DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 13 Aug) – The Socio-Economic Research and Data Analytics Center (SERDAC) of the state-owned University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) here will hold a forum on Friday at the school’s social hall to present the results of the study on the ASEAN Economic Community.
USEP-School of Applied Economics acting dean Jennifer E. Hinlo said in an interview on Monday that three professors from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) – Geny Lapiña, Niño Manalo, and Rowena Dorado – would discuss the results of the “ASEAN Economic Community: Opportunities and Implications on Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry Sectors.”
Aside from this study, the forum would also discuss the “Analysis of Science and Technology-related Institutional Capacity and Readiness to Effectively Implement the Food Safety Act” by Dr. Isabelita Pabuayon, dean of College of Economics and Management at UPLB.
Around 100 to 200 participants from various government agencies, local government units, non-government organizations, academe, and National Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Network in the region are expected to join the forum that will be co-organized by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD).
The USEP-SAEC will also officially launch the P4.89-million SERDAC on the same day of the forum.
“We are hoping to sustain the center and to continue its purpose which is to provide research, database management and capacity building and training,” Hinlo added.
The SERDAC, the only one in Mindanao and one of the three similar centers in the Philippines that are hosted by Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija and Visayas State University in Leyte, is poised to become a one-stop shop to aid the Mindanawon researchers on data analysis and guide the LGUs to come up with sound statistics-based policymaking.
The SERDAC offers services to provide technical assistance to socio-economic researchers and to promote equitable opportunities in research and extension projects; capability building and training; and database management to provide a systematic way to create, retrieve, update and manage data.
Among the goals and objectives of the SERDAC are to establish a venue for excellence in socioeconomic research and development (R&D); enhance socioeconomic researchers’ access to licensed software and relevant journals; provide facilities equipped with appropriate equipment for research; provide training, seminars, and coaching on socioeconomic analysis; provide socio economic technical assistance to the other R&D sectors; provide assistance to PCAARD on capacity building-related initiatives; and service as repository of socioeconomic and demographic data in Mindanao. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
