The Future of Libraries after the Pandemic

Wazzup Pilipinas!?




Instituto Cervantes de Manila will hold a seminar titled “The Future of Libraries”, this Saturday, November 19, 2022, in its center in Intramuros (calle Real, Plaza San Luis, Intramuros, Manila). It will be composed of a lecture and a round table discussion. The lecture will be from 10:00 AM to 11:30 PM and the round table discussion will be from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM.

Libraries have always had a respected role in society, being repositories of knowledge that have helped our civilizations advance, and where people could enrich their minds and keep themselves entertained without the expectation of shelling out money for everything. Nowadays, however, libraries are faced with many challenges brought about the digitalization of information, the increasing number of diversions for the public, and the difficulties brought about by the pandemic. In this regard, Instituto Cervantes is organizing the aforementioned activities in order to discuss the importance of libraries, their future given the new changes in our society, and how they can cope with these challenges.

The speaker for the seminar is Carme Fenoll, Director of the Culture and Community Area of the library of the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya. For the round table discussion, there will be representatives from the National Library, the Miguel de Benavidez library of UST, the Ortigas Foundation, and the Aurelio Montinola Jr. library of Alliance Française.

This event is open to all and is free of charge. Kindly confirm attendance by sending an email at cenmni@cervantes.es. The Future of Libraries is organized by Instituto Cervantes in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines – AECID. For further information, please send an email to cenmni@cervantes.es.

BingoPlus Foundation’s FutureSmart Scholarship Program 2022 funds 10 IT scholars

Wazzup Pilipinas!?




BingoPlus Foundation Inc., the corporate arm of leisure entertainment brand BingoPlus, has made education one of its causes to support with a PhP6 million scholarship granted to iACADEMY under its FutureSmart Scholarship 2022 Program.

Officers of the Foundation signed an agreement with representatives of iACADEMY to sponsor ten students last November 2 at the head office of Leisure & Resorts World Corporation (LRWC) at Tektite Building in Pasig.

With its specialization in the field of information technology, iACADEMY was seen as the perfect partner school for BP Foundation as it aligns well with the Foundation’s vision to create IT-competent professionals in the future. BingoPlus Foundation firmly believes that education and technology are important components of nation-building and has thus prioritized the FutureSmart Scholarship 2022 Program as one of its top Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives of the year.

Through the scholarship, the Foundation aims to address some challenges faced by the education sector to provide more and better educational opportunities to the younger generation and thus leave its footprint in the building of a better society.

LRWC President Andy Tsui said, “We wish to inspire the younger generation and make their dreams come true.”

“We are truly honored to welcome iACADEMY as a new partner, and we’re grateful to be given the opportunity to contribute to keeping students on the path towards a brighter future,” said Jasper Vicencio, President of BingoPlus and Trustee of BingoPlus Foundation Inc.

The FutureSmart Scholarship 2022 Program will be launched in the current school year of iACADEMY.

Inventions in health and environment preservation named in the newly revitalized BPI-DOST Innovation Awards

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Young Filipino innovators from all-over the country display their wits and creativity through their inventions presented in the first-ever BPI-DOST Innovation Awards 2022 held on October 28, 2022 at the Holiday Inn, Makati City.


The Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI), in partnership with the BPI Foundation Inc., has named the top three inventions that aim to help solve pressing issues on immunization, environment, and health. These projects emerged as winners of the new BPI-DOST Innovation Awards, formerly known as the BPI Science Awards.


Earning the maiden award is St. Louis University in Baguio City with their project entitled: “TaniKalusugan-BlockVax: A Digitized Immunization Records System using Blockchain Technology,” which is a digitized immunization records system that tracks all the vaccinations taken by each person in the country. It aims to provide ease to health practitioners in organizing and managing immunization data of all Filipinos while keeping the data safe. The team is composed of Charles Marco M. Obispo, Hanna Louiza R. Manalang, and Roby F. Soriano, together with their project adviser Kasima Rose M. Mendoza.

 


Young innovators from the University of the Philippines – Visayas also received the BPI Innovation Award with its “Carbon Quantum Dots as Innovative Materials for Detection and Removal of Selected Aquatic Pollutants.” This project explored the potential application of nanomaterials as nano-catalysts for photodegradation of harmful organic pollutants and as nanoprobe for the detection of heavy metals in aquatic environments. The project is crafted by team members Lorraine Ann F. Mana-ay, Maridel S. Somejo, and Steve C. Turita, together with their project adviser Concepcion P. Ponce.


The third winner is University of Santo Tomas’ “Artificial Intelligence-Based Prediction of Colorectal Cancer using miRNA Expression,” which designs, trains, and tests artificial neural networks in predicting the likelihood of colorectal cancer in patients using levels of expression of specific miRNAs found in blood plasma and colorectal tissue samples.


“We aim to challenge our young minds to create innovations that matter for the betterment of our communities and ultimately, our country. We hope to have inspired the young people of today to continue using their gifts to make significant contributions to the country and to help improve the lives of every Filipino,” said BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen L. Cammayo.


DOST-SEI Director Dr. Josette T. Biyo also expressed her gratitude to the BPI Foundation for its continued support and partnership in the Institute’s advocacy of developing the next generation of science leaders. “Trust that the DOST-SEI will continue to strengthen its efforts to develop a critical pool of science and technology professionals and to provide opportunities for young innovators like you to pursue significant and valuable careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Dr. Biyo.


The winners were named after completing workshops on presentation skills, innovation, and creative entrepreneurship, design thinking, patent, technology marketing and commercialization, and collaboration and networking.