Singapore’s research landscape continues to be dominated by Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) but more needs to be done to encourage local enterprises to invest in technology and innovation, said Mr Lim Chuan Poh, the chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) at the Science and Technology Organisations (STOs) Summit.
He added that Singapore is doubling down on efforts to build home-grown research-intensive firms that can be global leaders.
In other small research-intensive economies such as Sweden and Finland, large home-grown companies are the biggest spenders when it comes to business research and development, said Mr Lim. However, in Singapore, out of the 100 companies that contributed 80 per cent of Singapore’s business expenditure on research and development in 2015, only 30 per cent were local enterprises.
Mr Lim noted that Singapore has spent significant resources developing universities and public research institutions to catalyse private-sector investments. However, “while public-sector research has grown in intensity and excellence, we still have a lot of work to do in the enterprise sector, especially among the local enterprises,” he added.
DBS group chief information officer David Gledhill told The Straits Times: “There is a need for open collaborations and sharing of best practices among organisations. To build a strong innovation ecosystem here, people must be driven to share experiences and ideas.”
In the banking sector, the fast-growing field of fintech is one such opportunity for collaboration, Mr Gledhill added.
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Source: The Straits Times, 2 June 2017