What is a Netbook computer?
Last time, while describing the Lenovo IdeaPad S10, I offered my opinion that Netbook computers will drastically change the computing scene. A quick look at the best selling computers at Amazon.com shows many Netbooks (as of October 15, 2008 the top three computers were all Netbooks). In writing a follow-up posting, I realized that an introduction to Netbooks might be needed. So, here I try to explain just what Netbooks are and how they differ from the millions of laptop computers that existed previously.
A Netbook is a new type of laptop computer, defined by size, price, horsepower, and operating system. They are small, cheap, under-powered, and run either an old or unfamiliar operating system.
Netbooks run either Windows XP Home edition or Linux (not only is Linux unfamiliar to many, but the versions of Linux on Netbooks are not the mainstream popular distributions). They do not run XP Professional, Vista, or OS X. Microsoft arbitrarily restricts Netbooks from running the Professional Edition of Windows XP. Likewise, Apple arbitrarily restricts OS X to Apple hardware and it has never played in the low-end realm that Netbooks occupy.* Vista requires too much horsepower to run well on a Netbook. HP has been the only company to offer Vista on a Netbook. The price, however, was so high that it's debatable whether such a machine qualifies as a Netbook.
Update: On October 24, 2008 CNET's Ina Fried reported that Microsoft has plans to make Windows 7, the upcoming version of Windows that will replace Vista, available on Netbooks.
Size-wise, Netbooks have 9- or 10-inch screens, weigh from 2 to 3 pounds, and sport keyboards sized from 80 percent to 95 percent of normal.
Price-wise, Netbooks start at about (all prices are rounded off and approximate) $330 for a Linux-based model and $350 for an XP-based machine. The high end of the Netbook price range is debatable. To me, anything over $500 isn't a Netbook. Still, many companies are marketing computers they refer to as Netbooks for more than that. When HP first released their Mini-Notes, prices ran from $500 to $1,200.
Update: As of October 15, 2008 prices at HP's website range from $400 to $780.
Despite a huge proliferation of Netbook models, these specs seem to be standard:
- Screen resolution 1024x600
- Intel Atom CPU running at 1.6-GHz
- Wi-Fi B and G
- Ethernet at 100Mbps
- A slot for a flash RAM memory card
- External VGA output jack
- Integrated graphics
- Two or three USB ports
- Built-in camera
- Headphone and microphone jacks
What is IVF – In Vitro Fertilization?
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside of the womb, in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed. The process involves hormonally controlling the ovulatory process, removing ova (eggs) from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a fluid medium. The fertilised egg (zygote) is then transferred to the patient's uterus with the intent to establish a successful pregnancy. The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in 1978.
Oocyte with surrounding granulosa cells
The term in vitro, from the Latin root meaning within the glass, is used, because early biological experiments involving cultivation of tissues outside the living organism from which they came, were carried out in glass containers such as beakers, test tubes, or petri dishes. Today, the term in vitro is used to refer to any biological procedure that is performed outside the organism it would normally be occurring in, to distinguish it from an in vivo procedure, where the tissue remains inside the living organism within which it is normally found. A colloquial term for babies conceived as the result of IVF, test tube babies, refers to the tube-shaped containers of glass or plastic resin, called test tubes, that are commonly used in chemistry labs and biology labs. However, in vitro fertilisation is usually performed in the shallower containers called Petri dishes. (Petri-dishes may also be made of plastic resins.) However, the IVF method of Autologous Endometrial Coculture is actually performed on organic material, but is yet called in vitro. This is used when parents are having infertility problems or they want to have multiple births.]
- List down Nadya Suleman’s octuplet babies, their names, gender, birth weight in birth order.
biblically barren. A relentless narrative of entitlement intertwined with prayerfulness has framed infertility as a tragedy, an oppression, an agony, a disease. Some have proclaimed a “right” to a “natural,” biologically related child, a child “like me.” Unusually large Middle American families–some with up to eighteen children–are offered movie deals and television programs.
Against the backdrop of a cold, impersonal and lonely world, these well-feathered and overly populated nests look villagey and warm. It’s an undeniably seductive vision, even if other options like adoption and fostering are almost never mentioned. Also less discussed are the side effects of this mad race for biological generation at all costs: the likelihood of multiple births, low birth weight and birth defects; the ethics of using poorer women as fetal hatcheries; the health risks to young women who have their “Ivy League” eggs extracted for handsome sums of cash.
There are loads of good reasons to think about regulating these medical procedures; we should have come up with something other than a “free market” for them years ago. But now, with the birth of Nadya Suleman’s octuplets in Bellflower, California, we are confronting a perfect storm of eugenic outcry. With a plunging economy, all the well-rehearsed elements of the “undeserving” welfare queen are lined up: Suleman is single, disabled, unemployed, on food stamps and has six other children under the age of 8, one of whom is reportedly autistic. She lives in a matchbox-size house with her resentful parents, who think she’s insane. Toss in that funny, foreign-sounding name–which turns out to be, gasp, Iraqi!–and the backlash is in full swing.
