Southeast Asian universities and councils work towards development

Supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre, the Ateneo School of Government, in partnership with the National Research Council of the Philippines, is formally launching the Universities and Councils Network on Innovation for Inclusive Development in Southeast Asia (UNIID-SEA) Project on July 26, 2012 at the Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. This event will be a gathering of officials and executives from notable academic institutions and national research councils in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. 

 

Teaming up with universities and national research councils in Southeast Asia, UNIID-SEA is promoting programs that support innovation for inclusive development (IID). IID is loosely defined as innovation that reduces poverty and enables all groups of people, especially the poor and marginalized, to participate in decision-making, create and actualize opportunities, and share the benefits of development. 

 

In the next two years, UNIID-SEA, together with partner universities and research councils, will develop platforms for open learning and knowledge sharing; create opportunities for innovation, collaboration and partnership between these institutions and local communities; and craft policy inputs that will help further IID within countries and in Southeast Asia.

 

Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, President of the Ateneo de Manila University, and Hon. Mario Montejo, Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines, will grace the event. Key university initiatives, such as the development of pilot courses and co-hosting of faculty-student conferences on IID, will be presented. 

 

Sharing new pathways out of poverty

 

The program also includes the public presentation of the book entitled “Pathways Out of Poverty: Innovating with the BoP in Southeast Asia”. This book is a collection of stories that uncovers how organizations and communities at the base of the pyramid (BoP) co-develop technologies and approaches to solve a specific poverty issue or need. The stories are based on the research projects conducted by 25 organizations under the iBoP Asia Project. iBoP Asia is the popular name of the Science and Technology Innovations for the Base of the Pyramid in Southeast Asia Project that was supported by IDRC from 2008-2011, which focused on the prototyping, pilot testing or assessment of S&T-based innovations for the BoP.  Copies of the book will be made available during the event.

 

For more information, please visit the UNIID-SEA website and our Facebook page, or contact Dana de Guzman, communications associate, at danadeguzman.uniid@gmail.com, and Kris Torres at kristorres@uniid@gmail.com, project associate. Press release and photo from the Ateneo School of Government