07-08-2015 that addresses the Rules on the Measurement of Fixed Broadband/Internet Access Service, setting in motion an important step for the Commission to draft the guidelines to monitor and measure the quality of service provided by Internet Service Providers to its subscribers.

In 2018, the NTC, together with the DOST Advanced Science and Technology Institute, implemented the Fixed and Mobile Benchmarking System Project, which came to be known as NetMesh. With NTC Regional Offices 1, 4 and 12 as pilot regions, DOST-ASTI, in cooperation with the UP Diliman’s Department of Computer Science, developed a broadband measurement tool for fixed devices, and a speed test application for mobile devices. These tools are intended to be used by NTC and all its Regional Offices to perform audit and assessments on the Quality of Service (QOS) of Internet Service Providers (ISP). It will also be used as the same platform to test the quality of experience (QoE) for consumers.

These tools were designed in such a way that provisions can be made for further enhancement and have the flexibility for modifications. This project builds upon the outputs of the first phase of the NetMesh initiative, with NTC ROs 3, 8,11 and CARAGA as the proponents. After a series of training and field testing carried out in the months of October and November, the enhanced application will be re-launched in conjunction with the DOST-ASTI 35th Anniversary Event on December 13, 2022 at the Novotel Manila Araneta Center.

 

DOST-ASTI Technical Forum for Partners and Stakeholders
Organized by the Technology Licensing Office 

The event aims to disseminate information about DOST-ASTI’s Technologies which are ready for adoption by the industry. It also intends to gather stakeholders across agencies in order to determine the needs of end-users relevant to technical assistance and services from DOST-ASTI’s licensees. 

This year, the highlight is the signing of Technology Licensing Agreements of four technologies for commercialization with three (3) private institutions; Ace Electronics, Inc (Ace), Systems & Plan Integrator & Development Corporation (SPIDC), and Weld Power Tools Industrial Corporation (WPMIC). 

Apart from the abovementioned, a Memorandum of Agreement signing will be held between the agency and the DOST-Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) on the funding received from the Technology Innovation for Commercialization (TECHNiCOM) program for pre-commercialization activities of the HR Lite, an e-government platform which will be developed by the Knowledge Management Division of DOST-ASTI. Relevant to this, a Memorandum of Understanding will also be entered into by EC Solutions and Enterprise as a potential licensee and industry partner on the said project. 

Success stories of licensees, Ace Electronics, Inc. and Rockwell Enterprises will also be shared, in particular with the business established on the adoption of Meteorological data Acquisition Stations for Information Dissemination (MASID) technologies, Automated Rain Gauge (ARG) Water Level Monitoring Station (WLMS), Tandem Station (ARG+WLMS), and the Tsunami Early Warning-Alerting Station. 

The event will end through business networking activities and private meetings between industry participants, government agencies, academe, and DOST-ASTI’S Technology Licensing Office. 

 

ABOUT DOST-ASTI   

The Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), a Research and Development (RDI) of the DOST, was created pursuant to E.O. No. 128, S.1987, among others, to undertake long-term research to strengthen and modernize science and technology infrastructure and to conduct research and development work in advanced fields of studies, including Space Science and Technology Applications.  

The DOST- ASTI is mandated to perform the following functions:  

• Scientific research and development in the advanced fields of Information and Communication Technology and Microelectronics.  
• Undertake long-term research to strengthen and modernize science and technology infrastructure;  
• Conduct research and development work in the advanced fields of ICT and microelectronics; and  
• Complement the overall endeavor in the scientific field with intensive activities in computer and information technologies.  

Website: https://asti.dost.gov.ph/   

 

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EVENT PHOTOS: To be provided as soon as okay for release

MEDIA INQUIRIES:  

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS UNIT
corpcomm@asti.dost.gov.ph 

NEYZIELLE RONNICQUE CADIZ
Sr. Science Research Specialist, DOST-ASTI
neyzielle.cadiz@asti.dost.gov.ph
+63 966 3327175