10 universities receive grants for innovation advancement

CEBU, Philippines —  Accenture Philippines is strengthening its commitment to support the innovation advancement and skills capabilities of the country with P80 million grants awarded to 10 universities.

Accenture recently awarded the grants to Adamson University Technology Business Incubator for Neo-Environmental Science and Technology; Asian Institute of Management Dado Banatao Incubator; Ateneo de Manila University (Ateneo Innovation Center and Ateneo Blockchain Labs); Far Eastern UNiversity Institute of Technology; Technological Institute of the Philippines – Nurture Innovation Technology Revolution Office; University of Santo Tomas (UST DOST-TOMASInno Center and College of Information and Computing Sciences); and University of the Philippines Engineering Research and Development Foundation Inc. with University of the Philippines Sustaining Collaboration in an Advanced Learning Environment.

According to Arvin Yason, Innovation lead for Accenture Technology in the Philippines, said since this is a multi-year program, grants may also be given to other schools outside of Metro Manila, including Cebu.

Each of the schools will receive a grant to help them conceptualize, run and implement innovative initiatives in three areas of focus areas—emerging technologies, sustainability and inclusion and diversity.

“By continuing our collaboration with leading universities and academic institutions in the Philippines, we are helping to boost the local innovation ecosystem. By supporting on-campus labs and incubators that are embarking on initiatives to accelerate the use of new technologies, develop more sustainable business practices, and foster a more inclusive culture in the technology field, we are helping to nurture the next generation of Filipino technologists that will solve complex business and social challenges in the future,” said Ambe Tierro, Accenture’s Technology lead in the Philippines, Africa and Asia Pacific.

For emerging technologies, Accenture committed to sponsor work related to advancing innovation and solutions using blockchain, 5G, cloud, cybersecurity and other emerging technologies within universities, and their technology business incubators, that are dedicated to fostering future entrepreneurs and startups.

Likewise, for sustainability, the company aids programs that aim to create cross-industry platforms that use advanced technologies to support sustainability in the Philippines and developing countries at De La Salle University Animo Labs Foundation Inc.

For inclusion and diversity, Accenture will help support the development of female-led technology entrepreneurs and startups by the Miriam College Technology Business Incubator program, specifically through program support that encourages STEM education among female high school students.

It will also support De La Salle College of Saint Benilde Hub of Innovation for Inclusion in the development of user experience design and delivery solutions for people with disabilities.

“This grant program helps build the foundation on which our universities and academic institutions can further develop Filipino technology talent to look ahead to the future and solve pressing challenges using advanced technologies. With the accelerated pace of innovation today, we’re proud to help inspire and motivate our youth to take on this opportunity to learn, experiment and test ideas, and support them as they do it over and over again,” added Yason.