No doubt Suleman has emotional problems. But rather than caring about her mental health, much of the media are content to pillory her as a drain on the public dole–selfish, frivolous, calculating and cruel. No Brangelina-style accolades of “God Bless ‘Em” in People magazine. Just impassioned calls to cut off her remaining sources of income and to criminally prosecute the doctor who fertilized her. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution even ran an op-ed calling for the government to appoint a legal advocate for every child born to an unmarried woman, since the “lack of a father’s guidance” must be “a major cause of [children's] suffering.” Furthermore, in the case of Suleman’s children, “the legal advocate would file suit against the fertility clinic or a physician who knowingly contributed to their abuse–life in a multiple-child household headed by a single woman.”
Nadya Suleman’s saga, in other words, has highlighted a deep cognitive dissonance about whether children are “assets” or eternal expenditure, divine joy or devilish curse in a time of dwindling planetary resources. When I first heard of Suleman, my immediate thought was of Andrea and Rusty Yates–married, fundamentalist Christian believers in that ubiquitous story line about going forth and multiplying no matter what. After caring for and home-schooling five very young children with no assistance but prayer, and with accumulating signs of postpartum psychosis, Andrea Yates woke up one morning and drowned all her children with quiet efficiency.
And so the specter of psychotic breakdown haunts me when I think of the Suleman abode: one autistic child, plus 2-year-old twins, plus four other kids ages 3 to 7, plus eight newborns ranging from one to three pounds, plus a grandfather who has gone back to Iraq to earn more money for the family, plus a grandmother furious at the medical professionals who “assisted” her daughter, plus a surreally chipper Nadya, who despite the miserable odds remains enrolled as a graduate student in, of all things, pediatric counseling. This situation is undeniably sheer madness, but the public discussion seems fixated on the question of whether she can “afford” so many kids, as though if she was rich, this would be sane.
This past fall The New York Times Magazine ran a cover story by Alex Kuczynski, fashion writer and self-confessed “cosmetic surgery addict.” Her wish to have a child was framed by fierce determinism, the “natural outgrowth” of marriage to her husband–without whom she “would skip the child.” Kuczynski is married to a man whose “sperm had a track record”–six other children by two prior wives. She, the third bride and twenty years her husband’s junior, described herself as engaged in nothing less than a “battle for my fertility”; having a biological child was “necessary,” a “mad desire,” a “compulsion” and “proof” of the marital bond, without which she faced “wrecked hopes” and an “abyss of grief.” Indeed, to die “without having created a life is to die two deaths: the death of yourself and the death of the immense opportunity that is a child.” When she thinks she’s pregnant, she feels a “shiver of victorious accomplishment…. my own fecundity triumphant.” When she tells people she’s not, she feels “barren, decrepit, desexualized,” “branded with a scarlet ‘I’ for ‘Infertile,’” “the dried-up crone with a uterus full of twigs.”
Just because Kuczynski is married and wealthy does not make her less obsessive or more profound than Suleman. Kuczynski sounds like a sad, silly child mooning over “fertile but fit” stars like Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Salma Hayek and “John Edwards’s sometime mistress,” who all had babies in their 40s. Likewise, Suleman takes heart looking at Angelina Jolie. Suleman and Kuczynski represent disturbing emotional extremes. But that should not excuse the rest of us from examining the oppressive competitive natality that seems to have gripped us–the fantasies of “baby bumps” and breeding, always breeding, yet more of “our kind.” Our culture’s antifeminist backlash and its unrealistic aspirations have bewitched Kuczynski and Suleman, these two young women who are so addled and so suggestible, so endowed and yet so impoverished. All these years after the age of “liberation,” perhaps it is time to revisit the myths we still concoct about childless women’s worth.
Posted in Discrimination, Marriage, Race and Racism, Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Technology, Sex Work, Surrogacy, Women and Poverty, Women of Color | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Columbia’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic recently filed a brief in the European Court of Human Rights involving the right of victims of sex trafficking to a remedy under various European and International Laws. My recent article in the European Lawyer magazine, which takes a somewhat different view from Professor Franke’s post, elaborates the trafficking/slavery linkage. Here’s an excerpt (you can link to the full article here ):
The UK officially abolished the trans-Atlantic slave trade more than 250 years ago, but it turns out that the practice is far from dead.
A case recently filed in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), M. v the United Kingdom, shows just how vigorous and heinous the slave trade continues to be. But the trade’s character has changed, with £5 billion generated each year largely from traffickers’ control of women and children, making trafficking in persons the second largest criminal activity in the world.
With clearer attention to the facts and more developed identification systems, the international community has begun to see these women and children for what they are – victims of severe human rights abuses. M v the United Kingdom thus offers an important opportunity, during a crucial moment, for the ECtHR to clarify the obligations of Council of Europe member states to trafficking victims. A ruling in M’s favour would reinforce that sex trafficking is a modern form of slavery and should be treated with as much seriousness as we treat the trans-Atlantic slave trade of the past. It would also clarify and underscore states’ responsibilities to victims in their territories who have suffered human rights abuses, including the duty not to act in ways that expose victims to further harm.
