Shaping the Future: Building VSU as an Entrepreneurial University for the Visayas and Beyond

Visayas State University President, Dr. Prose Ivy Guasa-Yepes, Former VSU President, Dr. Edgardo Tulin, Commission on Higher Education Regional Director Maximo Aljibe, Distinguished Members of the University Board of Regents, University Officials, Esteemed Colleagues from National Government Agencies, Local Government Executives, Dedicated VSU Faculty, Accomplished Alumni, and Passionate Students. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, isang maka-agham na araw po sa inyong lahat. Maupay nga adlaw ha ngatanan!

VSU has always held a sacred place in my heart. As a fifteen-year-old attending Science Youth Summer Camp, I stood in awe of this magnificent campus I first knew as VISCA. 

Years later, while pursuing graduate studies at Cornell, I listened as professors and researchers spoke reverently of VSU. Today, I bear proud witness to its metamorphosis into the beacon of excellence it has become — the Visayas State University.

President Yepes, your decision to invite me — a humble public servant with merely a handful of ideas — exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit we celebrate: calculated risk-taking balanced with thoughtful management.

The Knowledge Economy Revolution

We stand at a profound inflection point in history. The Fourth Industrial Revolution's exponential technological advances are reshaping economies and transforming the landscape of human possibility.

Knowledge has emerged as our most precious resource. Unlike physical assets, it multiplies when shared, expands when applied, and can be infinitely reproduced and disseminated across the globe.

Universities, as traditional custodians and generators of this knowledge, now find themselves sitting upon economic goldmines, not merely academic treasuries.

In this maelstrom of transformation, universities face a defining choice: remain venerable repositories of tradition or boldly step forward as architects and engineers of our collective future.

Our rapidly evolving world demands nothing less than a revolutionary paradigm for Visayas State University. We require universities that function as catalytic engines of economic development — dynamic institutions that breathe life into emerging industries, launch pioneering enterprises, empower diverse communities, and construct robust pathways toward prosperous futures for all.

The University of Tomorrow

The university of tomorrow transforms knowledge into products and solutions that captivate markets and build sustainable enterprises. Research and development conducted within its walls sparks new businesses and nurtures vibrant economic ecosystems. Its graduates emerge not as passive job seekers but as dynamic job creators and visionary architects of opportunity—innovators who shape the future rather than merely inhabit it.

This transformative model has already proven its extraordinary value across the globe:

Stanford University birthed Silicon Valley, generating over $3 trillion in economic value and fundamentally reshaping our digital world.

RWTH Aachen University converts an astounding 85% of its research into applied solutions that drive German innovation and industrial leadership.

The National University of Singapore measures success not only by scholarly citations but equally by the number of thriving startups launched from its campus.

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has established Israel as the "Startup Nation," with graduates founding over 2,400 companies that have attracted $28 billion in investment.

Oxford University's innovation ecosystem has spawned more than 200 companies, including four unicorns valued at over $1 billion each.

The University of Toronto has helped establish Canada's largest innovation hub, housing over 1,400 startups that have collectively raised more than $4.5 billion in capital.

Tsinghua University has emerged as China's entrepreneurial powerhouse, with affiliated enterprises generating annual revenues exceeding $30 billion.

Even across Southeast Asia, our regional neighbors are accelerating their entrepreneurial transformations:

Thailand's Chulalongkorn University operates the CU Innovation Hub, catalyzing over 150 deep-tech startups reshaping the country's innovation landscape.

Indonesia's Institut Teknologi Bandung drives modernization of traditional industries through university-led R&D initiatives and strategic partnerships.

Vietnam National University's Business Incubator systematically converts student research into high-value manufacturing solutions competing in global markets.

These visionary institutions recognize a profound truth: knowledge achieves its highest purpose when it transcends the written page and theoretical discourse to nourish communities and address humanity's most pressing challenges. The entrepreneurial university does not diminish academic and scientific rigor — it amplifies academia's impact on the world we share.

VSU's Entrepreneurial Destiny

With VSU's demonstrated capacity for innovation and its strategic position in the Philippines, it stands ready to join these global leaders—not merely following their example, but charting its own distinctive path as an entrepreneurial university uniquely attuned to the needs and opportunities of the Visayas region and beyond.

I stand before you to share not just a vision, but a calling: Visayas State University shall rise as a preeminent Entrepreneurial University — shaping not only the Visayas region but projecting its innovative influence far beyond our national borders.

