Read/Download: UPMin September Highlights for the President's Advisory Council

• UPMin nominated as a Special Non-voting Member of the Regional Development Council-XI.
• Department of Agriculture asks for precision agriculture R&D and offers Marahan land for use.  
• UPMin asked to help the research of small state colleges
• Scholarships offered by DOST, CHED, Davao City; employee trainings requested by most agencies

The University of the Philippines (UPMin) partnered with external agencies in a recent meeting in order to move forward to the forefront of transformative education. For this, UPMin will offer expanded access to higher education for the Mindanao youth and lifelong learning for professionals. In addition, UPMin will further expand its extension services for the communities. These were some of UPMin's responses to feedback given by external stakeholders following UPMin’s three-year strategic plan presentation and call for partnerships in a forum on September 27, 2022. 

University of the Philippines Mindanao's (UPMin) Professor Jose Ildefonso Rubrico reported that nearly 2 million features from aerial images have been labeled, and core modules for self-operating vehicles are under development under two Artificial Intelligence (AI) research programs on the campus.  

Professor Rubrico gave these and other updates as program leader of the Philippine Sky Artificial Intelligence Program (SkAI–Pinas) and the Autonomous Societally Inspired Mission Oriented Vehicles (ASIMOV) at the 7th National Research & Development Conference held at the Philippine International Convention Center on September 16, 2022.

“The Philippines has amassed big data from flood hazard and resource maps which are underutilized and remain in archives. SkAI-Pinas seeks to activate this data for the widespread use of Filipinos,” he said. 

Farmers in conflict-vulnerable areas in Mindanao experienced increased incomes after the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin), along with partners Landcare Foundation of the Philippines (LFPI) and ACIAR Mindanao Agricultural Extension Project (AMAEP), implemented the Livelihood Improvement through Facilitated Extension (LIFE) model, an alternative agricultural extension delivery strategy, from December 2017 to April 2021. The program had the support of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology(PCAARRD-DOST).

“Incomes increased from 31% to 89%, and their vegetable gardens and other livelihoods provided a steady source of income,” said UPMin professor Emma Ruth Bayogan, program leader of the “Enhancing Livelihood Opportunities in Conflict-Vulnerable Area in Mindanao through the Livelihood Improvement through Facilitated Extension (LIFE) Model,” at the 7th National Research & Development Conference organized by the DOST on September 15 to 16, 2022, at the PICC Complex.