Posted in Asylum, Discrimination, International Law, Sex Trafficking, Sex Work, Sexual Assault, Women of Color | No Comments »
Monday, January 12th, 2009
<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]-->Khiara Bridges is the Center for Reproductive Rights/Columbia Law School fellow at Columbia Law School 
who has just completed her PhD in Columbia’s Anthropology Department studying the intersection of race, poverty, and gender through the experience of women in an obstetrics clinic in a New York City public hospital. She blogged earlier on the racial implications of surrogacy and now offers the following reaction to a recent article in the New York Times on Dominican women’s “self-help” abortions:
For Privacy’s Sake: Taking Risks to End Pregnancy, an article that was published last weekend in the New York Times, reports on the use of misoprostol by Dominican women within New York City to self-induce abortions. Misoprostol is a prescription drug that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to reduce gastric ulcers; however, the article reports that many Dominican women have purchased the drug, sans prescription, from local pharmacies and have used it to terminate unwanted pregnancies in their homes, without oversight from medical institutions and personnel. The article also reports on a study documenting Dominican women’s use of other “extra-medical” methods to abort pregnancies—such as “mixing malted beverages with aspirin, salt or nutmeg; throwing themselves down stairs or having people punch them in the stomach; and drinking teas of avocado leaf, pine wood, oak bark and mamon fruit peel. Interviews with several community leaders and individual women in Washington Heights echoed the findings, and revealed even more unconventional methods like ‘juice de jeans,’ a noxious brew made by boiling denim hems.”
Interestingly, the article argues that Dominican “culture” explains why many Dominican women do not look to medical institutions when seeking to terminate their pregnancies. The author argues that women from “fervently anti-abortion cultures” may use such methods to induce abortions “despite the widespread availability of safe, legal and inexpensive abortions in clinics and hospitals.”
In this way, the article exemplifies the dangers of “culture” as an explanatory concept. (more…)
Posted in Discrimination, Race and Racism, Reproductive Rights, Women of Color | 1 Comment »
Saturday, December 20th, 2008
Nazneen Mehta is a second-year law student at Columbia Law School and is writing a Note on the international market in surrogacy services - particularly between relatively affluent “intended parents” in the US and poor female surrogates in India. Her Note will examine the ways in which this market might better be regulated by law in order to protect the rights and interests of the surrogates in India. Her research has taken her to Mumbai, India over the winter break to better understand the conditions under which the surrogates are working. What follows are her initial reflections on this research:
Alex Kuczynski’s story, “Her Body, My Baby,” about her experience bonding with the woman who became her son’s surrogate mother portends the rise of what Noa Ben-Asher on this blog suggested are “new and surprising extra-legal familial structures.”
But, maybe not. In a largely obscure industry that is becoming increasingly transnational, Kuczynski’s story could be the outlier.
Surrogacy has quietly spread beyond national borders, creating a multi-million dollar global industry that joins together women like Kuczynski with poor women in developing nations. But unlike Kuczynski and her surrogate, Cathy Hilling (with whom she was on a first-name basis), the surrogates in these developing nations will never share tuna sandwiches or host backyard barbeques with the “intended parents.”
In fact, very few surrogates in developing nations will meet the parents for whom they are carrying a child. As a doctor at an international surrogacy clinic in Mumbai, India, related to me, the clinic discourages intended parents from meeting the woman the center has chosen to be the surrogate. The doctor explained that the women come from the ranks of India’s poor, and if they “see foreigners,” the women may try to get more money or resources out of the intended parents. There is no “wink and nod” custom, and the reality of class division lie exposed between the intended parents and the surrogate.
The selection process further removes intended parents from knowing the individual women who become their surrogates. Kuczynski pored over the profiles of potential surrogates, reading each woman’s personal story and employment demands. International surrogacy agreements, however, are largely facilitated by surrogacy clinics operating in developing nations. The clinics recruit a pool of poor women to become surrogates and then assign the women to intended parents. There are no personal stories about the women’s lives or ambitions to distinguish one from another; women need only pass the clinics’ health and psychological screening to become a surrogate. (The selection process implicates the issues of race and class discussed by Khiara Bridges on this blog, and suggests that her analysis of Black women in the U.S. could extend to poor women of color in developing nations).
I make these comparisons between international surrogacy and Kuczynski’s story not to push normative claims about either type of surrogacy agreement. Rather, I contrast the two models to bring international surrogacy into the discussion. And to suggest that in the battle between the legal frameworks mentioned by Ben-Asher—the surrogate as hired outsider vs. surrogate as extended family member—the former may be pulling ahead.
Posted in International Law, Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Technology, Sex Work, Surrogacy, Women and Poverty, Women of Color | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]-->Khiara Bridges is the Center for Reproductive Rights/Columbia Law School fellow at Columbia Law School who has just completed her PhD in Columbia’s Anthropology Department studying the intersection of race, poverty, and gender through the experience of women in an obstetrics clinic in a New York City public hospital. She offers the following further reflections on the New York Times Magazine’s cover story on surrogacy:
Her Body, My Baby, a story published in the New York Times Magazine on November 30, 2008 concerning the author’s experience with infertility and her decision to hire a gestational surrogate to give birth to her and her husband’s son, raises several fascinating issues. Noa Ben-Asher’s post on this blog tackles an important and exciting set of questions regarding the ability of gestational surrogacy to expand traditional notions of family. Here, I’d like to offer a couple of thoughts on the complicated race issues that gestational surrogacy produces.