VSU does not begin this journey from a standing start. Consider its extraordinary achievements: 39 technologies successfully commercialized between 2021 and 2024 — among the most impressive figures in Philippine higher education. Its robust intellectual property portfolio, global partnerships spanning continents, and accolades in innovation and institutional excellence reveal that VSU already possesses the essential DNA of an entrepreneurial university. The question is not whether VSU can become an entrepreneurial powerhouse, but how swiftly it will manifest this destiny.

Quantum Innovators: Engineering VSU's Entrepreneurial Future

To unlock VSU's potential as a preeminent entrepreneurial university, we must engineer a dynamic quantum ecosystem — where every member of our academic community acts as a catalyst, accelerating innovations through collaboration, energy, and precision. This transformation is not a linear process but a multidimensional leap — a fundamental reconfiguration of leadership, administration, faculty, students, and alumni into a cohesive force that generates impact far beyond our campus.

The Quantum Architects

Our university leaders shall function as quantum architects, designing frameworks that allow innovation to emerge from uncertainty. By establishing innovation and entrepreneurship as core university principles — equal to teaching, research, and extension — they set the conditions for transformative change.

Our leaders will rewrite the algorithm of academic engagement, crafting policies that reward commercialization while ensuring faculty and students retain meaningful stakes in ventures born from their ideas. They will redefine success metrics, valuing patents, startups, industry partnerships, and societal impact alongside traditional scholarship.

The Systems Engineers

Behind every breakthrough lies an intricate infrastructure. Our administrators shall function as systems engineers, optimizing bureaucratic processes to move at the speed of innovation. They will build fast-track pipelines for approvals, funding, and commercialization support, ensuring agility in a competitive landscape.

By integrating legal, financial, and technical resources into a seamless innovation stack, they will create pathways for aspiring entrepreneurs. Through real-time metrics tracking startups, industry collaborations, and community impact, they will ensure alignment with VSU's mission.

As network architects, they will forge systematic industry partnerships, deploying dedicated teams to bridge academic research with market needs—turning discoveries into deployable solutions.

The Knowledge Catalysts

Faculty are the quantum particles of our ecosystem—colliding ideas, sparking innovation, and transcending traditional boundaries. They will redesign curricula around real-world challenges, valuing ingenuity over rote learning.

By embedding industry and community stakeholders into research, they will ensure discoveries have immediate pathways to application. As boundary spanners, they will connect disciplines, industries, and policymakers—turning academic insights into scalable solutions.

The Innovation Accelerators

Students will evolve from passive learners to active accelerators, forming cross-disciplinary teams that prototype solutions for real problems. They will master entrepreneurial skills—design thinking, financial modeling, ethical leadership—and test them in makerspaces, incubators, and startup competitions.

Through direct engagement with industries and communities, they will identify unmet needs and build ventures that matter. Their energy will make innovation not an exception but the default mindset at VSU.

The Entanglement Network

Alumni and industry partners serve as quantum entanglers—linking academic potential with market reality. Through mentorship, venture funding, and internships, they will provide critical resources for emerging entrepreneurs.

As early adopters of VSU-born technologies, they will validate and scale innovations. By hosting research collaborations and advisory roles, they will ensure our ecosystem remains responsive to real-world demands.

DOST Programs: Fueling the Innovation-Entrepreneurship Journey

What is role of the Department of Science and Technology in all these?

The DOST is your friend, partner, confidante, your Ka-Science. 

Science stands as our shared cornerstone brand in the Philippines' innovation landscape.  As a major part of this vision, the Department of Science and Technology has crafted PROPEL — a revolutionary program designed to transform the way university-based innovators bring scientific breakthroughs to market.

The journey begins at the earliest spark of inspiration. Through JuanaKNOW (Juan2KNOW), the country's largest AI-driven knowledge repository, innovators gain unprecedented access to sophisticated meta-analytics that accelerate the ideation process and generate groundbreaking solutions.

PROPEL's comprehensive global intelligence portals illuminate international market opportunities, consumer behavior patterns, and emerging trends across diverse regions. Simultaneously, innovators navigate complex regulatory frameworks with confidence, accessing detailed compliance requirements across multiple jurisdictions—ensuring their solutions are built for global success from day one.

PROPEL's standardized metrics for Technology Readiness, Market Readiness, and Investment Levels provide a clear roadmap, positioning each project precisely along its journey and connecting it with appropriate funding opportunities at each stage.

