MANILA — After meeting the head of Iraya Energies Pte. Ltd., a purely Filipino geoscience start-up that applies artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the earth, Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Joseph del Mar Yap has expressed optimism that it would serve as a model company to local scientists in the Philippines to establish their own technology companies.
The company, manned by a team of six young Filipino geoscientists, is registered in Singapore to position itself as a technology company in Southeast Asia while maintaining focus on the energy exploration needs of the Philippines.
It specializes in the application of AI techniques to unlock the earth’s energy resources that can also be applied cross-functionally to disaster management.
Established almost a year ago, Iraya Energies was recently featured by Philippine local English news dailies on its work in understanding Mayon Volcano and its recent eruption.
Sentinel satellite data were used to monitor the volcano in 3D and fast-track the mapping of potential affected areas.
“Ventures, such as Iraya, would hopefully encourage more Filipino scientists to come back to the country as more investments in the country’s so-called Deep Technology are made through local and foreign-sourced public and private funds,” said Nina Marie Hernandez, founder and managing director of Iraya Energies.
For his part, Yap deemed Iraya as “a trailblazer that will encourage more technology start-ups in the Philippines”.
Last March 8, Hernandez met with the envoy to introduce the company.
She also met separately with Commercial Counselor Maria Cynthia Ricafort to further explore how the Philippine government could support ventures, such as Iraya, in line with the country’s thrust of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among Filipinos, including its local scientists. (PNA)
