The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) and its Regional Agri-Aqua Innovation System Enhancement (RAISE) program have been shortlisted for two prestigious recognitions at the GovInsider’s Festival of Innovation Awards 2026, affirming the Council’s leadership in advancing collaborative, whole-of-government innovation initiatives.
DOST-PCAARRD has been shortlisted for the Transformative Agency of the Year Award for its Regional Agri-Aqua Innovation System Enhancement (RAISE) program. The award recognizes organizations driving bold, lasting change through innovation and impact. DOST-PCAARRD’s shortlisting reflects its evolving role beyond research funding toward building integrated innovation systems that link research, intellectual property management, technology commercialization, enterprise development, and regional economic growth.
The shortlist of nominees includes leading foreign institutions, such as Malaysia’s National AI Office; Singapore’s Kent Ridge Office of Innovation at the National University Hospital, Sentosa Development Corporation, Home Team Science and Technology Agency, and Republic of Singapore Navy; Thailand’s Defence Technology Institute; Indonesia’s Center for Data and Information Technology (Pusdatin) of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education; and the Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The RAISE Program has also been shortlisted for the Inter-Agency Award, highlighting its impact as a coordinated, multi-agency platform. Through RAISE, DOST-PCAARRD has institutionalized innovation infrastructure and partnerships across 15 regions in the Philippines.
The program is now present in 94 organizations, with 94 intellectual property (IP) offices, 25 agri-aqua technology business incubators, 14 agri-aqua business hubs, and 14 knowledge management hubs serving the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources (AANR) sector. Institutional integration and sustainability of these efforts are embedded, with policies on IP, technology transfer, and spinoff operations forming part of the program outputs to ensure a strategic approach to intervention.
Comprehensive capability-building activities were conducted for these institutions, covering intellectual property management, technology commercialization, business incubation, and technology promotion. In 2025 alone, 1,176 IP applications were filed, and 407 were granted protection, building its IP portfolio of more than 4,000. These IP and technology transfer offices have a combined income of P28 million from technologies commercialized and P7 million from trademarks and copyrights.
In 2025, the RAISE program launched 166 new technology-based micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through partnerships with RAISE’s 25 technology business incubators, adding to its more than 800 partners since 2017. These businesses have reaped over P328 million of gross income and produced more than 5,000 jobs. With these, RAISE proves to be an effective mechanism to enable key players in boosting the agri-aqua innovations in the Philippines, which has been continuously improving its performance in the Global Innovation Index.
RAISE stands alongside other Asia-Pacific government initiatives, including Singapore’s Government Customer Experience Festival (GCX Fest) 2025; Malaysia’s National AI Office and MyGovCloud@PDSA of Jabatan Digital Negara; the Malaysia Smart City Maturity Journey of PLANMalaysia; the Malaysian Government Central Data Exchange (MyGDX); and Singapore’s Clinics Submission of the Digital Harmonised Medical Examination Report (HMER).
Both recognitions fall under the Whole-of-Government Award Category, which honors public sector initiatives that break institutional silos, strengthen inter-agency collaboration, and deliver measurable, systems-level impact.
The shortlisting of both DOST-PCAARRD and the RAISE Program reinforces the importance of collaborative governance in driving inclusive and sustainable development in the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources sectors.
Winners of the Festival of Innovation Awards 2026 will be announced during the awards ceremony to be held in Singapore on March 4, 2026.