MANILA – “In today’s digital age, ‘unboxing’ is widely embraced, especially on social media, where people unveil new products to share with others. Today, however, we adopt this concept differently. We will be unboxing a new mindset—we call it Filipinnovation,” said National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.
Balisacan, as the vice chairperson of the National Innovation Council (NIC), the highest policymaking body for national innovation development, emphasized this message in his welcome remarks delivered during the 2024 National Innovation Day (NID) celebration at the Novotel Manila Araneta City on Monday, April 22, 2024.
The 2024 celebration of National Innovation Day carries the theme “Unboxing the Filipinnovation Mindset,” which highlights core values crucial to innovation such as empathy or malasakit, critical thinking or ang pagiging mapanuri, creativity or ang pagiging malikhain, being imaginative or maharaya, and having a collaborative spirit or ang diwa ng bayanihan.
Similar to the 2023 celebration, this year’s event featured a Huddle, Analyze, Build, and Innovate (HABI) Design Thinking workshop for students. This activity gathered and tasked 40 teams of students from 14 regions in the country to develop innovative solutions for the priority sectors identified in the National Innovation Agenda and Strategy Document 2023-2032. The solutions are presented in a short video or reel format, and students were given the opportunity to showcase their pitches and demonstrate an “unboxed” Filipinnovation mindset. Also participating in the celebration are NIC members, members of the diplomatic corps, development partners, members of the business community, and the academe.
In support of the celebration, the NIC chairperson, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., delivered a video message encouraging everyone to support the programs and initiatives of the government and private partners in empowering homegrown talents, inventors, scientists, and allied professionals to further advance innovation.
“Together, let us champion the Filipino mindset for innovation, or Filipinnovation, and cultivate a culture of excellence, of ingenuity, and creativity for the benefit of our people and for the sustained advancement of our beloved country,” President Marcos Jr. said.
Presently, the Philippines ranks 56th among 132 economies in the 2023 Global Innovation Index ranking, up three places from its previous standing in 2022 and surpassing the annual target set in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028. With an eye toward the future, the government aims to secure the 43rd rank by 2028.
The National Innovation Day is celebrated in accordance with the Philippine Innovation Act or Republic Act No. 11293, which designates April 21 each year as a special working public holiday to promote public awareness and support for innovation.
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