Gov’t Startup Ecosystem Mapping Initiative Kicks Off

The government initiative of mapping the Philippines startup ecosystem has started its 2023 activities as the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced the annual Startup Community and Locale Enhancement (SCALE) project through the ICT Industry Development Bureau.

This comes as the country pushes its aim to become a key entrepreneurial and startup hub in the Southeast Asian region and sees the need to monitor, track, and encourage a startup community within the nation’s current startup ecosystem.

DICT announced that the project will be expanding its reach and mapping new locations

In Luzon, the project will go to Dagupan, Pangasinan; Malolos, Bulacan; and General Trias, Cavite.

In the Visayas region, SCALE will include locations such as Bacolod, Negros Occidental; Tagbilaran, Bohol; and Tacloban, Leyte.

While in the Mindanao region, the project will go to Oroquieta, Misamis Occidental; Jolo, Sulu; Tagum, Davao del Norte; and Surigao province.

DICT said that assessment and mapping of key startups will be implemented in the locations.

“Together, we’ll assess and map out these locations, identify their unique resources, and implement interventions to foster a vibrant technopreneurial environment,” DICT said in their announcement.

The SCALE project is supplementary to R.A. 11337, otherwise known as the Innovative Startup Act, to do monitoring and tracking of the country’s current startup landscape.

The project “is a collaborative and participatory data-gathering method that explores the current startup initiatives and landscape in a certain location through a guided discussion with a multi-sectoral and well-represented set of respondents,” DICT said.

21 locations have been mapped as of 2022. (GFB)