STAC Silicon Valley Hosts Philippine Congressional Delegation

Narrows List of 2012 ON3 Locations and remains encouraged by Philippine Government’s Interest

to Support Science & Technology Cross Border Initiatives

November 17, 2011 – Palo Alto, CA – The Science and Technology Advisory Council, Silicon Valley (“STAC-SV” or “STAC”) recently hosted a ten member Philippine Congressional delegation.  Members of Congress including the Honorable Sigfrido R. Tinga, Joel R. Duavit, Vincent Crisologo, Maria Rachel Arenas, Rene L. Relampagos, Ben P. Evardone, Joseph Augustus A. Abaya, Arnel Cerafica, George A. Elias and Ronette O. Franco participated in a three day Silicon Valley road show from November 7 to 9 organized by STAC SV’s board and working group members.   Jojo Flores, Vice President of STAC SV and Co-Founder/VP Operations for Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, California was instrumental in initiating dialogue with members of Congress in the Philippines during several ON3 business plan events this year and extended an open invitation for members of government to experience first-hand why countries around the world view investment in these sectors as crucial for economic development.

Josephine Romero, DTI Trade Commissioner coordinated and organized company executive meetings, visits and tours.   The delegation’s itinerary included tours and meetings at Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale; Cisco in San Jose;  Google in Mountain View; Renewable Energy Test Center in Fremont; an Intellectual Property discussion with STAC Chairman Dennis Fernandez who runs his own IP firm Fernandez & Associates; and a lunch meeting with Dado Banatao, Managing Partner of Tallwood Venture Capital and Chairman of PhilDev Foundation.

STAC SV is encouraged by the interest expressed by this delegation to discuss ways for the Philippines to become part of the global landscape through science and technology initiatives.  STAC SV shared details of its ON3 program that is one piece to the overall strategy.  Although primarily focused on entrepreneurship, STAC SV believes that investment in science and technology will not only help create new industries for the Philippines, developments and discoveries in these areas may also contribute to an increased quality of life as well as improvement of quality and delivery of services in other sectors such as tourism, hospitality and outsourced services.  During the last day of the delegation’s road show, STAC SV entered into discussions regarding the location of the ON3 NCR-Luzon competition and extended an invitation to Congresswoman Rachel Arenas to consider San Carlos, Pangasinan as a possible venue.    STAC SV confirmed that Cebu would be the location for its ON3 Visayas-Mindanao (VisMin) competition in February 2012.  The NCR-Luzon event would be held in April 2012.

“We are extremely encouraged with the interest that government and private sector has demonstrated during the past 12 months.  Our preliminary qualitative research suggests that entrepreneurs in the technology arena are taking form all over the country.  However, our research also underscores that what is lacking is training, tools and access to a support system that can help move these entrepreneurial endeavors from solution-driven ideas to commercially viable global business models.” said Christina Laskowski, president of the Science & Technology Advisory Council – Silicon Valley.     Through STAC SV’s ON3 initiatives, we are hoping to build a strong and sustainable platform for entrepreneurs to help them succeed and contribute to a more self sufficient Philippine economy.

About STAC Silicon Valley.  STAC-SV is a non-profit organization and serves as an advisor to the Philippine government working in cooperation with the Philippine Departments of Science & Technology, Trade & Industry and Foreign Affairs to build a platform that will help support viable global businesses. Its initiatives are currently focused on promoting entrepreneurship.    Founded in 1988, STAC SV refocused and rebranded in 2010.  It launched ON3, its nationwide rolling business plan competition, in 2011 where its extends to the winners the grand prize of participation in a funded three month immersion program at Plug and Play Tech Center in Silicon Valley.     For more information:  www.stacsiliconvalley.org

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