Go Digital With Love! UP Los Baños, Wake Up – You Are Already At Least 28 Years Late Digitally!

Certainly, I know that even our journalists in PH media are hardly digital – and so are the males and females in the academe – schools, colleges & universities of the Philippines (SCUs) – with their BS, MS, PhD theses and their technical articles meant for publication in science journals. I know the Internet came to the Philippines 32 years ago, in 1991 – so why are not those in SCUs at least 50% digital? 
(Upper image from hbr.org)

So here I am, at the 8^th decade of my life (born Sept 17), Filipino, having taught myself my digital abilities starting Innocents Day in 1985 with WordStar v1, and have not stopped improving myself. Right now, I am thinking of starting a “Digital Love Revolution” in my country the Philippines. Oh yes, as ANN puts it, “Digital transformation is not about technology at all – it’s about people” (Author Not Named, undated, “Digital Transformation,” learntransformation.com, source of lower image).

I am an alumnus of the UP College of Agriculture, now UP Los Baños, and I find that this 115-year old institution, founded in 1908, is having difficult times dealing with desktop publishing (DTP) works for its own technical journals. So are the other institutions headquartered on UP Los Baños campus: Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), Ecosystem Research & Development Bureau (ERDB), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and the nearby Philippine Council For Agriculture, Aquatic & Natural Resources Research And Development (PCAARRD).

ACB, ERDB, IRRI, SEARCA, PCAARRD – go digital!

I want to encourage the young ones in those offices to “Go Digital With Love!” Let each science worker learn to be digital by oneself; let each science publication hire people who are completely digital.

Why am I doing this? Here is an experience only I can share with you:

In 2003, I was hired as the one-man band digital Editor In Chief for the Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS), the triannual (3-times-a-year) publication of the Crop Science Society of the Philippines (CSSP), which was based at UP Los Baños. This was the sad situation: The PJCS was already 3 years late in its issues – meaning the last issue was in 2000. And I was going to be a one-man band digital rewriter, editor, and desktop publisher.

Challenge accepted! I started in 2003. In 2005, after 3 years, I made the PJCS up-to-date in its issues, meaning I worked double time – I must emphasize, singlehandedly. And in 2007, I achieved what looked to be impossible: The PJCS was now included in the elite international list called “ISI” (now Web of Science).

ANN says, “Digital Transformation, It’s Not Just About Technology” (Author Not Named, 02 Nov 2023, “Digital4Business,” digital4business.eu):

Companies across all industries are rushing to adopt digital technologies to stay competitive, improve customer experiences, and streamline their operations.

The SCUs can learn from those private companies. To encourage you, look at me, a Filipino 83-year old blogger, as I “Go Digital With Love!”@517