QUEZON CITY — To gather specialized feedback and insights on critical infrastructure sectors in support of the updating of PAGTANAW 2050, the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL), in collaboration with the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST), successfully conducted its second hybrid Roundtable Discussion (RTD) titled “Insights from the Industry: A Roundtable Discussion for the External Review of PAGTANAW 2050 Focusing on Built Environments, Energy, and Water” on 13 November 2025 at the Learning Commons, University of the Philippines Diliman.
Second in a five-part RTD series gathering industry perspectives, this session focused on an in-depth discussion of three (3) of the twelve (12) Key Operational Areas outlined in PAGTANAW 2050—namely Energy, Water, Shelter, Transportation, and Other Infrastructure.
The presentations from the resource speakers underscored the importance of adopting a multidisciplinary approach to national foresight. For the energy sector, experts emphasized grounding future strategies in the “Energy Trilemma”—availability, affordability, and acceptability—to guide the transition toward clean technologies, just energy shifts, and rural electrification. In the built environment, speakers highlighted the urgent need to integrate Building Information Modeling (BIM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and digital twins to enhance infrastructure resilience, efficiency, and sustainability.
On water security, discussions stressed empowering communities and local institutions by pairing technical solutions with social interventions. Experts also recommended institutionalizing community water safety planning and participatory monitoring, strengthened through conditional financing mechanisms to ensure sustainability and local ownership.
Across all three sectors, speakers called for bridging the country's significant lag in R&D human resource capacity, integrating disaster waste management systems, and advancing opportunities in the blue economy and indigenous materials to support safer, greener, and more inclusive national development.
Following the presentations, industry experts provided their reactions, insights, and recommendations, drawing from their extensive experience in their respective fields. A primary takeaway was the need for the democratization and accessibility of data to ensure open, timely, and actionable information for decision-making across all sectors.
The discussion concluded with a message of appreciation from Ms. Luningning E. Samarita-Domingo, Director IV of NAST PHL, who thanked PhilAAST, the resource speakers, reactors, and participants for generously sharing their time, expertise, and valuable industry perspectives in support of the PAGTANAW 2050 updating process. — Clarene Bae Barbosa/NAST PHL
PAGTANAW 2050 is the first DOST-funded inter-disciplinal and trans-disciplinal project on Philippine-focused ST&I Foresight and Strategic Plan that would impact the aspirations of the Filipino people on or before 2050: A Prosperous, Archipelagic, and Maritime Nation.
For more information about PAGTANAW 2050, you may visit the NAST PHL website at https://nast.dost.gov.ph/index.php/pagtanaw-2050 and social media accounts through Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn: @pagtanaw2050