Gov't encourages businesses to sustain R&D investments, boost talent

The trade relations official said businesses should also expand expertise.

Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran said businesses should launch partnerships, sustain investments in research and developments, and nurture talent.

During the annual SICC Awards for Collaborative Innovation, Iswaran said industries and businesses should forge partnerships across companies of different sectors and of various sizes.

He cited the collaboration between HP Singapore and Pixel Automation, which worked on projects.

"Tapping on their combined expertise, they managed to automate HP’s manufacturing processes for ink bags, which improved productivity and product consistency," Iswaran said.

"It is also a good example of how a large Multi-National Corporation (MNC) can cooperate with a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), demonstrating yet again that size is not a barrier to collaboration. What we need is really a commitment to innovation and collaboration," he added.

He encouraged businesses to make more partnerships, which allowed SMEs to receive highly resource-intensive business operations.

He also urged businesses to tap external expertise to offer "off-the-shelf solutions" and immediately tap commercial partners.

The A*STAR's Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading is one of the examples of tapping other experts to improve company operations, Iswaran said.

"This programme supports the secondment of A*STAR researchers to participating companies for up to two years to serve as a technical advisor. Since its launch in 2003, more than 950 A*STAR Research Scientists and Engineers have been seconded to support over 850 local SMEs," said Iswaran.

Under Enterprise Singapore's enhanced Innovation Advisors Programme administered by IPI Singapore,  there are already 28 advisors and 76 projects facilitated. The programme partners with industry veterans to create and market product offerings.

Iswaran also noted how businesses can leverage their workers, which are dubbed "key engines of innovation."

"Many good companies already do this. One can argue that our very competitive edge depends critically on this – we should stay on this path, continue to invest in our people, and in turn, provide them with the opportunity to come forward and contribute with their ideas," said Iswaran.