Last December 11, 2021, Leave a Nest Philippines held the 2nd Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference in the Philippines (2021) with the theme "Inclusive Disruption in an Island Nation: Disrupting with New Technologies while Maximizing Accessibility" where we had panel discussions involving the agricultural sector, the medical sector, and the deep-tech sector discussing about various developments and issues in their respective topics. The event was held fully online via Microsoft Teams and the Leave a Nest Broadcasting System due to pandemic restrictions. The conference was also held in partnership with Delightex Pte. Ltd. and Wela Online Corp. as Grand Partners, and the DOST Advanced Manufacturing Center (DOST-AMCen) and Halo Halo Hub as Strategic Partners.
The event was opened by the Managing Director of Leave a Nest Philippines, Dr. Yevgeny Aster T. Dulla, giving his opening speech about what Leave a Nest does and what this conference is about. He explained the meaning behind the conference title as to why we want it "Disruptive" and why as well "Inclusive", leading to the "Inclusive Disruption" that involves developing technologies that do not replace people, but rather work alongside them, which is crucial for the development of the Philippines.
This is then followed by our keynote speaker, 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). Here he presented various successful activities and supports that their council has done these past few years as well as their future plans for the country in hopes to inspire the youth in being future innovators to develop Science and Technology in the Philippines.
We then proceeded to have our first panel session entitled "Empowering the Agricultural Industry with Technology" which was led by Dr. Ravikrishna Ramanujam, the Director of Glocalink Singapore. Alongside him is Mr. Jose Laquian, the Agricultural Attache of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, Mr. JT Solis, CEO of Mayani.ph, and Engr. Mark Sabines, faculty member of the Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan College of Agriculture. The session started with the presentation of various startups namely, Fruitect, Philgari, and Malipayon, who are all related to the agricultural industry. The panelists then proceeded to discuss their various activities in the agricultural sector and how these startups who presented are very much needed in society in order to further the development of the agricultural industry in the country.
Next we jumped right into the Technology Splash session, where researchers from different backgrounds present their research or business for 3 minutes each in a fast-paced manner creating new splashes of research ideas and collaborations in an intensified atmosphere within the presenters and the viewers. The entire session was facilitated by Dr. Joemel Sumbing from Leave a Nest Japan, Co., Ltd. There were 20 presenters all-in-all with topics ranging from marine, environmental science, life science, medical, mathematics, and AI.
This was followed by the 2nd panel session entitled "Connecting the archipelago for medical care" led by Dr. Yevgeny Dulla. Alongside him are doctors from various fields and geographical locations, Dr. Jimmy Jay Bullo, Dr. Sharon Faith Pagunsan, Dr. Maria Esterlita Uy, and from the medical device distribution industry, Mr. Lemuel Medina. The session opened with the presentation of two medical devices, Ostreavent which is a mechanical ventilator for infants, and the Fetal Monitor iCTG from Melody International which is a portable CTG that could be used to assess the status of the fetus and uterine contracts even from the safety of your own home since it transmits the data through wireless connections. The panelists then discussed the importance of these innovations in the medical sector especially during these trying times that everyone is afraid to go to the hospitals due to risks of infections, and also in the aspect of inequality of medical professionals between the urban and rural areas.
Lastly, we had the 3rd and final panel session entitled "Providing technology services in the new normal" led by Ms. Ronezza Delos Santos of Leave a Nest Philippines. She started the session with the presentations of the Anihan Technologies startup CEO Ms. Gillian Santos and the Kwadra Technology Business Incubator representative Ms. Noreen Bautista, which was followed by presentations from the Program Leader of DOST AMCen Engr. Fred Liza and the International Business Development representative of Hamano Products, Co., Ltd., Mr. Masanobu Kowaka. Afterwards they discussed about the efforts of their respective sectors in helping various startups such as Anihan Technologies, and supporting incubators such as Kwadra, to develop their businesses in order to accelerate the implementation of technologies into society.
To bring the conference to an end, Dr. Yevgeny Dulla gave his closing remarks summarizing the things that has happened in this event and emphasizing on the importance of collaborations and connections to innovate the technologies around us while also increasing its accessibility. Science and technology is something that constantly evolves, but we must also make sure that it evolves with the people to address the issues that are constantly emerging.
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