15 Oct 2018 What Singapore Enterprises Can Learn From TECHINNOVATION2018
In a highly competitive global landscape, Singapore has been making its name known as a research, innovation and technology hub. Dubbed by CEO Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) as the “miniature Silicon Valley”, 80 of the top 100 global technology firms have already established its presence in the country. Due to its innovation ecosystem consisting of a strong government support and well-trained talent, an increasing number of dynamic start-ups, and a high-quality infrastructure, Singapore has become a greenhouse for innovative platforms to grow and develop businesses in the region and across the globe.
The Most Valuable Resource
The Singapore government realized that with the country’s limited land area and lack of natural resources, it had to find other means for them to ensure the survival of its economy. The most valuable resource of the country is its own people. The realization that an educated and highly-skilled workforce will propel the country’s economic growth proved valid. It showed that the development of Singapore’s science and technology sector, with its highly-trained experts, developers, and scientists, made it a thriving global metropolis in just 50 years.
At first, this move was driven by the need to make up for the constraints of Singapore’s land and resource limitations and the economy’s survival, now that they became a leading hub, this has become a pursuit of knowledge. Singapore has become a conducive environment that attracts citizens and foreign investors to start businesses.
What is Singapore in the Economic Region
With a strong commitment and investment to its Research and Development, Singapore has succeeded in becoming the center of innovation, research, and development at the heart of the world’s most dynamic economic region. Singapore was touted as Asia’s leader in technological innovations in the 2017 Global Innovation Index, while it is ranked sixth globally in 2017 Bloomberg Innovation Index.
How Singapore Stays on Top
To keep its status as a leading Asian hub of technological innovations and improve its rank globally, Singapore-based companies must keep up with the latest trends and advances in research. This is what the recently concluded TECHINNOVATION 2018 provided to Singapore’s enterprises. TECHINNOVATION 2018 is the largest conference and exhibition in Singapore that brings together international and local technology providers and seekers, from Small and Medium Enterprises, Multinational Corporations, Universities, Research Institutes, Government Agencies, and many more.
The TECHINNOVATION 2018
Held last September 18 to September 19, TECHINNOVATION 2018 gathered industry players to discover new ideas, connect with like-minded business entities for knowledge exchange and network expansion, and collaborate on more challenging and engaging projects.
The TECHINNOVATION 2018 was organized by the non-profit organization under Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Intellectual Property Intermediary (IPI). The IPI was renowned for their excellent interactions with global enterprises promoting the exchange of resources and widen the connection of various technologies and innovations to encourage global technology partnerships.
IPI helps Singapore-based enterprises become globally competitive by developing new processes, products and services, and connecting both Singapore-based and international technology seekers with technology providers to enhance innovation and stay ahead in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving market.
Singapore and its Technologies in Trade and Industry
New and growing Singapore enterprises learned a lot and got to hear from the different leaders of successful global and major corporations that shared their insights and presented their successful innovation journeys. Singapore enterprises were given an avenue to learn about the latest technologies to help them stay ahead of business competition, provide them new opportunities and services to try, offer new technologies to commercialize, and suggest solutions to solve their business problems and challenges, and introduce technologies to improve and drive their productivity and expand their market.
Singapore enterprises also had a chance to see new technologies that they may incorporate into their business to make it even more competitive, and solutions to address their own constraints, problems, and challenges.
Partnering and Expanding with Other Industries
The event also created a chance for Singapore enterprises to match-up and partner with different industries and R &D community from various countries to collaborate, co-create and co-develop innovations. International and Singapore technology providers showcased and exhibited their technologies that are available for commercialization, adoption, licensing or co-development to technology seekers. Industry players connected with potential collaborators through pre-matched business meetings.
Several enterprises joined the IPHatch 2018, a competition where newly established businesses and entrepreneurs brought their business ideas and concept to completion through commercializing their Ineffectual Property (IP) and technology portfolios. Through this competition, Singapore start-ups and entrepreneurs gained assistance, mentoring, and funding from the wide network of investors, incubators, and business and technology partners.
Introducing Urban AgriTech Innovation
For this year’s TECHINNOVATION, two new innovation tracks were introduced, including the Urban AgriTech and Logistics Innovation. They have also brought back the Food Innovation Track. Singapore enterprises would benefit a lot from the Urban AgriTech innovation.
With a population of over 5 million sharing a landmass of just 715 square kilometers, there is not enough space for agricultural land in Singapore. Due to Singapore’s scarce agricultural land and resources, it imports nearly 90% of its food products. It also needs to be creative in order to feed its growing population. With the help of these new technologies and innovations, Singapore enterprises can utilize innovative technologies in their Food and Agricultural Technology to increase the country’s food resilience and security.
Food Industry Today in Singapore
Current trends also show that consumers are now leaning towards healthier and safer food products, on top of the other factors such as taste, and convenience. In fact, more and more Singaporean are willing to pay a premium to sustain their healthy lifestyle. Innovation is important to create new business opportunities as well as to address the current challenges of Singapore and the world’s food resilience and security. Singapore enterprises also learned how to maximize different innovative technologies to improve their business’ growth and development, enhance their capabilities, and improve their efficiency.
The TECHINNOVATION 2018 featured over 160 exhibitors and 400 emerging and ready-to-market technologies ranging from Services and Digital Economy, Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering, Health and Personal Care, to Urban Solutions and Sustainability. The event provided a platform for different enterprises to engage with their audiences for innovation and technologies. Speakers and seekers shared recent and emerging trends, challenges and problems, and opportunities in their respective fields with each other.