DOST's upgraded OneLab network—comprising advanced laboratories, cutting-edge equipment, and specialized testing facilities—becomes freely accessible through an innovative voucher system. This strategic approach removes financial barriers to critical scientific infrastructure, empowering innovators to transform concepts into tangible prototypes and products.

Throughout this journey, PROPEL surrounds innovators with comprehensive support services. From legal counsel and intellectual property management to spinoff creation strategies, business development expertise, and connections to venture capital, the program creates a seamless pathway from laboratory to marketplace.

Just within the first quarter of this year, PROPEL has worked with the Technology Application and Promotion Institute in showcasing our outstanding science-based innovators at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. 

There we met Filipino-American rapper-musician Apl.de.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas. His foundation connects Philippine startups with Silicon Valley-based Filipino startups, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists.

In early April, we brought innovators to the 50th Salon International des Inventions de Genève where they garnered one Gold, three Silvers, and one Bronze for healthcare innovations and eco-friendly construction materials.

The DOST has also launched ELEV8PH: eight transformative research and development programs leveraging frontier technologies to address significant national challenges.  These are on: a) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Virtual Hubs, b) Quantum Computing Technology, c) Geospatial Analytics Solution, d) Industry 4.0, e) Circular Economy, f) Smart Agriculture, g) Biologics in Pharmaceuticals, and h) Smart Technologies.

We are forging a strategic alliance with the Department of Trade and Industry to develop comprehensive Industry Transformation Maps and Economic Value Chains across seven priority sectors—ranging from semiconductors and advanced electronics to tourism and hospitality. These meticulously crafted roadmaps serve as powerful launchpads for our academic community's innovation journey. They offer faculty, researchers, and even ambitious students a clear line of sight into high-impact opportunities where their intellectual capital can transform industries, solve pressing challenges, and create significant economic value. 

By aligning university innovation with these national priorities, we ensure VSU's breakthroughs address real market needs and position our institution at the forefront of the Philippines' economic transformation.

Our Quantum Future

The most transformative breakthroughs in history have never been linear—they emerge where vision, collaboration, and relentless execution collide. Today, Visayas State University stands at such an inflection point. We are not merely adopting an entrepreneurial mindset; we are fundamentally reengineering our academic universe to become a powerhouse of innovation where every interaction creates exponential impact.

This is the quantum ecosystem we are building—where traditional academic boundaries dissolve into dynamic intersections of discovery and enterprise.

When fully realized, this quantum model creates self-reinforcing value:

• Student startups become employer-magnets that elevate our local and regional economies

• Faculty innovations attract industry partnerships that fund further research and development

• Alumni success stories build reputation that draws top talent worldwide

Our Call to Transform

The elements of greatness already stir within these hallowed walls — brilliant minds burning with possibility, cutting-edge research poised for real-world impact, and generations of proud alumni ready to build upon their alma mater’s legacy.

The quantum future isn’t on the horizon — it is already here, crackling with energy, demanding we meet it with equal intensity. This is no time for cautious evolution; this is a threshold moment for bold reinvention.

The call is clear: we must fuse audacity with action, collaboration with courage, and vision with an unyielding will to shape what comes next.

When history weighs this era, let it be said that Visayas State University did not merely adapt to change — YOU ignited it.

That YOU tore down the walls between academia and the impossible, and in their place, built:

A Visayas State University redefined — no longer just a keeper of knowledge, but a launchpad for human potential, where ideas become industries, and classrooms fuel revolutions.

A new paradigm of impact — where research does not gather dust, but detonates breakthroughs, lifting economies, transforming lives, and rewriting the very rules of progress across the region and beyond.

A legacy beyond borders — where VSU’s reach is not measured in miles, but in magnitude, in the seismic shifts it sends across generations.

Decades ago, I stood on these grounds — an awestruck fifteen-year-old, my heart wide open to the wonder of dreams yet to unfold.

Today, by the grace and goodness of the Lord, I return — Still that same soul, still filled with awe; Still brimming with hope and boundless optimism.

On your 101st Anniversary, Visayas State University,

I offer you this simple but fervent gift: a prayer of hope.

May you rise to your next great quantum leap.

May you build the future with wisdom and courage.

May you welcome generation after generation of young hearts —

And may you leave them, too, forever in awe.

Mabuhay ang Visayas State University! 

Congratulations on your 101st Anniversary.  

Now, onward to your quantum and entrepreneurial destiny!

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