Gestational surrogacy involves the implantation of an embryo—usually the result of the n vitro fertilization of the intended mother’s egg with her husband’s or male partner’s sperm—into the surrogate’s uterus. The surrogate—usually motivated by some mixture of altruism and financial need, and who is generously compensated by the intended parents for carrying the pregnancy to term—is genetically unrelated to the embryo and the child that is eventually born. Gestational surrogacy differs from traditional surrogacy arrangements, which involves the artificial insemination of the surrogate, who ultimately gives birth to a child that is genetically related to her.
As dramatized in Her Body, My Baby, infertile couples seeking surrogates tend to be wealthy—with the ability to pay for several rounds of expensive IVF treatments and to recompense the surrogate for her “services.” Indeed, the photo accompanying the story shows the author holding her son while the “baby nurse,” dressed in white uniform, stands stoically in the background. Moreover, because class and race closely follow one another in the U.S., these couples also tend to be White.
It would be incorrect to state that race is not implicated with traditional surrogacy, yet implicated with gestational surrogacy. However, race is implicated differently with these two surrogacy arrangements. Because the traditional surrogate is biologically-related to the child she carries, the infertile couple seeking a child that is “like” them in some respects will probably select a surrogate that shares their racial ascription. Accordingly, one would find White couples hiring White women to give birth to their children. However, because the gestational surrogate has no biological tie to the child she carries, the infertile couple need not seek a surrogate who is racially “like” them. One could envision a dystopian future in which financially-needy Black women, who disproportionately comprise the ranks of this country’s poor, are hired to give birth to the babies of rich White couples. Those of us interested in questions of social and racial justice might find such a future disturbing. It would reiterate the Black woman’s body as a laboring one (on multiple levels) while doing nothing to eradicate discourses in which the poor Black woman figures as an incompetent mother. That is, the Black woman would be empowered to produce children, yet remain disempowered to raise them
- What are the services of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Philippines
Department of Science and Technology (Philippines)
The Philippines' Department of Science and Technology (Filipino: Kagawaran ng Agham at Teknolohiya), abbreviated as the DOST, is the executive department of the Philippine Government responsible for the coordination of science and technology-related projects in the Philippines and to formulate policies and projects in the fields of science and technology in support of national development.
What are the Agencies of DOST
- Five Sectoral Planning Councils of DOST(Brief Function and Description)
DOST has five sectoral planning councils responsible for: formulating policies, plans, programs, projects and strategies for S&T development; for programming and allocating funds; for monitoring of research and development projects; and for generating external funds.
Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD)
The PCAMRD is the sectoral council of the Department Of Science and Technology (DOST) tasked in the formulation of strategies, policies, plans, programs and projects for science and technology development; Programming and allocation of the government's internal and external funds for Research and Development; Monitoring and Evaluation of Research Development projects; and Generation of external funds.
Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)
PCARRD is one of the five sectoral councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It serves as the main arm of DOST in planning, evaluating, monitoring, and coordinating the national research and development (R&D) programs in agriculture, forestry, environment, and natural resources sectors.
Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)
PCHRD is one of the five sectoral councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The lead council that creates and sustains an enabling environment for health research in the country.
Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD)
The PCIERD is one of the sectoral planning councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It is mandated to serve as the central agency in the planning, monitoring and promotion of scientific and technological research for applications in the industry, energy, utilities and infrastructure sectors.
Philippine Council for Advanced and Science Technology Research and Development (PCASTRD)
PCASTRD is one of the five sectoral councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) tasked to develop, integrate and coordinate the national research systems for advanced science and technology (S&T) and related fields.
- Seven Research and Development institutes of DOST (Brief Function and Description)
R&D Institutes
DOST has the following seven research and development institutes concerned with basic and applied researches on various fields.
Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI)
ASTI is one of the research and development institutes of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) tasked in conducting scientific research and development in the advanced fields of Information and Communications Technology and Microelectronics.
Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI)
The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), the principal research arm of the government in food and nutrition, is one of the research and development institutes of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The Institute continues to provide relevant technologies and scientific information on food and nutrition.
Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI)
The Industrial Technology Development Institute or ITDI is one of the research and development institutes (RDIs) under the Department of Science and Technology. It is the flagship agency of the Department, generating a large pool of technologies while providing technical services to industry.
Metal Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC)
The Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), an agency of the Department of Science and Technology, is the sole government entity directly supporting the metals and engineering industry with services designed to enhance its competitive advantage.
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI)
PNRI is mandated to undertake research and development activities in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, to institute regulations on the said uses and to carry out the enforcement of said regulations to protect the health and safety of radiation workers and the general public.
Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI)
The Philippine Textile Research Institute as a line agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) supports the local textile and allied industries achieve gobal competitiveness through utilization of indigenous resources, and development of technical competence in textile production and quality assurance.
- Seven Service Institutes of DOST (Brief Function and Description)
Science and Technology (S&T) Information Development in the Philippines
ms. Irene C.Brion
S&T Resource Assessment and Evaluation Division
Planning and Evaluation Service
Department of S&T (DOST)
Manila
Philippines
INTRODUCTION
It is widely accepted that science and technology (S&T) is essential to national development. The goals for national development influence the direction of S&T activities which must respond to the needs of the various sectors of society. In the Philippines, the State recognizes the importance of S&T and defined and incorporated it in the 1987 Constitution. The role of S&T in national development was confirmed by declaring that "the State shall give priority to research and development, invention, innovation and their utilization, and to science and technology education, training and services". It also provided that "the State shall support indigenous, appropriate, and self-reliant scientific and technological capabilities, and their application to the country's productive systems and national life".
