Prof. Bokingo Shares MSU-IIT’s Entrepreneurship Initiatives at the ENEDA National Conference
by Marlo C. Novino
The Entrepreneurship Educators’ Association of the Philippines, Incorporated (ENEDA) held its 15th National Conference at Subic Grand Harbour Hotel, Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Zambales from February 16 to 18, 2017 with the theme “Latching onto Sustainability Towards a New Economic Order: Technopreneurship”. The conference’s goal was to bring respected industry practitioners and academicians for an discussion on the most pressing issues in the world of business and the academe, with emphasis on technopreneurship.
Several academicians were invited to give in-depth insights and challenges of the conference topic. Prof. Randy Castillo of Colegio de San Juan de Letran shared how technopreneurship enhances business education’s sustainability amidst K to 12, while Prof. Antonio Lopez, DBA of Miriam College delivered the internationalization and sustainability of Business Education programs. Rev. Fr. Clarence Victor Marquez, OP of Colegio de San Juan de Letran gave insights regarding ethics at the heart of technopreneurship while Prof. Luis Maria Calingo, PhD of Holy Angel University shared re-engineering the quality of academic institutions through technology. Prof. Real Carpio So of De La Salle University provided insights regarding the prevalence of social technopreneurship.
Industry champions also imparted current practices of technopreneurship. Rebekah Melencio, Senior Vendor Manager of Lazada, shared the Lazada story and how technopreneurship provided them the leverage in the wholesale and retail industry. Jason Cruz, Social Business Leader of McCann Worldgroup, one of the leading digital advertising agencies in the country, presented the new trends in advertising as influenced by technology. From the entertainment industry, the famous talk show host, Dr. Eugenio “Boy” Abunda shared the technopreneur’s niche based on his own story. They all presented how technopreneurship significantly changed the landscape of doing business in their own respective industries.
From the academe, Prof. Julita W. Bokingo, faculty of the Marketing Department and former Dean of the CBAA, shared the Entrepreneurship and Technopreneurship development initiatives of MSU-IIT.
The integration of entrepreneurship education in the curriculum took place in 1998 after she finished her month long Trainers’ Course in Enterprise Development (TRACED) training at the UP Institute for Small Scale Industries (UP ISSI). Her action plan after the training paved for the Entrepreneurship Development for Engineering Technology Education Level (EDETEL) and the transformation of two SET Business and Legislation Courses into two undergraduate Technopreneurship offerings. Today, all engineering technology students are taking these two courses. Moreover, BS Civil Engineering students of COE are now taking up a 3-unit undergraduate entrepreneurship course.
At CBAA, Ma’am Jo, as she is fondly called, spearheaded the offering of a 3-unit entrepreneurship course in the undergraduate programs as early as 1995. This initiative actuated in the metamorphosis of BSBA Entrepreneurial Marketing program, the one and only in the Philippines back in 2007. Now however, the BSBA Entrepreneurial Marketing is offered at MSU Marawi, MSU Naawan, and MSU General Santos.
At the graduate program level, Prof. Bokingo initiated the creation of an Entrepreneurial Marketing course in the MBM program and another Technopreneurship course among Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) students.
Her active involvement in concretizing the entrepreneurship education in the university led to the creation of the first technology business incubator in Mindanao, the iDEYA: Center of Innovation and Technopreneurship (CIT), where she holds office as a faculty coordinator handling Industry Collaboration and Academic Entrepreneurship. The center is co-funded by the DOST PCIEERD.
Truly, MSU-IIT has taken its flight as one of the leading entrepreneurial universities in the country soaring farther to deliver its mission of providing quality education for the industrial and socio-economic development of Mindanao.
