Consortium brand for local empowerment

1. FABLAB BOHOL:
“The Beckoning Promise of Digital Fabrication”
Digital fabrication.
In a province like Bohol, the term digital fabrication has little or no meaning at all. For who
would ever think about dreaming up, designing and making almost anything through the
computer?
The inspiration of FabLab Bohol came after Yutaka Tokushima, a Japan Overseas Cooperation
Volunteer (JOCV) designer at DTI-Bohol, presented to Provincial Director Ma. Elena Arbon, the
concept of an innovation laboratory, the purpose of which, is to make a platform of co-creation for
solving common problems in Bohol.
“Product design and packaging are a big challenge for manufacturers in Bohol, but helping the
local manufacturers adapt to new technology is one way to address it,” says Tokushima, when
asked about this dream project.
The determination to put forward an innovation
center in Bohol became the advocacy of Director
Arbon. Since then, she had been advocating for the
establishment of FabLab Bohol- talking to partners,
management, government agencies and private
organizations to sell the project idea.
“The FabLab will help enhance Bohol product’s
marketability. With this in place, manufacturers can
update their designs or enhance their product’s packaging,” said Tokushima.
A place for making things happen. This is the byword that propelled DTI to push for the
establishment of FabLab Bohol in 2014.
And for a province that focuses on MSMEs and their contribution to economic growth, the fablab
is a key not only to create competitive products and services, but also to develop technology-
based solutions that will propel them to make products that are more attuned to the demands of
the present world.
Thus, when the idea of a FabLab project was initially born, Director Arbon never missed a second
to expound to DTI Region 7 Director Aster Caberte the project concept and relay to her the
promise that digital fabrication could do for MSMEs.
Armed only with their commitment to support the project, the tandem of Provincial and Regional
Director gained the subsequent nod of management, which then paved the way for the
establishment of the first ever digital fabrication laboratory in the country.
Soon, funds were generated from DTI through the Shared Service Facility (SSF) project, the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
and the Bohol Island State University (BISU), where FabLab Bohol is currently housed.

2. Even when it was just starting, FabLab Bohol hosted the first FabLab Asia Network (FAN1)
conference in 2014. Makers and fablab representatives from India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, East
Timor, Italy and China participated in the weeklong event.
“FabLab Bohol is a big boost to the province’s recovery efforts, following the October 2013
earthquake. It is a new thing that also involves new technology,” says DTI Undersecretary
Zenaida Maglaya during the launching of the facility in May 2014.
From then on, DTI did everything to make the fablab business model work for all. Volunteers from
Australia and Japan were there to help create and develop the fablab’s business model- a place
to learn, make, share. It has built within the fablab structure the foundation of a strong network of
accelerators, complementers and collaborators.
As a business model, FabLab Bohol is also able to foster entrepreneurship and engage
communities to participate in its efforts to move towards resiliency and sustainability.
Communities participate in various activities that help
them develop their skills in designing and creating
products and services that improve their individual
capabilities and competencies.
In 2014, architecture students from Japan’s prestigious
Keio University came over to help build the Balilihan Wiki
House project, a fine example of how digital fabrication
can be applied to provide solutions to local problems.
In March, FabLab Bohol participated in the Design Week
Philippines 2015, where it showcased its products and services as well as its capabilities as a
recognized makerspace. Indeed, the results were alarming in that
FabLab Bohol gained full recognition from the Philippine maker
community and has since drawn in more visitors from government
and private sectors alike.
Since its launching, FabLab Bohol has invited more people to its
doors- to develop and create new products, hone skills, provide
continuous learning and education to all by making use of
technology and providing them the venue to work.
“The Fablab helps develop the local economy by providing better
and more competitive products. It enhances the local MSME ecosystem, encourages start-ups,
and develops entrepreneurs who create more jobs. Innovation and creativity are key to ensure
that our MSMEs are at par with global market demands,” says Assistant Secretary Ceferino
Rodolfo of the DTI Industry Development Group.
Today, FabLab Bohol is home to more than a hundred designers, makers, MSMEs and even
students. Together, they create, collaborate, learn, make and
build. Here, students have found out that digital fabrication
and making is a new field which brings out in them powerful
ideas, literacies and expressive tools.
Indeed, FabLab Bohol has created a meeting place for
specialists and enthusiasts to engage with technology-driven

3. innovations bottom-up. And because information is shared, they become more engaged in
intellectual activities and practices that would not be possible anywhere else, and experience new
ways of work through team collaboration. It has given everyone the opportunity to explore and
imagine new possibilities for a future that they help create.
While we have heard of success stories from other FabLabs in the world, here at FabLab Bohol,
makers testify to originality and inventiveness that have seen solutions to community problems.
And where does all of these new developments lead to?
As for DTI, the plan to replicate the FabLab project in at least three key
provinces/cities across the country, is already an achievement in itself. It is
enough proof that indeed, the fablab is now the new way to make things
happen.
And for FabLab Bohol, we have witnessed the excitement generated when
young makers experience for the first time in their lives, how things are done
in this one-of-a-kind workshop.
We see that the young people are given the opportunity
to learn and acquire 21st
century skills through project
based learning. We have also witnessed how local
SMEs have been provided a place to go- where
solutions to production and marketing challenges are
hatched- and how they access knowledge for solutions to community problems.
And with this, the future of FabLab Bohol beckons the promise of a new generation of designers
and makers- the kinds that Bohol’s creative industry so require.