On April 17, 2019 the former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11293 – An Act Adopting Innovation as Vital Component of the Country’s Development Policies to Drive Inclusive Development, Promote the Growth and National Competitiveness of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for Other Purposes.

This Act shall be known as the “Philippine Innovation Act”.

Under Section 27 of this Act – Declaration of National Innovation. Day, it states:

“To promote public awareness and national support for innovation and highlight milestones of government and private sector initiatives, April 21 of every year is hereby declared as a special working public holiday throughout the country, to be known as the “National Innovation Day”.

The State hereby declares that encouraging innovation is one of its top priorities because it is essential to both sustained economic growth and societal advancement. According to Section 10 of Article XIV of the Constitution, which prioritizes research and development, invention, innovation, and their use, science and technology are recognized as being crucial for national development and advancement.

When establishing its innovation goals and strategies, the government must take a more comprehensive approach, considering all potential forms and sources of innovation, including process innovation, organizational innovation, social innovation, marketing innovation, academic or educational innovation, and policy innovation. While the nation’s innovation aims will be focused on creating new technologies, it will also look to harness the knowledge and technology from across the world that will help create new procedures or services for boosting productivity and advancing the welfare of the general population.

The following are the explicit goals of Republic Act No. 11293 – Philippine Innovation Act:

• Encourage a culture of strategic planning and innovation to foster original thought and the sharing of knowledge in order to increase and sustain economic competitiveness;
• Enhance the nation’s innovation governance and force the adoption of a long-term vision and narrowly defined innovation priorities;
• Make sure that all levels of innovation policies and programs are effectively coordinated and are not fragmented;
• Improve MSMEs’ standing in the innovation system;
• Eliminate barriers to innovation by reducing administrative red tape and modifying the regulatory environment to encourage the development and spread of novel ideas;
• Promote an entrepreneurial mindset to spur growth aspirations in firms, especially MSMEs;
• Investigate, advance, and safeguard the potential for innovation of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and genetic resources; – Strengthen and deepen interactions and partnerships among various public and private sector, academic, MSMEs, research and development institutions, and community actors in order to promote inclusive growth and enhance quality of life through innovation.

SOURCE:

Republic Act No. 11293 – Philippine Innovation Act