The University of the mini传媒 Conception (mini传媒) is one of the three regional institutions in the country to receive funding support from the Department of Science and Technology 鈥� Philippine Council for Industry Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (顿翱厂罢鈥扬颁滨贰贰搁顿).聽
Dubbed 鈥淢indanao Natural (MinNa) Language Processing (LProc) Research and Development Laboratory鈥�, the mini传媒 R&D laboratory will be established through the 顿翱厂罢鈥扬颁滨贰贰搁顿鈥檚 Institution Development Program (IDP). The project aims to use Natural Language Processing in preservation and protection of languages and will focus on three Mindanao languages: Manobo, Mansaka, and Kalagan. The project leader, Kristine Mae M. Adlaon, shared that 鈥楴atural Language Processing’ is a subfield of Artificial Intelligence that focuses on building intelligent systems that understand languages.聽
On 23 September 2021, mini传媒 President Sr. Marissa R. Viri, RVM signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with 顿翱厂罢鈥扬颁滨贰贰搁顿 Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit. It was stated in the MOA that DOST-PCIEERD shall provide grant in the amount of P5,000,000.00 for 24 months with an initial grant of P5,000,000.00 to be expended based on the scheduled release of funds and as allocated in the approved Project Line-Item Budget.
Sr. Viri said 鈥淲ith the increasing number of endangered languages, it is the goal of this laboratory to intensify research and development works that involve the collection, digitalization, storage, and dissemination of language resources, as well as the development of task-specific trained applications such as Machine Translation and Dialogue Systems.鈥�She also shared, 鈥渕ini传媒 through MinNa commits to support all endeavors that will help save and preserve our endangered languages. We hope that through MinNa, more students, faculties, and industry partners will be collaborating to achieve the objectives set forth by the laboratory.鈥�
Speaking for 顿翱厂罢鈥扬颁滨贰贰搁顿, Dr. Paringit explained that the IDP has been working towards establishing at least one IDP per region. He added, 鈥淥n the regional Research Institution, we have been supporting our country鈥檚 regions through our regional consortia. We deem it highly vital that every region here in the Philippines should be heard and visible in creating more opportunities and making progress more inclusive.鈥�
