MANILA, 7 February 2020 – The Philippines has implemented a new law that would enhance the nation’s innovation capacity as measured by WIPO’s Global Innovation Index (GII).
Officials from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) signed into force the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Philippine Innovation Act.
One of the new law’s goals is to implement an action agenda for the development of the country’s capacity for and success in innovation as measured by the GII.
The GII is a global benchmark that helps policy makers better understand how to stimulate and measure innovative activity, a main driver of economic and social development. The GII 2019 ranked 129 economies based on 80 indicators, from traditional measurements like research and development investments and international patent and trademark applications to newer indicators including mobile-phone app creation and high-tech exports.
The new Philippines law creates a National Innovation Council (NIC) headed by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to lead initiatives and establish the country's vision and long-term goals for innovation. It also adopts a regionally-inclusive approach to innovation efforts, including an Innovation Fund and Filipino Diaspora programs.
WIPO is co-organizing with the Philippine Department of Science and Technology’s Technology Application and Promotion Institute (DOST-TAPI) a Technical Meeting and High-Level Conference on the Global Innovation Index (GII) in the Philippines on 17 to 18 February 2020. Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, GII Editor, WIPO, and Andrew Michael S. Ong, Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, will participate in this event.
The Philippines’ GII position notably jumped 19 notches from 73rd to 54th in 2019.
Aside from an in-depth session on the GII methodology to discuss the country’s innovation ranking and performance, WIPO is organizing side meetings with Philippine innovation ecosystem stakeholders for discussions to explore and deepen IP and development cooperation initiatives in the context of innovation.