The Department of Science and Technology is partnering with the metals and electronics sectors to gear up the country's competitive stance in the metals and electronics market worldwide.

Switching the green light towards global competitiveness is the program called MakiBayan, or the "Makinarya at Teknolohiya Para sa Bayan," a collaborative research and development roadmap for the metal industry from 2012 to 2016.

Said program is hinged on DOST's partnership with industry giants, namely the Philippine Die and Mold Association (PDMA), the Metalworking Industry Association of the Philippines (MIAP), and the Electronics Industry Association of the Philippines, Inc. (EIAPI), and the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT), which will be formalized in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 16, 2012 at the Bella Ibarra in Quezon Blvd., Quezon City.

"I am optimistic that through the MakiBayan program, we will be able to harmonize all R&D activities in the field toward a common direction while keeping an eye for its continuous improvement," DOST Secretary Mario Montejo said.

MakiBayan covers the plans, projects, and milestones of the partnership, such as the sharing of technical expertise, skills, manpower, and facilities. Moreover, the program supports the country's development thrusts by enhancing the metal and electronics industries' competitiveness through capacity-building, improved access to technologies, and R&D assistance.

" Dr. Josefino Comiso, a Filipino physicist with NASA, first discovered a recurring polynya (semipermanent area of open water in sea ice) in the Cosmonaut Sea, south of the Indian Ocean. "