The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has started accepting entries for the Filipinnovation Awards, with the application period open until March 20.
Launched in 2024, the competition will highlight solutions to issues concerning education, health, food and agribusiness.
“Five winners will be selected to receive grants, mentorship, national recognition, participation in international events and access to investment opportunities to scale their innovations,” NEDA said in a statement on Jan. 21.
To qualify, the participants must be Filipino citizens or Filipino-owned enterprises in the early stages of commercialization. They also must be registered with the Department of Trade and Industry or the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Competitors must also have a certificate of intellectual property (IP) registration or proof of an ongoing IP application.
The Filipinnovation Awards will conduct a two-stage competition to ensure regional representation.
For the sub-national level, the competition divides participants into four clusters from the National Capital Region, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. From these clusters, the top 15 finalists will be picked to compete at the national level.
“This initiative aligns with the government’s drive to foster innovation-driven economic growth and ensure that promising Filipino talent produces meaningful and impactful innovations for the country and society more broadly,” NEDA Secretary and National Innovation Council Vice Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan said in the statement.
NEDA seeks to double the budget for innovation grants to P200 million this year, supporting the government’s push to upskill innovators under Republic Act No. 11293 or the Philippine Innovation Act. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante
