Ateneo Helps Shape National Innovation Blueprint for Philippine Higher Education
CHED-IBP project leader Dr. Rec E. Eguia (leftmost) discusses innovation best practices with Ateneo de Manila University Vice President for Research, Creative Work, and Innovation Dr. Filomeno Aguilar Jr. (rightmost), as members of both delegations look on during the institutional benchmarking activity. Photo Credit: Danika Geronimo
- Innovation Blueprint: Ateneo de Manila University is contributing its research and innovation experience to the CHED-led Innovation Blueprint of Higher Education in the Philippines, a nationwide effort designed to identify practices that can help universities turn research into technologies, products, industries, and meaningful solutions for communities.
- Nationwide Study: Implemented by the University of Southeastern Philippines, the extensive CHED-IBP research examines six major areas of innovation while engaging university leaders, researchers, technology-transfer officials, faculty innovators, industry representatives, and government partners across Philippine higher education.
- Ateneo Insights: Through institutional presentations, interviews, discussions, and facility visits, the Ateneo is sharing how its research ecosystem approaches knowledge generation, interdisciplinary work, intellectual property, technology transfer, and the development of new technologies and solutions that could inform future national policy.
Philippine universities produce ideas, discoveries, and research that hold the potential to create an impact far beyond the campus. Ateneo de Manila University is now bringing its own research and innovation experience to a national initiative that seeks to build clearer pathways for turning those ideas into technologies, products, industries, and solutions for communities.
The University recently participated in institutional benchmarking for the Innovation Blueprint of Higher Education in the Philippines or CHED-IBP, a research project spearheaded by the Commission on Higher Education and implemented by the University of Southeastern Philippines or USeP.
Findings gathered from the Ateneo will contribute to an Institutional Case Study Report identifying practices that could potentially be replicated or scaled across Philippine higher education.
Building a National Innovation Roadmap
The CHED-IBP is an extensive nationwide study spanning multiple universities and higher education institutions across the Philippines. At its core is the goal of developing a data-driven and evidence-based roadmap that could strengthen the country's research and innovation ecosystem.
Rather than looking at innovation through a single lens, the study examines six interconnected areas: discovery, technology development, product development, technology transfer, funding structures, and the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Its benchmarking methodology also involves discussions with the people directly involved in making university research and innovation work. These include university leaders, research and technology-transfer officials, deans, innovation and incubation managers, faculty researchers and innovators, as well as partners from industry and government.
By gathering insights from different institutions and stakeholders, the project can examine how innovation actually happens within Philippine higher education and identify approaches that could help universities move research beyond academic environments.
Why Ateneo Was Selected
Ateneo was chosen as one of the key higher education institutions whose policies, governance structures, programs, and practices can provide evidence of how research and innovation operate under actual Philippine conditions.
As part of the benchmarking activity, the CHED-IBP delegation directly engaged with the University's research and innovation ecosystem through institutional presentations, interviews, discussions, and visits to relevant facilities.
CHED-IBP Study Leader Dr. James S. Lasquites (center) tours the facilities of the Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering or ARISE as part of his team's efforts to develop a set of innovation best practices for nationwide adoption. PHOTO: Danika Geronimo
The CHED-IBP delegation was led by Dr. Rec E. Eguia, Project Leader, together with Study Leaders Dr. James Jade S. Lasquites, Dr. Mildin J. Retutas, Dr. Rey A. Castillo, Dr. Ariel L. Reyes, and Dr. Filmann T. Simpao. Also joining the delegation were Research Associates Michael John L. Galendez and Ana L. Pantonial, along with Administrative Assistant Jerell Paden.
Ateneo's Research Ecosystem
Representing the Ateneo were Dr. Filomeno Aguilar Jr., Assistant Vice President for Research, Creative Work, and Innovation; Dr. Proceso Fernandez Jr., Director of the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office; Dr. Maria Leonora Guico, Executive Director of the Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering; Dr. Lea Macaraig, Director of the Ateneo Innovation Center; and Dr. Jose Mario Diaz, Research Coordinator of the School of Science and Engineering.
Their participation gave the study a closer look at key aspects of Ateneo's research and innovation ecosystem, ranging from knowledge generation and interdisciplinary research to intellectual property, technology transfer, and the development of new technologies and solutions.
For Ateneo, taking part in the CHED-IBP also creates an opportunity to examine its own strengths, identify gaps, and explore new opportunities while the country's broader innovation framework continues to take shape.
Dr. Filomeno Aguilar Jr. noted, “The steady growth of our international and local collaborations has never been by compulsion, but by attraction. You make an ecosystem that naturally encourages people to do their work. It doesn’t happen overnight but in time.”
His observation highlights an important element of building a sustainable research environment: creating conditions that naturally encourage collaboration and innovation rather than relying solely on institutional requirements.
From Ideas to Impact
The findings from the nationwide study are ultimately expected to inform concrete policy recommendations as well as the proposed CHED Innovation Blueprint.
The blueprint seeks to provide Philippine universities with a clearer pathway from idea generation to deployment and commercialization. At the same time, the framework is intended to give institutions room to develop their own innovation niches and flagship programs rather than following a single approach.
That balance could prove important as Philippine universities differ widely in their research strengths, institutional priorities, available resources, and communities. A national blueprint informed by actual experiences across higher education can provide common direction while recognizing those differences.
Ateneo's participation adds another institutional perspective to that larger effort. By sharing what it has learned from its own research, collaboration, intellectual property, technology-transfer, and innovation initiatives, the University is helping contribute evidence that could shape how higher education supports innovation across the country.
As the CHED Innovation Blueprint takes form, the bigger objective remains clear: helping Philippine universities create stronger connections between the knowledge developed within their campuses and the technologies, products, industries, and communities where that knowledge can ultimately make an impact.
