DOST-7 Maps a Clearer Growth Path for Central Visayas Founders

DOST-7 is pushing Central Visayas toward a more coordinated founder-support model by leading strategic planning for the regional innovation consortium covering Cebu and Bohol.

The official DOST-7 update frames the effort around a practical problem that many emerging ecosystems face: too many disconnected initiatives and not enough continuity for founders once they leave technology business incubators. Instead of adding another isolated program, the consortium is trying to align what already exists.

Participants in the planning process include DOST-7, DepDev, DICT, DTI, UP Cebu, Cebu Institute of Technology-University, Silliman University, University of San Carlos, and Bohol Island State University. That mix matters because founder support only becomes durable when government, academe, and ecosystem operators move in the same direction.

The roadmap under discussion has three stages. The foundational stage focuses on growing the number of startups and startup enablers. The growth stage centers on increasing investment, jobs, and investor participation while improving the visibility of major cities in ecosystem rankings. The sustainable stage looks further ahead to long-term capital formation, stronger ASEAN and global positioning, and more local investors backing local startups.

For founders, a roadmap like this can reduce guesswork. It can create clearer handoffs between ideation, incubation, mentoring, investor readiness, and scaling support - especially for startups graduating from university-based TBIs and early public programs.

From an ecosystem standpoint, this is one of the most important signals in Central Visayas this year. Regions grow faster when founder pathways are easier to understand, and when institutions stop competing for attention and start building a shared pipeline for startup outcomes.