With this recognition of S&T's role in national development, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), together with representatives from the private sector, academia and other government agencies, formulated the Science and Technology Master Plan (STMP). The STMP is an indicative plan which aims to provide clear signals to both the public and private sectors on the desired direction of S&T in the Philippines. It also sets the desired goals and objectives for the S&T sector in order to attain national development. Three (3) strategies are being pursued in the hope of enhancing national welfare and attaining economic growth. These strategies are:
1) Modernization of the production sectors through massive technology transfer from domestic and foreign sources and through linkages with the industry and academia.
2) Upgrading of research and development (R&D) capability through intensified activities in high priority sector.
3) Development of S&T infrastructure, including institution building, manpower development, and development of an S&T culture.
However, the significance of S&T cannot be fully realized without complete, accurate and timely S&T information. Without possessing comprehensive S&T information, reasonable decisions to launch various S&T programs and evaluate the results of the execution of these programs could not be made. Hence, S&T information plays a vital role in science policy formulation, program/project planning and resource assessment/evaluation.
This report will discuss some of the data generation activities of DOST in the Philippines and the initial efforts in developing information systems including the integration and standardization of S&T data collection through the establishment of a DOST-wide management information system (MIS). Likewise, it will present issues that have to be tackled in S&T information development.
EXISTING S&T INFORMATION SYSTEMS
The following are some of the existing S&T information systems and data generation activities of DOST and its agencies:
1. National Surveys of (STA) Expenditure and Manpower
DOST, through the Planning and Evaluation Service, conducts periodic surveys on the expenditure and manpower for scientific and technological activities (STA) in the four sectors of economy, namely; government, private industry, higher education and non-profit institutions. Presently, two surveys are simultaneously being undertaken:
i. The national survey of STA expenditure and manpower, and
ii. The time-budget survey of R&D and other S&T activities, both in the higher education sector
The first survey is being conducted to update the S&T database on expenditure and manpower. On the other hand, the time-budget survey is being undertaken to establish a base for the estimation of R&D coefficients (i.e., the average percentage of time devoted to R&D) vis-a-vis university activities and resources of research, teaching, and other activities (including administration). These two surveys are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
2. Performance Indicators
As A measure of performance of DOST agencies vis-a-vis the national development goal to increase productivity, a set of performance indicators is monitored quarterly.
Originally, five critical performance indicators (CPI) were used by the Department to measure the performance of its agencies. These indicators were:
1. Number of technologies commercialized and diffused;
2. Number of R&D projects completed;
3. Number of joint research projects/ventures with the private sector;
4. Number of clients served;
5 Number of scholars and people trained.
However, with the diverse functions of the DOST agencies composed of five sectoral councils, seven R&D institutes, six service agencies and thirteen regional offices, an expanded set of performance indicators was needed to capture each agency's functions.
3. Information System in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Sector
The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), one of the five sectoral councils of DOST, maintains the following information systems:
A. Research Management Information System (RMIS) - a computer-based information processing system that provides a complete and comprehensive inventory of all proposed, new, on-going and completed researches undertaken in the country on all commodities, as implemented by the agencies in the National Agricultural Resources Research and Development Network (NARRDN), regardless of source of funds. The RMIS provides information to various users based on any or a combination of the following parameters: commodity, status, discipline, research station, expected output, research thrust, research class, priority area, researcher, technical division, region, implementing agency, and funding agency.
B. Research Information Storage and Retrieval System (RETRES) - an information storage and retrieval system that facilitates literature search and supports scientific literature services for effective research information, dissemination and utilization. It is a bibliographic database of all completed researches, publications, monographs and related literature on agriculture, forestry and natural resources research and development.
C. Agriculture and Resources Regional Technology Information System (ARRTIS) - an information system aimed to document, monitor and compile all technologies generated in agriculture and natural resources to support technology development, techno-transfer, verification and dissemination activities. The ARRTIS contains the following features: detailed description of technology; possible areas of application; minimum requirements of replicapability; socio-economic analysis; advantages/limitations of the technology; and dysfunctional consequences of the technology.
D. The other information systems maintained by PCARRD are the Equipment Infrastructure and Manpower Management Systems (EIMMS); Financial Management System (FMS); Administrative Support Services (ADSS); and the Publications Mailing System (PMS).
4. Information System in the Health Sector
The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), another sectoral Council of DOST, is the focal point of a specialized network of documentation and information centres engaged in health and health-related research and development activities called HERDIN or the Health Research and Development Information Network. The general objective of HERDIN is to improve the flow of health and health-related information in the country, making information available and accessible to the users in the health research community.
HERDIN is a national health database with access to international databases. It consists of the SALUS database on low-cost health care delivery and training; the APINMAP (Asia Pacific Information Network) database on medicinal and aromatic plants; the MEDLINE (Medicine On-Line) database which is the largest biomedical database; the POPLINE (Population On-Line) database on population issues.
HERDIN's Literature Search Services include the HERDIN Retrospective Search for a comprehensive list or abstract of documents on any topic over a number of years (1966-present); HERDIN SDI or Selective Dissemination of Information which provides only the latest data on a specific topic; HERDIN Document Delivery for photocopies of full articles source locally or abroad; HERDIN ONLINE which offers a researcher access to HERDIN's databases from his own personal computer, using telephone lines.
