Experts from the Central Visayas region emphasized that a smart community becomes one when its citizens and leaders can make informed decisions, underscoring the crucial role of coupling a human-centric approach and technologies to address current issues.
In a forum during the Regional Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (RSTW) in Central Visayas last July 15, 2026, three industry partners discussed how technology acts as an enabler, provided it remains tied to the real-world needs of the community.
"I believe that a smart community is not just one filled with technology. The technology serves as an accelerator and the citizens need to understand and relate to the problem, voice it out, and see the changes," Timothy Joshua F. Vargas said.
Smart community, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), is focused on the integration of physical, digital, and human systems to provide a sustainable and inclusive future.
From the ground up
Neil Clyde Kho shared that true smart development is grounded in identifying the real-world problem first before building the technology.
"We cannot create something really smart without really understanding what is happening in the community," Kho said.
Kho and his team immersed themselves in a community for more than six months to understand the residents' hopes and dreams, especially in regard to agriculture, prior to proposing solutions.
They developed the Ark of Agriculture (ARKA), an agricultural supply chain platform aimed at connecting farming communities directly to the market to improve their productivity and yield.
Similarly, Vargas urged that each individual must be understood to better understand the community and create smart technologies and innovations.
"We are very human-based. We are very individual. As we always say, everyone has a valid point. We go down to the individual level, because a community is composed of different individuals," he said.
His team developed SEERMO, an AI-powered urban mobility platform designed to help local governments build safer and more inclusive streets. The platform uses crowdsourced data to capture the lived experiences of pedestrians and commuters and monitor how people move and live.
Extending through AI
The experts see AI as a tool to quantitatively understand the community, from movement patterns to resource usage, which humans cannot track efficiently.
"We are trying to understand quantitatively the experience of each individual. Then from there, we have an understanding, like, what should we do? What are the smarter ways to fix things?" Vargas remarked.
However, he added that data must be paired with qualitative understanding of the individual to ensure that technology addresses specific socioeconomic and geographical realities. SEERMO validates AI outputs against local contexts, languages, and culture to reflect local nuances in areas such as Bicol, Cebu, and other parts of Luzon.
The experts also described how AI helps fill zero-data gaps, allowing communities to collect and use unique local data that can improve efficiency and maximize resources.
"I always want to build my product here, but also understand what is outside. I want to leverage what is existing here, but put in the right data," Kho shared.
Towards smart community
Beyond human-centric design and AI, the experts emphasized that community involvement remains essential in establishing smart communities. Technologies must be tailor-fit to the concerns of the people they are meant to serve.
"Because without the community involvement, even if technologies are there, it will not be deployed or used because the community does not benefit," Kho explained.
Lance Brandon Pascio of Xeleqt AI shared the same sentiment and reaffirmed the mission of their technology startup to help communities. Xeleqt AI uses smart devices, wearables, sensors, and AI software to optimize operations, especially in the logistics industry, through a unified platform that monitors tasks, personnel, machinery, and workplaces.
"We want to continue to grow or help our customers improve their own companies, which will later positively impact the economy," Pascio said. "If you develop these smarter companies, we can further develop smarter cities as well as a whole," he added.
The Regional Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (RSTW) is one of the flagship programs of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) aimed at providing science-based, innovative, and inclusive solutions across four strategic pillars: human well-being, wealth creation, wealth protection, and sustainability. These pillars embody the mantra OneDOST4U: Solutions and Opportunities for All. For more information, visit www.dost.gov.ph or the National Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (NSTW) Facebook page.
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