Are Philippine Universities Ready for Impact-Driven Technopreneurship?
by Markus San Gabriel
One of the key strategies of the Innovation for Social Impact Partnership (ISIP) project to achieve its goal of supporting and empowering local social enterprises (SEs) is Policy Agenda. It advocates for policy reforms in public and private institutions that will even out the playing field for social enterprises and established businesses.
ISIP believes that achieving this goal requires the active engagement and participation of various players in the ecosystem. Hence, it capitalizes on the engagement with social enterprises and partnerships with the academe, government agencies, and private industry, to develop a policy agenda that will create an enabling environment for SEs. ISIP has been conducting research and generating issue papers that will highlight the SE’s role and contribution in the achievement of national, regional, and local government development goals.
Technopreneurship Governance
“Technopreneurship Governance is a system of rules and policies that guides the movement of Technopreneurship within the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines.”
ISIP has established partnerships with various universities in the Philippines to create a Technopreneurship Governance Plan by identifying challenges and inherent capacities of universities to roll out Technopreneurship and how social impact will play a big role in its more meaningful success.
In June and July 2019, ISIP conducted a series of interviews with 15 HEIs with established Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) to assess their Technopreneurship governance readiness. The purpose of the ISIP Technopreneurship Governance Survey is to generate baseline data on current technopreneurial practice standards in HEIs. The data created will form part of the Technopreneurship Governance Blueprint that will eventually be shared back to the universities for potential adoption and implementation.
The interview was participated by a total of 65 school administrators, faculty, and staff from 14 HEIs. The survey covered seven (7) key areas including
Leadership and Governance
Organizational Capacity, People and Incentives
Technopreneurship Development in Teaching and Learning
Pathways for Entrepreneur
External Relationships of the university for Knowledge Exchange
Technopreneurial University as an Internationalized institution
Measuring the Impact of the Technopreneurial University.
The seven key areas are based on the study of Organization on Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Entrepreneurial Universities published in 2012. It focuses on research and innovation in the academe as a response to existing industry needs that provide mutually beneficial partnerships for both stakeholders. The adoption of the study and survey within the context of Technopreneurship was carried out to ultimately strengthen the pipeline of scalable impact-driven enterprises in the Philippines. ISIP believes that research and innovation borne out of the universities are viable sources of enterprises.
The seven factors are essential components for technopreneurial universities to achieve a blueprint in developing technopreneurial competitiveness of universities. ISIP believes that integration of social impact in universities can aid in boosting the pipeline of social entrepreneurs and impact-driven enterprises to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Validating the Survey Results
In November 2019, validation exercises were held in Metro Manila and Iloilo City to ensure that the data gathered from the survey is accurate and useful. The results of the survey were presented back to the survey respondents to gather supplementary data, including their existing university policies and best practices when it comes to implementing Technopreneurship programs and activities. The activity also discussed the universities’ networking and funding initiatives in their TBIs.
ISIP selected 14 HEIs, 10 of which are TechHub universities and four other HEIs with TBIs funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) or Fab Lab funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as areas of the study. These universities include:
Saint Louis University in Baguio City,
Batangas State University in Batangas City
Central Luzon State University in Muñoz City
University of the Philippines-Diliman in Quezon City
University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Central Philippine University in Iloilo City
Eastern Visayas State University in Tacloban City
Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City
University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines in Cagayan De Oro City
Caraga State University in Butuan City
Mariano Marcos State University in Batac
Ilocos Norte, De La Salle University in the City of Manila
University of the Philippines-Los Baños in Laguna
University of the Philippines-Cebu in Cebu City
West Visayas State University in Iloilo City
Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology in Iligan City
The interviewees were composed of three groups: decision-makers (UniversityPresident/Chancellor, VP for Research and Extension, VP for Academic Affairs, VP for Finance and Administration, College Deans), Faculty Members, and students.
Initial Insights
Below are the initial insights gathered from ISIP’s research on Technopreneurship Governance Readiness among HEIs. The adoption of Technopreneurship in HEIs requires sufficient contextual knowledge of the immediate domestic market and academic ecosystems while ensuring sound policies are in place for institutional flexibility to adapt to change.
Technopreneurship Agenda in HEIs is not formally adopted in Vision-Mission strategies of most universities owing to Technopreneurship being a fairly new concept. However, the lack of Technopreneurship strategy does not necessarily diminish the capability of the university to create programs to implement Technopreneurship. Integrating Technopreneurship in the Vision, Mission, and Goals provide a guiding framework in strengthening the tri-fold function of a university - instruction, research, and extension.
Specific policies and support mechanisms should be in place to promote the practice of Technopreneurship in HEIs. HEIs scored low (average of 50% across the respondents) in the areas of finance generation and networking, and revenue reinvestment from Technopreneurship activities. This is an observed trend in both private and SUCs. The investment of HEIs in technopreneurial activities is essential to the sustainability of its programs. Technopreneurship stakeholders should venture into accessing innovative financing externally and not rely on internal HEI-funding alone.
HEIs scored low (average of 50% across the respondents) in the areas of finance generation and networking, and revenue reinvestment from Technopreneurship activities.
Majority of the respondents (91%) enjoy incentives and stipends which are clearly stipulated to support the continued development of their faculty and staff on technopreneurial skills development. Fortunately, it was observed that HEIs are currently implementing incentive schemes for teaching, research, and learning Technopreneurship.
Teaching faculty and staff are experiencing favorable conditions in terms of flexibility in Technopreneurship teaching and learning. Key personnels within the university who are responsible for the Technopreneurship agenda are encouraged to undertake partnerships with external stakeholders. 95% of the respondents shared that they are able to network with industry and other key stakeholders in the Philippines and internationally.
95% of the respondents shared that they are able to network with industry and other key stakeholders in the Philippines and internationally.
Internationalized teaching is observed by the universities. HEIs are supportive of teaching faculty and staff to actively participate in international networks, fellowships, research, and studies through incentives and benefits. Teaching and learning gathered from participating in these activities are echoed back by integrating lessons in class syllabi and university programs. Despite this encouragement, internationalization as acquisition of an internationalized staff (only 52% of the respondents have the capacity to hire) and the development of programs to attract them remains a huge challenge for the HEIs.
Despite this encouragement, internationalization as acquisition of an internationalized staff (only 52% of the respondents have the capacity to hire) and the development of programs to attract them remains a huge challenge for the HEIs.
HEIs in the Philippines have the inherent capacities to adopt Technopreneurship and integrating social impact in their communities. Cross collaboration between the academia and private industry will provide mutually beneficial spin-offs and opportunities. The need for a Technopreneurship Governance Blueprint was highlighted during the discussions with interviewees. The introduction of a Technopreneurship Governance Blueprint will provide ISIP the opportunity to share best practices in implementing and providing cohesion in the Technopreneurship initiatives in HEIs across the Philippines.
Avenue for Knowledge Exchange
The validation exercise served as a reflective activity on the current implementation phase of their HEIs and their policies related to Technopreneurship. The participants were able to compare notes, best practices, share unique challenges and experiences, and network with other participants.
Participants shared current industry partnerships in their immediate HEIs and network for potential research collaborations with each other. The activity also initiated the conversation for benchmarking activities to improve TBI management and operationalization among the participants. The interviews gave the participants a platform to reflect on Technopreneurship governance and teaching in their respective universities. During the interview, Corazon Ocampo of SIRIB Center (Saint Louis University) mentioned, “The survey was an opportunity for us to validate our strengths and identify potential roadblocks along the way.”
“The survey was an opportunity for us to validate our strengths and identify potential roadblocks along the way.”
Work in Progress
At present, ISIP is in the process of conducting peer reviews for the knowledge products it has created. The results of the study are expected to be published by March 2020 through online media platforms. The ISIP team will conduct events with ecosystem stakeholders including the academe, legislators, and national government agencies to discuss findings and encourage partnerships and collaborations.
The output of the activity shall contribute to the creation of a Technopreneurship Governance Blueprint for HEIs in the Philippines. This will improve the design and delivery of capacity building activities of ISIP to HEIs, particularly of the visiting professors, faculty training, and incubator management workshop. The Technopreneurship Governance Blueprint aims to create a sustainable and specialized framework and guidance in developing, implementing and monitoring activities, programs, and curricula on Technopreneurship. Through its implementation in HEIs, a consistent stream of scalable impact-driven enterprises is expected to be established.