Assoc. Prof. Michael Jorge N. Peralta, MS, MSPT, Ll. M., Innovation and Technology Support Office Manager of the University of Santo Tomas, was one of the speakers in the gathering of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry on September 18, 2019, at the University of Science and Technology Southern Philippines. Peralta shared about UST’s best practices and experiences in intellectual property management and technology transfer, as well as its experiences in engaging industry.
The conference entitled “Innovation Talk” was participated in by representatives of universities, colleges, government agencies, and the micro to small medium enterprises. The objectives were to: (1) encourage the chamber of commerce to engage in collaborative projects with universities and (2) to inspire universities to protect their IPs and work with industry to transfer knowledge in order to improve the region’s economy. The resource speakers were Hon. Alfonso P. Alamban, Regional Director of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region X, who talked about the government’s role in the ecosystem; Dr. Isagani Padolina, Director for R&D at Pascual Pharma, who talked about their projects with universities that were a success; and Peralta.
As one of the selected mentors for the USAID STRIDE’s Knowledge and Technology Transfer Office (KTTO) development project, UST-ITSO was selected to mentor ITSOs and guide them in organizing, setting-up, and establishing their functional KTTOs. Essentially, and ITSO can function as a KTTO, because of its know-how in the field of protecting IP rights prior to technology transfer.
One of the goals of the ITSO initiative is to assist faculty, students, and capacitate other ITSOs in transferring their research projects and developed technologies to industry for public good after IP protection. Establishing an ITSO-KTTO is the first step in building an ecosystem of innovation. It is the gateway for industry collaboration.
