Mauricio advances Phl innovative space

The general manager of the National Development Corporation (NDC) has one thing to be proud of in serving the government — this is to improve the country’s adoption of digitization and innovation.

On Friday, Antonilo Mauricio decided to resign, stating that he will join the private sector after years of serving the NDC, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry.

One of the notable contributions of Mauricio during his term was the establishment of the Philippine Innovation Hub (iHub), home of the Startup Venture Fund, the Philippine E-commerce Platform, and the Philippine AI Resource Initiative.

The Philippine Innovation Hub (iHub) is considered the nexus for the government's various innovation efforts.

After repurposing the NDC building's ground floor to accommodate meetings and events with iHub's more than 30 Knowledge Partners, it is quickly expanding to 10 locations outside of Metro Manila, starting with Ilocos Norte and Cebu.

Mauricio's thrust is for the inclusive growth of the startup community beyond Metro Manila, providing them with government support.

iHub is setting up offices in Singapore hosted by Singapore Management University and Murdoch University and intends to expand to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Tokyo and Melbourne.

Investors and startups interested in tapping the sizable Philippine consumer market are encouraged, via iHub, to partner with Philippine stakeholders.

Upon joining the leading state-owned enterprise investing in diverse industries, Mauricio quickly took over the Chairmanship of the Startup Venture Fund (SVF) and streamlined the processes to jumpstart the SVF's first investments, which had been stalled for three years.

The first SVF investments were with startups in the energy and circular economy sectors, which used AI and deep tech in their tech platforms. He also guided the NDC Board Approval of six Co-Investment Partners, all of them Philippine VCs, who are the leaders in startup investing in the Philippines.

The Philippine E-commerce Platform (PEP) was beta-launched with the DICT's e-gov superapp. While market testing is ongoing, the NDC also beta-tested a government asset management platform with Lamudi, the Philippines' largest online property marketplace.

NDC is also evaluating a multi-wallet system with the DICT for egov superapp's payments.

NDC also launched the Philippine Artificial Intelligence Resource Initiative, meant to scan all the global and local AI efforts and map out the Philippine AI strategy. PAIR is designed to support the DTI's National Center for AI Research.

PAIR has liaised and benchmarked the Singapore government's AI efforts through NDC's partnership with Singapore Management University. In the private sector, Anton co-founded the Global AI Council Philippines.

Also, Mauricio tapped the Global Innovation Management Institute, the world's authority on Innovation Management, through Embiggen, so they can become the first Philippine government agency with an ISO-recognized innovation management certification.

Under Mauricio’s leadership, the NDC has maintained five ISO-Quality Management Systems certifications

Just this July, Mauricio was honored as the 1st ever Chief Innovation and Sustainability Officer of the Rotary Club of Manila, the oldest in Asia.

He was also inducted as a trustee of the RCManila Foundation Inc. Board of Trustees.