Davao City Inventions and Innovations Center (DCIIC) — A Mayor-Chaired Municipal Innovation-Support Office

On 13 April 2021, the City Council of Davao, Philippines, passed an ordinance creating the Davao City Inventions and Innovations Center (DCIIC), giving local inventors, innovators and early-stage startups a dedicated public body for prototype development, feasibility studies, funding-proposal drafting and intellectual-property support, with technical backing from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region XI.
The ordinance also established the Davao City Invention and Innovation Board (DCIIB), chaired by the City Mayor, to set the city's innovation goals and long-term strategy, formally linking the initiative to city leadership rather than leaving it as a stand-alone agency programme.
National press (Manila Bulletin) and DOST's own regional office reported the ordinance's passage and DOST's endorsement in 2021; the city has since sustained the initiative through an annual public showcase, the Davao City Inventions and Innovations Expo, which reached its 2026 edition according to city-government and regional-press coverage - evidence of institutional continuity, though neither source publishes data on patents filed, prototypes funded or startups graduated.
Included as an early-stage but institutionally durable local-government innovation-support model: a mayor-chaired governance board and a recurring public expo demonstrate five years of continuity, but the absence of published output or outcome metrics means its economic impact cannot yet be assessed.

Read the full analysis: https://mb.com.ph/2021/04/16/dost-welcomes-davao-city-councils-ordinance-creating-inventions-center/