Commitments of Support Pour in for Pinoy DRRM Innovators

A famous proverb states that, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” When opportunities are lacking and resources are scarce — a common situation in a third world country like the Philippines — one does not have much choice but to innovate. With the many local innovations Filipinos have created, not all panned out due to the lack of capital and technical support.

The Community Led Innovation Partnership (CLIP) together with the Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF-Elrha), Asia Disaster Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN)-Tokyo Innovation Hub (ATIH), START Network, and the Center for Disaster Preparedness (CDP) jointly initiated a project called the Pinnovation (Pinoy Innovation) Academy to engage and influence the government to support innovations related to disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) at the local level. The Pinnovation Academy is also supported by the Philippine Preparedness Partnership (PHILPREP), a tri-partite partnership of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), and CDP, established through the Asian Preparedness Partnership (APP).

The Pinnovation Academy operates nationwide through its three regional hubs in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. It recognizes the various hazards and DRRM opportunities present in the three major island groups of the country. Before the nationwide call, partners from various sectors were convened during the Second Pinnovation Academy Partners’ Session last May 20, 2021 to gather their commitments of support for Pinoy Innovators. Among the sectors that attended were the private sector, government, academe, and civil society organizations.

A photo of the Pinnovation Academy project staff and partners

during the 2nd Partners’ Session.

During the session, Ms. Geanette Galvez, Pinnovation Academy Project Manager, shared relevant updates about the project during its exploration stage. It was followed by a discussion by one of the project’s Pinnovation Specialists, Ms. Kei Bughaw, on the topic of the Basics of Innovation. She discussed the innovation process and the different types of innovations that the Pinoy Innovators can explore.

Another highlight of the session was the Partnership and Mentorship Agreement facilitated by Ms. Mayfourth Luneta, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Disaster Preparedness (CDP) and Pinnovation Specialist of the Pinnovation Academy. Ms. Luneta reported that there will be an intensive screening process for the fifteen (15) innovations to receive project support and funding. This will include reviews from community representatives, peer innovators, and subject matter area experts. During the implementation period, the innovators are expected to undergo an iterative process of refining their pilot and scale-up innovations. Aside from honing the technical aspects of their projects, the innovators will integrate community insight and feedback in the later iterations of their designs.

Among the support mechanisms that the Pinnovation Academy partners agreed to provide toward the sustainability of the innovation projects are opportunities for awareness raising, testing support, policy recommendations, and networking. The partners also showed support by committing to become mentors, project reviewers, and subject matter experts to the innovators.