Foundation University, in an effort to extend its expertise on consumer perception, business digitalization, and enterprise development in Negros Oriental, has entered into a collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to boost its evidence-based programs, thereby, empowering consumers and uplifting small businesses.
The College of Business Administration of Foundation University takes the lead which has been sealed through a memorandum of agreement with DTI-Negros Oriental.
The research will cover consumer perception, digitalization in business, the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and the effectiveness of DTI’s consumer and business programs.
Respondents will include MSMEs that have joined DTI’s digitalization initiatives, consumers in the province, and businesses holding the DTI Bagwis seal, which recognizes establishments that give priority to consumer rights and welfare.
The research supports the national MSME Development Plan 2023-2028, which the Office of the President approved and adopted through Memorandum Circular 73 in November 2024.
The plan lists the digitalization of MSMEs among its programs, with the DTI, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology that will spearhead them.
The circular directs the DTI to monitor the plan’s implementation and report its progress to the Office of the President each year. It also directs national government agencies to support the plan and encourages local governments to do the same.
DTI Provincial Director Juliet Banogon said the findings will guide the agency’s programs and projects in Negros Oriental and help improve its processes so it can better respond to clients’ needs.
“Ang among desisyon dinhi sa DTI should be based on evidence. It is very important naa ni research. When we get the results or output of the research, then we will have basis for our actions. We have to understand unsa ang ilahang perception to the program we are implementing,” Banogon said. (“Our decisions here at DTI should be based on evidence. It is very important that we undertake research. When we get the results or output of the research, then we will have a basis for our actions. We have to understand their perception of the programs we are implementing.”)
Dr. Ligaya Mae Concepcion, dean of Foundation University’s College of Business Administration, said the partnership will convert DTI’s field experience into systematic research.
“DTI is the one on the ground. They know the challenges, the needs of the consumers, the realities. We will try to interpret those realities into systematic research to support DTI. Eventually, it will be the consumers who will benefit from all these efforts,” Concepcion said.
With the three-tiered function of a university – instruction, research, and extension — Foundation University’s director for research and extension services, Dr. Alexander Baena, likewise opined: “What good is research if it is not put to use, in this case, knowledge is now shared from the classroom to the community. Before DTI can help businesses, it needs to know first the needs and the pulse of the public. This is where Foundation University as a higher education institution can help and share its research services to DTI to bolster small businesses.” | NWI
