PH arms ASEAN countries with AI training
To help enhance the technological capabilities of ASEAN countries and remain globally competitive, the Philippines organized a five-day online training on multi-tasking artificial intelligence (AI) for ASEAN Member States.
This initiative was implemented by the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) from 23 to 27 August 2021 via Zoom Videoconference. The 21 ASEAN delegates from Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore were able to complete the online training course and learned about the most recent advances in AI, available technologies to create more innovations, and how to use AI for various applications.
“Learning about multi-tasking AI arms ASEAN countries with ample knowledge to employ AI tools in a gamut of applications or tasks; this allows seamless image and speech recognition, translation and sentence analysis, and many more game-changing processes. This is the Philippines’ contribution to the ASEAN and the world in spurring sustainable economic development,” said Project Leader and DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit.
The five-day training enabled the participants to fully grasp the whole AI process from acquiring data, processing, interpreting, and quality assessment.
These are the specific topics that the participants learned through lectures and hands-on exercises in a collaborative environment:
- Introduction to AI
- Recent Trends in Machine Learning (ML) Research
- Keras and Tensor Flow
- The Power of Data
- Convolutional Neural Networks
- Recurrent Neural Networks and Long Short-term Memory Networks
- AI in Policy Making and Other Applications
- Multi-tasking AI Using Neural Network
- Multi-tasking AI Using Natural Language Processing
- Basic Remote Sensing Concepts and QGIS Walkthrough
- Deep Learning Applications on Remote Sensing
- Connecting to CoARE VM
- Training Data Preparation
- Training and Prediction Using QGIS Plugin
The DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) provided support in the conduct of activities, specifically in the use of the CoARE facility for the data. CoARE is DOST’s high-performance cloud computing facility that allows free access of its services to Filipino students, researchers, and data analysts.
After the training, the ASEAN participants shared their AI initiatives in their respective countries and possible areas for collaboration.
“As a leader and partner in enabling innovations in the Philippines, DOST-PCIEERD also sees to it that it uplifts the Asian region through the online training on
multi-tasking AI for ASEAN Member States. Initiatives like this strengthens the bond between countries and births new collaborations that spur regional growth,” said Paringit.
