The science agency’s newly launched Water Compendium is expected to help shape water-related research priorities by showing national and local officials the range of homegrown technologies already available, per the department.
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said the compendium pulls together work from the agency and its partner universities and is meant to highlight capacities that can support studies on water issues ‘at various levels, national and local.’
‘My observation is that most would really look outside of the Philippines for technologies, but with the use of the compendium, we will showcase that being Filipino can be successful in the Philippines,’ he told reporters on the sidelines of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Week (NSTW) press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The Water Compendium, launched on November 19 as part of the NSTW, consolidates projects, programs, and interventions from 2018 to 2023, covering water supply, disaster-related risks, agriculture and community-level applications.
The document, per the DOST chief, also outlines examples of technologies that have been deployed in different areas, alongside those newly developed for water supply or risk reduction.
Solidum noted that the compendium aims to show both the technology and the practical use of each intervention, saying, ‘Sometimes, the technology available is good, but the way things are implemented may not be appropriate.’
In his opening speech, he described water systems as ‘both lifelines and risks,’ stressing that shortages or excess water affect food security, livelihoods and industry.
Touching the issue of flood control, he said that while its structures are built to carry specific volumes, extreme rainfall can exceed those limits, underscoring the need for ‘multiple layers of protection.’
‘Let the water continue to be like the water that provides life, the seeds of knowledge in our communities,’ he said. ‘But just like water, we need to make sure that this innovation should flow and influence our systems. Let it nourish partnerships as well.’