By Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star) |
Updated June 29, 2016 - 12:00am
A memorandum of agreement signed by the
University of the Philippines with Vista Land on June 27 at The Peninsula
Manila formally established the partnership that will make the new technology
innovation campus a reality. Sen. Cynthia Villar/Released
MANILA, Philippines – Vista Land &
Landscapes Inc., the listed integrated property developer of the Villar Group,
is allocating a five hectare property in its Vista City in Metro South for the
development of the Philippines’ version of Silicon Valley.
The University of the Philippines, the
state-owned premier educational institution, will develop what will be known as
the country’s first School of Technopreneurship in Vista City’s University
Town.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock
Exchange (PSE), Vista Land said the Villar Family donated the land where the
facilities would be built as part of its chairman’s, Manuel Villar Jr., vision
to develop local start-ups in the Philippines.
“A UP campus in Vista City is envisioned
to become the birthplace of local tech start-ups that will ensure the
Philippines will remain competitive in today’s global economy,” Villar said.
The idea of having such facility came
from a “think paper” published by the UP.
According to the paper, investment in
knowledge capital development is one way to ensure a nation’s economic progress
and to sustain inclusive growth.
The Philippines, the paper argues, needs
to begin investing not only in education infrastructure, but also in a
“knowledge suprastructure” which allows the development of multi-disciplinary
experts, trained specifically in technology and business – individuals more
popularly known as technopreneurs.
This suprastructure requires investment
of both public and private sectors in smart classroom facilities, business
incubation spaces, tech innovation zones, located within modern university
towns that allow technopreneurs to thrive in a supportive ecosystem – think of
Silicon Valley in California, it said.
“The UP Technopreneurship Campus in
Vista City’s University Town can give its student- technopreneurs a better shot
at bringing discoveries, inventions, and designs to the innovation stage and
competing on the bigger world stage,” UP president Alfredo Pascual said.
Villar said Vista City is an ideal
location because of the area’s rapid development as an extension of Metro
Manila. Nearby are several industrial zones whose technology companies can
support the further development of the UP campus and its programs.
Under the agreement, Vista Land will
build the initial campus facilities on the donated five hectare property, while
UP will design the programs to be offered in the campus.
The initial development involves the
construction of an enterprise center and classroom complex that will offer
postgraduate and undergraduate programs in technopreneurship and design
engineering for UP students.
“With the signing of the Memorandum of
Agreement between UP and Vista Land, doors are opened to aspiring technopreneurs
and big tech industry players alike”, said Vista Land president and CEO Paolo
Villar.
He said the Philippines takes one step
closer to making this economically progressive future a reality.
Last March, UP also unveiled a
partnership with SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the conglomerate of the Sy Group,
for a nine-level building inside the University of the Philippines (UP)
Professional Schools at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
SM donated P400 million to construct the
building.
Pascual said post graduate classes would
be held at the BGC Campus, which has a total floor area of 12,000 square meters
and would house 29 classrooms, three computer laboratories, a study area called
a learning commons, faculty lounges, an auditorium, a moot court or a venue for
simulated court proceedings for law students, a multipurpose hall; discussion
rooms, conference rooms, office spaces and an executive lounge.
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