Other agencies likewise generate, collect and produce data as part of their day-to-day activities. However, not all are organized as those mentioned above.
In general, DOST's present information systems and databases can be described as unintegrated, non-parallel and non-uniform. While a few of the agencies have an operational system, which were developed without any plan of an integrated DOST-wide information system, the majority undertake data processing activities using only word processing and spreadsheet applications. Moreover, the incompatibility of the present hardware and software prohibits linking among computer systems.
THE NEED FOR AN INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEM
In order to improve S&T coordination and management as well as accelerate the delivery of DOST services, a need for an integrated information system was realized. This need is further emphasized by the following :
1. Need to Support the Complex Structure and Scope of the DOST System
DOST coordinates the activities of its five Sectoral Planning Councils, seven R&D Institutes, six Service Agencies, two Collegial Bodies and thirteen Regional Offices. All these agencies and regional offices comprise the DOST System whose role is to promote the application of scientific discoveries and technological innovations in order to hasten economic growth and improve the quality of life of the Filipinos. With its size and scope, delays in collecting and processing data needed for decision-making become a major problem. In view of this, a strong information base and an orderly and systematic flow of information from sources to better serve various clients are required.
2. Need to Strengthen S&T Information Base
S&T information and technology database must be organized not only to support S&T management, but to support its thrusts of accelerating discoveries, innovations, technology commercialization and the delivery of S&T services.
3. Need to Strengthen Communication and Information Networks Among the Agencies of the DOST
S&T is dependent on local foreign discoveries. Thus, each of the DOST agencies strives to set up their own local and foreign linkages. To facilitate sharing of information and to avoid duplication of databases, there is a need to strengthen overall communication and information networking. This will enhance information access within the DOST System and directly from international databases.
4. Need to Upgrade Data Management System Towards System Integration
At present, the DOST has no central unit that attends to overall S&T information system development. As discussed earlier, each agency generates and collects data depending on its needs and only a few have established information systems (e.g., PCARRD, PCHRD). However, even for agencies with comprehensive databases on researches, technologies and S&T literature, information is not fully utilized due to weak links among agencies and varied computer applications within the DOST System.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A DOST-WIDE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)
In view of the need for an integrated information system to monitor scientific and technological efforts nationwide and facilitate the feedback of up-to-date information for
management decision-making purposes, a MIS Steering Committee and a Technical Working Group have been organized to develop an MIS framework for S&T. To date, the Committee has developed the Information System Strategic Plan which will serve as the blueprint for the establishment of the DOST-wide Information System. Information System Modules, tailored to support the DOST's major functional areas will be developed. These functional areas are :
a. Policy Formulation and Legislation
b. Planning and Financial/Technical Assistance Programming
c. Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
d. Research and Development
e. Technology Delivery
f. S&T Services
g. S&T Manpower and Institution Development
h. External Linkages
i. Resource Generation
j. Financial Management and
k. Administration
Based on these functional areas, six major groupings or classification of information systems have been identified. These are:
a. S&T Management System (STMS)
b. R&D Management System (RDMS)
c. Technology Management System (TMS)
d. S&T Infrastructure System (STIS)
e. S&T Services System (STSS) and
f. DOST Internal Operations System (INTERNAL)
The above system were identified following official process/transactions and functional concern. These do not follow the organizational structure to avoid system changes every time the organization changes its structure, functions or personnel. Interrelationships exist among systems in such a way that one's output is another's input and the systems share databases.
Presently, the DOST-wide MIS is still being developed and is expected to be fully implemented in the next five to seven years.
MAJOR ISSUES
Major issues/problems hamper the development of an S&T information system. Among these are:
1. Standardization of concepts, classification systems definitions and measurements. S&T is involved with the different sectors of industry, agriculture, health, environment, etc. Each of these sectors have their own classification systems, concepts, definitions and measurements. To effect standardization, consultations with these sectors are vital.
Science and Technology (S&T) Information Development in the Philippines
ms. Irene C.Brion
S&T Resource Assessment and Evaluation Division
Planning and Evaluation Service
Department of S&T (DOST)
Manila
Philippines
INTRODUCTION
It is widely accepted that science and technology (S&T) is essential to national development. The goals for national development influence the direction of S&T activities which must respond to the needs of the various sectors of society. In the Philippines, the State recognizes the importance of S&T and defined and incorporated it in the 1987 Constitution. The role of S&T in national development was confirmed by declaring that "the State shall give priority to research and development, invention, innovation and their utilization, and to science and technology education, training and services". It also provided that "the State shall support indigenous, appropriate, and self-reliant scientific and technological capabilities, and their application to the country's productive systems and national life".
With this recognition of S&T's role in national development, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), together with representatives from the private sector, academia and other government agencies, formulated the Science and Technology Master Plan (STMP). The STMP is an indicative plan which aims to provide clear signals to both the public and private sectors on the desired direction of S&T in the Philippines. It also sets the desired goals and objectives for the S&T sector in order to attain national development. Three (3) strategies are being pursued in the hope of enhancing national welfare and attaining economic growth. These strategies are:
1) Modernization of the production sectors through massive technology transfer from domestic and foreign sources and through linkages with the industry and academia.
