Computerized fabricating machines of the Bohol Fabrication Laboratory. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Cebu provincial office will open next month a digital Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab).
Maria Elena C. Arbon, DTI Cebu provincial director, said this would be the second FabLab in Central Visayas region after the facility that opened in Bohol province in May 2014.
The FabLab in Cebu would be part of a planned Innovation Hub at the University of the Philippines Cebu campus.
“It aims to inspire people and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into new products and prototypes by giving them access to a range of advanced digital manufacturing technology,” Arbon said in a statement.
Its inauguration, scheduled for June 9, is among the activities lined up for the Cebu Business Month celebration.
Aside from the FabLab, the Innovation Hub would also include a Co-Working Space (CWS), which would be available for lease.
The CWS will offer office fixtures, Internet, refreshments and other common office services.
Arbon said this can cater to business professionals, freelancers, associations, artists, researchers, telecommuters, MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) employees and even students.
At the Bohol Island State University, where the first FabLab in the country was set up with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the facility implements a computer-based innovation, design and fabrication workshop that will allow local manufacturers to design and make almost anything through an open source software.
The facility was designed to assist in the design needs of some 135 manufacturers under Bohol’s creative industry.