15 September 2026
Held under the theme, “Connecting Innovations. Creating Opportunities. Sustaining Impact,” the RAISE CAR Summit 2026 opened, highlighting the need to connect research with actual community needs, markets, and potential technology users.
The summit brings together state colleges and universities, technology business incubators, government agencies, incubatees, researchers, technology generators, and private sector representatives to exchange knowledge and strengthen partnerships in co-incubation, innovation, technology transfer, research, and enterprise development.
In the opening program, Benguet State University President Kenneth Laruan emphasized the importance of reaching people, responding to real needs, creating opportunities, and making lasting differences. He also stressed the need to connect ideas and research with farmers and technologies with markets.
Meanwhile, RAISE Project 3 Leader Mirasol Agpuldo of the Intellectual Property and Technology Business Management (IPTBM) noted the growing need for venues where mature and market-ready technologies can be presented to potential adopters, investors, collaborators, and industry partners.
Representatives from partner higher education institutions also highlighted the role of collaboration in advancing research and innovation in the region.
Ifugao State University President Freddie Caday said the institution is opening its doors for continuous collaboration and partnerships, particularly in ensuring that research outputs move beyond archives and are developed into technologies and commercialized products that can benefit communities.
Apayao State College President Immanuel James Pattaguan also shared the institution’s aspirations and noted the relevance of agriculture and aquaculture initiatives discussed during the summit.
Representing University of Abra President Serafin Ngohayon, Maryrose Casigay emphasized the importance of supporting locally developed innovations to help researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and technology-based enterprises bring their ideas closer to the market and create greater impact in communities.
The opening program also featured a message from Noel Catibog, Director of the Technology Transfer and Promotion Division of DOST-PCAARRD, who represented DOST-PCAARRD Executive Director Reynaldo Ebora. Catibog described the summit as an opportunity to strengthen the regional innovation ecosystem through initiatives on intellectual property and technology business management, agri-aqua business development, technology business incubation, and knowledge management.
Catibog further highlighted the summit’s technology and innovation showcase, Agri-Food Trade Fair, and pitching activities as venues for researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and partner institutions to engage potential users, investors, technology adopters, and industry partners.
Following the opening program, the summit proceeded with The RAISEtory: Knowing the RAISE Program in CAR, which provided an overview of the program and its strategies and interventions.
RAISE Program Leader Ruth Diego discussed the importance of demonstrating how research outputs can move toward actual use and emphasized collaboration to maximize existing resources, avoid duplication, and support research and technology pull.
The seven RAISE project leaders then presented their respective projects, including partnerships, achievements, outputs, upcoming activities, and initiatives toward commercialization.
An open forum followed the project presentations, providing participants an opportunity to raise questions and seek clarifications from the RAISE project leaders regarding the program, its projects, and their respective initiatives.
The opening day also featured the presentation of the Regional Innovation Roadmap by Catibog, which discussed considerations for developing an innovation roadmap for the Cordillera, including strategic research and development, policy research and advocacy, capability building and R&D governance, and R&D results utilization.
Catibog stressed the importance of consultations with private-sector stakeholders and end users in identifying research priorities, noting that innovation initiatives should respond to actual needs rather than remain solely research-driven.
He also emphasized the need to identify existing technologies, expertise, resources, and available funding opportunities to guide technology transfer, promotion, deployment, extension, and commercialization.
The discussions highlight the role of partnerships in moving research outputs from generation toward utilization, with the RAISE program serving as a mechanism to hasten the commercialization of technologies developed by partner institutions in the Cordillera. //CDD