The Philippines has big plans for its future, and much of it centers on blockchain technology. University-based innovation centers will be launched to increase knowledge and skills for students, the workforce, and even the government.
Dr. Enrico Paringit, the executive director of the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), said he will encourage blockchain teaching in universities.
“We want to increase the knowledge and skills of our workforce to develop the use of blockchain by teaching our students the skills in universities. We need to use and adopt blockchain even in the government sector,” Paringit said at the recent Nascent Technology Summit organized by Digital Pilipinas (DP).
The agreement came a month after the signing of a tripartite partnership to launch the Think and Tinker Laboratory – Technology Business Incubation (TBI) program.
The TBI program is the pilot project for the university-based innovation center to promote education/industry/ government collaboration about blockchain, cryptocurrency, API, open finance, education technology, and other emerging technologies.
Fortunato de la Peña, secretary of DOST, Dr. Paringit, and DP convenor Amor Maclang signed the deal. And Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), witnessed it.
Maclang stressed there are many ways blockchain can be applied to education, and the skillset could help certify a student’s credentials.
“One critical use of blockchain in education is record keeping. Blockchain can remove much of the process associated with this and streamline verification procedures, saving the school and educators valuable time,” Maclang said.
