Mr Wong Lup Wai, CEO, IPI
Ms Emily Liew, ACEO, Innovation & Enterprise Services, Enterprise Singapore; Board of Director of IPI
Excellencies
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Introduction
1. Good afternoon. I’m pleased to welcome all of you to TechInnovation, which returned after a short hiatus due to COVID-19. IPI Singapore started TechInnovation in 2012 and has grown to become a mainstay of Singapore’s technology and innovation calendar. TechInnovation takes place amongst a very busy calendar, amidst SWITCH. Emily has just told me that we now have 15,000 physical guests for this year’s SWITCH.
2. This year’s theme for TechInnovation 2023 is “Sustainable Urban Living”. As many of you know, you are in one of the smallest cities in the world but urbanisation is rising globally, including in Southeast Asia, in Singapore – the heart of Southeast Asia. With nearly 70% of the world’s population expected to live in cities by 2050, compared to the current 50%[1], we must urgently ensure that current and future generations can live and work in cities sustainably. This means coming up with tech and innovation partnerships on issues that matter in urban environment such as in water, waste management, well-being, or health.
Innovation is vital for companies, including SMEs
3. Our local SMEs and startups are focused on these issues and ecosystem builders like IPI and Enterprise Singapore are helping to identify partners and to bring technologies to market to address these challenges.
4. For example, Pioneer Environmental Technology, a local SME in water and wastewater treatment, leveraged on IPI’s Technology Scouting service, which seeks to understand a company’s technological needs before searching for and assessing potential matching technologies and partners. IPI has helped matched Pioneer Environmental Technology to the Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Membrane Technology Centre to develop chemical-resistant membranes for difficult-to-treat wastewater. This allows the company to offer solutions to improve water and wastewater treatment across industries, addressing the water and wastewater challenges that we see occurring in cities.
5. IPI also runs the Innovation Advisors Programme that partners companies with industry veterans. To date, IPI has 35 innovation advisors, with a total of more than 1,000 years of executive leadership experience from diverse backgrounds. These advisors help different SMEs to accelerate their company’s route to market.
6. To further support our SMEs and startups, IPI is not resting on their laurels. They are expanding their network of technology and lead-demand partners. IPI will very shortly today, sign two MOUs. The first is with Thailand’s Intellectual Property Acceleration and Commercialisation Enterprise. This MOU will co-market and promote technologies that will benefit companies in Thailand and Singapore, focussing on tech solutions around food, aquaculture, personal care, and healthcare.
7. The second MOU that IPI will also sign is with Panasonic. The MOU will help Singapore and Japanese companies explore partnerships. Under this MOU, corporates from Japan and Japanese corporates in Singapore will go through IPI’s Corporate Open Innovation Programme as potential lead-demand organisations, to explore collaboration opportunities with Singapore companies.
IPI and TechInnovation play an important role in our innovation ecosystem
8. Why are we here? To address urban sustainability issues, we must build a strong and thriving ecosystem. That means bringing together all of you – the best minds to solve the water, waste, and well-being challenges in cities. TechInnovation and SWITCH will do just that. So while you are here, can I encourage all of you to discover emerging trends. TechInnovation will also cover the areas of Health and Wellbeing as well as Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, including health tech to improve healthcare for vocations as well as medical service providers.
9. Second, connect with potential partners. Our research institutes at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research or A*STAR as well as the Institutes of Higher Learning have a rich trove of technology and intellectual property with potential to scale, to innovate, as well as to commercialise.
10. At TechInnovation 2021, Good Pharmaceutical Pte Ltd, a local sales and marketing company in specialty hospital and over-the-counter medicines, connected with Singapore Polytechnic’s Consumer Chemicals Technology Centre. Both are now working together to reduce the environmental impact of an existing skincare formula and are expected to launch a new product next year.
Conclusion
11. In conclusion, as more of us move into cities, seeking better opportunities and lifestyles, we will inevitably consume more resources and generate more waste. To make cities more sustainability, we must use less water, less energy, less materials, reduce waste, reduce emissions, enhance green spaces, and help our people live healthier lives. This is the challenge before us, and it is where tech and innovation combine with human ingenuity and partnerships can make a difference. On behalf of the team, I thank you for taking this important step today to partner, collaborate and work together on solutions for a more sustainable environment.
12. Thank you.