2) Upgrading of research and development (R&D) capability through intensified activities in high priority sector.
3) Development of S&T infrastructure, including institution building, manpower development, and development of an S&T culture.
However, the significance of S&T cannot be fully realized without complete, accurate and timely S&T information. Without possessing comprehensive S&T information, reasonable decisions to launch various S&T programs and evaluate the results of the execution of these programs could not be made. Hence, S&T information plays a vital role in science policy formulation, program/project planning and resource assessment/evaluation.
This report will discuss some of the data generation activities of DOST in the Philippines and the initial efforts in developing information systems including the integration and standardization of S&T data collection through the establishment of a DOST-wide management information system (MIS). Likewise, it will present issues that have to be tackled in S&T information development.
EXISTING S&T INFORMATION SYSTEMS
The following are some of the existing S&T information systems and data generation activities of DOST and its agencies:
1. National Surveys of (STA) Expenditure and Manpower
DOST, through the Planning and Evaluation Service, conducts periodic surveys on the expenditure and manpower for scientific and technological activities (STA) in the four sectors of economy, namely; government, private industry, higher education and non-profit institutions. Presently, two surveys are simultaneously being undertaken:
i. The national survey of STA expenditure and manpower, and
ii. The time-budget survey of R&D and other S&T activities, both in the higher education sector
The first survey is being conducted to update the S&T database on expenditure and manpower. On the other hand, the time-budget survey is being undertaken to establish a base for the estimation of R&D coefficients (i.e., the average percentage of time devoted to R&D) vis-a-vis university activities and resources of research, teaching, and other activities (including administration). These two surveys are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
2. Performance Indicators
As A measure of performance of DOST agencies vis-a-vis the national development goal to increase productivity, a set of performance indicators is monitored quarterly.
Originally, five critical performance indicators (CPI) were used by the Department to measure the performance of its agencies. These indicators were:
1. Number of technologies commercialized and diffused;
2. Number of R&D projects completed;
3. Number of joint research projects/ventures with the private sector;
4. Number of clients served;
5 Number of scholars and people trained.
However, with the diverse functions of the DOST agencies composed of five sectoral councils, seven R&D institutes, six service agencies and thirteen regional offices, an expanded set of performance indicators was needed to capture each agency's functions.
3. Information System in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Sector
The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), one of the five sectoral councils of DOST, maintains the following information systems:
A. Research Management Information System (RMIS) - a computer-based information processing system that provides a complete and comprehensive inventory of all proposed, new, on-going and completed researches undertaken in the country on all commodities, as implemented by the agencies in the National Agricultural Resources Research and Development Network (NARRDN), regardless of source of funds. The RMIS provides information to various users based on any or a combination of the following parameters: commodity, status, discipline, research station, expected output, research thrust, research class, priority area, researcher, technical division, region, implementing agency, and funding agency.
B. Research Information Storage and Retrieval System (RETRES) - an information storage and retrieval system that facilitates literature search and supports scientific literature services for effective research information, dissemination and utilization. It is a bibliographic database of all completed researches, publications, monographs and related literature on agriculture, forestry and natural resources research and development.
C. Agriculture and Resources Regional Technology Information System (ARRTIS) - an information system aimed to document, monitor and compile all technologies generated in agriculture and natural resources to support technology development, techno-transfer, verification and dissemination activities. The ARRTIS contains the following features: detailed description of technology; possible areas of application; minimum requirements of replicapability; socio-economic analysis; advantages/limitations of the technology; and dysfunctional consequences of the technology.
D. The other information systems maintained by PCARRD are the Equipment Infrastructure and Manpower Management Systems (EIMMS); Financial Management System (FMS); Administrative Support Services (ADSS); and the Publications Mailing System (PMS).
4. Information System in the Health Sector
The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), another sectoral Council of DOST, is the focal point of a specialized network of documentation and information centres engaged in health and health-related research and development activities called HERDIN or the Health Research and Development Information Network. The general objective of HERDIN is to improve the flow of health and health-related information in the country, making information available and accessible to the users in the health research community.
HERDIN is a national health database with access to international databases. It consists of the SALUS database on low-cost health care delivery and training; the APINMAP (Asia Pacific Information Network) database on medicinal and aromatic plants; the MEDLINE (Medicine On-Line) database which is the largest biomedical database; the POPLINE (Population On-Line) database on population issues.
HERDIN's Literature Search Services include the HERDIN Retrospective Search for a comprehensive list or abstract of documents on any topic over a number of years (1966-present); HERDIN SDI or Selective Dissemination of Information which provides only the latest data on a specific topic; HERDIN Document Delivery for photocopies of full articles source locally or abroad; HERDIN ONLINE which offers a researcher access to HERDIN's databases from his own personal computer, using telephone lines.
Other agencies likewise generate, collect and produce data as part of their day-to-day activities. However, not all are organized as those mentioned above.
In general, DOST's present information systems and databases can be described as unintegrated, non-parallel and non-uniform. While a few of the agencies have an operational system, which were developed without any plan of an integrated DOST-wide information system, the majority undertake data processing activities using only word processing and spreadsheet applications. Moreover, the incompatibility of the present hardware and software prohibits linking among computer systems.
