Speech by Minister S Iswaran at Techinnovation 2017

​SPEECH BY MR S ISWARAN, MINISTER FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY (INDUSTRY) AT TECHINNOVATION 2017, 19 SEPTEMBER 2017, 9:15AM AT MARINA BAY SANDS CONVENTION CENTRE

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

1.            Good morning.  I am pleased to join you for the 6th edition of TechInnovation, organised by IPI – the Intellectual Property Intermediary.  TechInnovation brings together local and international technology providers and enterprises to explore business collaboration opportunities.  This year’s edition brings together more than 160 exhibitors from 30 countries, and over 3,000 delegates comprising SMEs and large companies, with the common objective of achieving business growth through innovation and technology adoption.

Innovation is a key plank of our strategy to help enterprises build differentiating capabilities, and to scale up in a challenging business environment

2.            Today, we are in a new phase of economic development.  Rapid technological advances are disrupting many industries and business models.  To compete and thrive, our enterprises need to build differentiating capabilities, leverage technology to innovate, scale up and internationalise.

3.            The Government is committed to developing the innovation ecosystem and supporting our enterprises to tap technology for competitive advantage.  Under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 (RIE2020), the Government has committed $19 billion to develop deep research capabilities in key areas of competitive advantage for Singapore, enhance the translation of public sector research to industry outcomes, and develop a vibrant pool of researchers with deep capabilities in both the public sector and industry. 

Partnerships will be key to enabling our enterprises to develop the capabilities to leverage innovation

4.            Earlier this month, I announced the merger of SPRING Singapore and IE Singapore to form a new entity, Enterprise Singapore.  Enterprise Singapore will be dedicated to provide holistic and integrated support for local enterprises to improve productivity, innovate, build capabilities and go global.

5.            Enterprise Singapore will build on the work of SPRING Singapore in helping our SMEs develop the networks and collaborations to deepen their capabilities and innovate.  This includes the Partnerships for Capability Transformation (PACT) programme, which enables co-innovation between large organisations (LOs) and local SMEs.  Under PACT, SMEs will benefit from SPRING’s support for knowledge transfer and test-bedding of technologies.  For instance, semiconductor firm Micron engaged local SME Century Water in 2014 to develop a waste water treatment plant for its Singapore factory.  This engagement has led to follow up projects for Century Water with Micron’s factories in Malaysia and China.

6.            In March this year, SPRING enhanced the PACT programme to connect SMEs and startups with Government agencies to co-develop and test-bed innovative solutions.  This enhanced programme, known as Gov-PACT, is a platform for lead demand government agencies to seek private sector partners through calls for proposals.  Selected partners will go through different stages of product development, from ideation to pilot runs, with the support of the lead demand agency.  The co-developed solutions will be implemented if assessed to have met the agency’s requirements.  This mutually beneficial arrangement addresses the public agency’s needs, while helping the selected SMEs build technology development experience and track record.

7.            JTC’s third Open Innovation Call was launched recently as part of Gov-PACT.  8 challenge statements were issued in the areas of construction safety, excavation works, crane operations, construction productivity, security, façade cleaning, air-conditioning ducting inspection, and industrial goods delivery.  To date, 70 proposals offering promising solutions have been received from SMEs.  Other Government lead demand agencies, such as GovTech, BCA, LTA, HDB and NEA, will be rolling out similar calls for proposals in the coming months, and the announcements will be made via the IPI portal. 

8.            To foster partnerships in innovation, we need intellectual property expertise, and familiarity with technology and industry requirements.  Since its establishment in 2011, IPI (which is a SPRING affiliate) has helped to facilitate over 120 partnerships between SMEs and local and foreign solution providers, to drive technology adoption and commercialisation. 

9.            One good example is the licensing agreement between Medtech startup Invivo Medical Pte Ltd, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), National University Hospital (NUH) and National University of Singapore (NUS), for the commercialisation of the Percutaneous-Access-to-Kidney-Assist Device (PAKAD) used in kidney stone removal surgery[1].  Compared to conventional surgical processes, PAKAD uses precision engineering mechanisms to align the needle with the target, with higher accuracy and reduced risk of surgery complications such as organ injury.

10.         IPI has also been actively helping local companies forge international technology and innovation partnerships, for instance, with European SMEs that have a growing interest in Asia.  For example, Singapore startup company Voyager Venture was seeking smart label technology to support its food safety and cold chain management of temperature sensitive products.  IPI matched the company with Tempix, a Swedish company providing low cost printable smart labels, capable of detecting temperature variations that can severely affect safety of food items as sushi, salads, fruits and bento meals.  I am happy to note that both companies successfully formed a partnership to introduce their smart label solution to the Singapore and ASEAN markets, and that a local food company has already adopted their technology solution.   

Our enterprises can collaborate more to leverage each other’s technology capabilities and resources, to tap new opportunities and address increasingly complex business challenges

11.         While we lay the groundwork and infrastructure for collaboration, ultimately, Singapore enterprises must seize the initiative to tap on each other’s technology capabilities, and exploit adjacencies in production processes, to access new opportunities and address complex business challenges.

12.         One example is the formation of the Singapore Medtech Consortium, led by home-grown precision engineering firm Racer Technology, and comprising complementary manufacturing SMEs Cutter Technologies, Grantech, Haxalyst and Cragar Industries.  It is the first-of-its-kind industry-led consortium in Singapore, formed to provide end-to-end manufacturing solutions in the areas of in-vitro diagnostics, active and non-active medical devices, wearables and life science tool consumables. 

13.         The consortium offers competitively priced high-mix low-volume manufacturing to Medtech product companies to assist in early-stage product development.  One such collaborative project is the development and rollout of a diagnostic device designed by Clearbridge Biomedics to screen and monitor cancer cells circulating in the blood.  Building on earlier work by Cambridge Consultants (a leading global product development and technology consultant) the consortium utilised its members’ range of capabilities to further develop the product, with Racer Technologies managing the industrial design, testing and manufacturing of plastic parts, GranTech handling the printed circuit board (PCB) assembly, and Cutter Technologies prototyping the final product.

14.         The establishment of Enterprise Singapore will enable more of such partnerships through comprehensive support for collaborating companies for technology development and innovation, while concurrently developing strategies for internationalization and export.

Conclusion

15.         The discussions and networking sessions over the next 2 days offer an excellent opportunity for our participants to swap innovative ideas, strengthen partnerships, and explore new possibilities.   I look forward to seeing the new initiatives sparked by the discussions at this event.

16.           I wish you a productive time at TechInnovation 2017.  Thank you.

[1] Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a minimally-invasive procedure to remove stones from the kidney by a small puncture wound (up to about 1 cm) through the skin.​

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