The Regional Technical Working Groups (RTWG) on Innovation conducted its first business meeting on May 21, 2021 via Zoom. The RTWG is one of the two TWGs created under the newly converted Regional Research, Development and Innovation Committee (RRDIC) of the RDC 2. The other RTWG is the Start-Up.

RRDIC Chair and DOST Regional Director Sancho A. Mabborang who is the concurrent chair of the RTWG on Innovation, led the meeting where the Global Innovation Index (GII) was discussed.

The GII provides insightful data on innovation and designed to assist policymakers in evaluating their performance and decision-making in terms of innovation initiatives. The GII also captures the multi-dimensional facets of innovation as it provide tools that can assist in tailoring policies in promoting long-term output growth, improved productivity, and job growth. In the CY 2014 GII report, the Philippines still ranked 100^th among 131 economies. The country’s 50^th rank was achieved in 2020 which is its best rank so far.

The RTWG on Innovation aimed to identify Region 2’s contribution on the country’s innovation index as well as how the region can contribute in improving the country’s GII in the coming years. This triggered the members to conduct a Strategic Planning to determine the RTWG on Innovation’s direction for the coming years. The outputs include a yearly performance target and the proposed conduct of a survey to set baseline data for innovation and start-up. The target respondents for the survey are the research institutions, industries, and LGUs in the region.

The first meeting of the RTWG was participated in by its member agencies – the DOST, DTI, DA, CVAARRD, CSU, PCCI, ISU, NVSU, and NEDA.