THE NEED FOR AN INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEM
In order to improve S&T coordination and management as well as accelerate the delivery of DOST services, a need for an integrated information system was realized. This need is further emphasized by the following :
1. Need to Support the Complex Structure and Scope of the DOST System
DOST coordinates the activities of its five Sectoral Planning Councils, seven R&D Institutes, six Service Agencies, two Collegial Bodies and thirteen Regional Offices. All these agencies and regional offices comprise the DOST System whose role is to promote the application of scientific discoveries and technological innovations in order to hasten economic growth and improve the quality of life of the Filipinos. With its size and scope, delays in collecting and processing data needed for decision-making become a major problem. In view of this, a strong information base and an orderly and systematic flow of information from sources to better serve various clients are required.
2. Need to Strengthen S&T Information Base
S&T information and technology database must be organized not only to support S&T management, but to support its thrusts of accelerating discoveries, innovations, technology commercialization and the delivery of S&T services.
3. Need to Strengthen Communication and Information Networks Among the Agencies of the DOST
S&T is dependent on local foreign discoveries. Thus, each of the DOST agencies strives to set up their own local and foreign linkages. To facilitate sharing of information and to avoid duplication of databases, there is a need to strengthen overall communication and information networking. This will enhance information access within the DOST System and directly from international databases.
4. Need to Upgrade Data Management System Towards System Integration
At present, the DOST has no central unit that attends to overall S&T information system development. As discussed earlier, each agency generates and collects data depending on its needs and only a few have established information systems (e.g., PCARRD, PCHRD). However, even for agencies with comprehensive databases on researches, technologies and S&T literature, information is not fully utilized due to weak links among agencies and varied computer applications within the DOST System.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A DOST-WIDE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)
In view of the need for an integrated information system to monitor scientific and technological efforts nationwide and facilitate the feedback of up-to-date information for
management decision-making purposes, a MIS Steering Committee and a Technical Working Group have been organized to develop an MIS framework for S&T. To date, the Committee has developed the Information System Strategic Plan which will serve as the blueprint for the establishment of the DOST-wide Information System. Information System Modules, tailored to support the DOST's major functional areas will be developed. These functional areas are :
a. Policy Formulation and Legislation
b. Planning and Financial/Technical Assistance Programming
c. Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
d. Research and Development
e. Technology Delivery
f. S&T Services
g. S&T Manpower and Institution Development
h. External Linkages
i. Resource Generation
j. Financial Management and
k. Administration
Based on these functional areas, six major groupings or classification of information systems have been identified. These are:
a. S&T Management System (STMS)
b. R&D Management System (RDMS)
c. Technology Management System (TMS)
d. S&T Infrastructure System (STIS)
e. S&T Services System (STSS) and
f. DOST Internal Operations System (INTERNAL)
The above system were identified following official process/transactions and functional concern. These do not follow the organizational structure to avoid system changes every time the organization changes its structure, functions or personnel. Interrelationships exist among systems in such a way that one's output is another's input and the systems share databases.
Presently, the DOST-wide MIS is still being developed and is expected to be fully implemented in the next five to seven years.
MAJOR ISSUES
Major issues/problems hamper the development of an S&T information system. Among these are:
1. Standardization of concepts, classification systems definitions and measurements. S&T is invol
2. Uniformity of hardware and software to link systems and to make it more effective.
3. Manpower capability geared to the new orientation.
4. Low priority which also means low resource allocation on basic information generation. This is contrary to the inherent nature of the activity which is relatively resource-intensive.
SUMMARY
The Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines has several existing information systems, comprehensive and operational but unintegrated, non-parallel and non-uniform. To this end, an Information System Strategic Plan was formulated to establish an integrated DOST-wide management information system. Its impending full application is expected to come up with complete, accurate and timely S&T information, essential to sound management decision-making. The result, effectiveness and efficiency of the DOST System and the entire S&T sector, will impact and help sustain the Philippines struggle for socio-economic growth and development.
- Two Advisory Bodies of DOST (Brief Function and Description)
Advisory Bodies
Two bodies pursue mandated functions of assistance, recognition, advisory and establishment of international linkages. These are:
National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST)
To recognize outstanding achievements in science and technology as well as provide meaningful incentives to those engaged in scientific and technological researches
National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP)
NRCP is mandated in promotion and support of fundamental or basic research for the continuing improvement of the research capability of individual or group scientists; foster linkages with local and international scientific organizations for enhanced cooperation in the development and sharing of scientific information; provide advice on problems and issues of national interest; and promotion of scientific and technological culture to all sectors of society.
Who is the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology?
| DOST Secretary Alabastro Warmly Received in Sanchez Mira |
| Tuesday, 10 March 2009 |
DOST Secretary Estrella F. Alabastro (center, in yellow) is flanked by Sanchez Mira Vice-Mayor Benjamin Oraceo (far left), Mayor Napoleon Sacramed (2nd to the left), DOST Assistant Secretary and Acting Undersecretary for Regional Operations Carol M. Yorobe, and Cagayan State University chief executive officer Aurelio Caldez (far right).
DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro was warmly received in Cagayan State University (CSU) in Sanchez Mira by no less than the Honorable Napoleon Sacramed, mayor of the municipality, Vice-Mayor Benjamin Oroceo, and CSU chief executive officer Aurelio Caldez, PhD for her visit and ocular inspection of SET-UP project sites in Region 2. |
