DAVAO CITY- The first leg of the Regionak Scientific Meeting (RSM) opened today (April 12) at Acacia Hotel in Davao City.

The two-day (April 12-13) RSM is organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines (NAST PHL) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) as a venue for the discussion of relevant regional concerns with science and technology-based recommendations.

The theme of this year’s RSM is  “Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Demokrasya (Science and Technology for Democracy).”

The theme highlights the role of Science and Technology in strengthening democratic processes and institutions.

“The venue for this is not only to be able to contribute to the national issues which are shared by all of the regions but also to highlight certain issues or problems that maybe more important in some regions compared to others and this particular RSM is not just a venue not only to have a discussion on topics starting of the presentation of who we are, what the issues are and what are we currently doing and from out of this we might be able to formulate resolutions,” Jaime Montoya president of NAST PHL said.

The resolutions according to Montoya are action points that will be implemented by specific government agencies and the private sector.

The discussions during this RSM in Davao will cover five important thematic areas which are;

- Education,

- Energy and water,

- Transport and ICT,

- Mining,  

- Coastal resources.

According to DOST-XI Regional Director Anthony Sales, the plenary sessions and discussions will properly contextualize the five thematic areas.

“We need to link these thematic areas to what we have in terms of  natural resources here in Mindanao and also the problems we want to address with the resolutions that we will issue as the output of the regional scientific meeting,” Sales said.

The RSM in Davao gathered celebrated national scientists across the country to provide valuable insights and perspectives in harnessing Science and Technology in advancing developmental empowerment in a democracy. (PIA/RG Alama)