DOST-NCR, SCALE-NCR Establish TBI in CDM to Encourage Academe-Based Entrepreneurship  

The DOST-NCR, together with the Strategic and Collaborative Alliance for Leveraging   

Ecosystem of Startups-NCR (SCALE NCR), a DOST TBI Consortia that is committed to fostering the growth and advancement of startups, are looking to encourage and nurture entrepreneurship in the academe with the establishment of a Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Center at the Colegio de Muntinlupa (CDM).  

The establishment of TBIs is one of the strategies to promote innovation and technopreneurship in a knowledge-based world economy. TBIs generate innovative firms through the incubation program; firms that will eventually become financially viable, are able to sustain their own operations, and able to compete in the dynamic and fast-changing market landscape.   

With its pursuit to achieve the Philippines’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG No. 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), the DOST is infusing science, technology, and innovation (STI) in entrepreneurial ventures and promoting technology transfer to foster the growth of local innovative enterprises.   

The choice of CDM to be the pioneer host of a college/university-based TBI center in Southern Metro Manila was boosted by the college’s own initiatives to foster entrepreneurship and innovation. This includes establishing an “Equipment Design and Prototyping Facility (EDPF)” in the campus and a robust technopreneurship program in partnership with the Wadhwani Foundation. These initiatives aim to equip students with the practical skills and the entrepreneurial mindset necessary for success in today’s competitive landscape.    

CDM’s TBI Technical Working Group (TWG) also recently completed the two-day SCALE NCR Innovation Crash Course on Incubation Management. The workshops, which were held on September 20, 2024 and October 3, 2024 at the Mirriam College TBI- Henry Sy, Sr. Innovation Center in Quezon City and at the TOMASInno Center of the University of Santo Tomas, respectively, taught the participants valuable skills, knowledge, and strategic thinking in establishing a university-based incubator or technopreneurship center.  CDM’s TWG gained comprehensive insights that are necessary to foster a thriving technopreneurship ecosystem within their institution. The TWG will spearhead the establishment of the CDM TBI to further advance the technopreneurship culture at the College.   

Ms. Maria Cristina L. Ibañez, Manager of the Miriam College-TBI and President of SCALE NCR, and Engr. Ian Charl Nico Tubban, TBI Manager of Adamson University’s Neo Science and Technology Incubation Inc. (AdUNest), served as resource persons during the workshops. They comprehensively discussed the various processes and strategies that are needed to build strong partnerships, highlighting key opportunities and challenges in laying the foundation of a thriving TBI center.   

Hopes are high that many bright and innovative ideas will be nurtured with the establishment of this first academe-based TBI center in the Muntinlupa, Taguig, Pateros, Paranaque, and Las Piňas cluster. By igniting minds, especially those of the youth’s, the country can count on a great future for technopreneurs.   

By: Anthony I. Dula, MUNTAPARLAS CASTO