STEP 2015 - A Star

STEP 2015 Science, Technology & Enterprise Plan 2015

Asia’s Innovation Capital 1 Fusionopolis Way, #20-10 Connexis North, Singapore 138632 Tel: 65 6826 6111 . Fax: 65 6777 1711 . www.a-star.edu.sg

For enquiries, please contact: Planning & Policy Department Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) 1 Fusionopolis Way, #20-10 Connexis North, Singapore 138632 Tel: 65 6826 6111 Fax: 65 6777 1711 www.a-star.edu.sg

Published by: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) May 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanised, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of A*STAR.

Design by Ms Li Xin Hui

Foreword This year, Singapore celebrates 20 years of Science and Technology (S&T) planning and investments. Since the first 5-year S&T plan launched in 1991, Singapore’s S&T landscape has grown from strength to strength. The sustained S&T investments and commitment by the Singapore Government remained in spite of the global economic crisis and have positioned Singapore well to seize the opportunities opening up in the Asian region today. This focus on research and innovation is in line with Singapore’s new economic strategy as recommended by the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC), to put Singapore on a much more sustainable and inclusive growth path based on productivity and innovation. The specific recommendations for this new economic strategy were spelt out in the report by the ESC and presented to the government early last year. The government therefore continues its strong commitment to research and innovation with an investment of S$16.1 billion for 2011-15 under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2015 plan. This is an overall increase of 19% over the previous 5-year period and a commitment of 1% of expected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to public sector research and innovation. The government also seeks to leverage on this investment to grow the Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) to 3.5% of GDP by 2015. The long term aim is for Singapore to be among the most research intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economies in the world in order to create high value jobs and prosperity for Singaporeans. Going forward, there will be increased emphasis on making economic impact and fostering commercialisation of Research and Development (R&D). A separate Innovation and Enterprise (I&E) budget has been allocated for the commercialisation of research discoveries and the strengthening of the enterprise ecosystem. A*STAR has been allocated a total of S$6.39 billion for this quinquennium. A*STAR’s Science, Technology & Enterprise Plan (STEP) 2015, is a culmination of more than 2 years of planning, incorporating valuable inputs from experts and leaders in the research community and industry, both local and international, as well as the key economic agencies in Singapore. A*STAR will continue to be at the forefront of scientific excellence, and lead in innovative R&D to support Singapore’s key economic clusters, as well as capture growth through emerging industries. But more than that, “Enterprise” will be a key thrust in A*STAR’s S&T plan going forward. There will be enhanced and concerted efforts to engage and anchor multi-national companies (MNCs) in Singapore, seed the innovative capacities in and gear local enterprises for growth. To help local enterprises source for or acquire useful intellectual properties (IPs) or technologies, thus enabling and optimising their businesses, products and services, A*STAR will also set up a new multi-agency IP Intermediary. STEP2015 will also see the co-location of the Science & Engineering Research Institutes (RIs) in Fusionopolis, accelerating inter-RI collaborations and providing a suite of research capabilities, which will enhance technology development and attract industry. Starting in 2011, many of A*STAR’s young and bright research talents will be completing their scholarships and returning to contribute to the S&T developments in Singapore. A*STAR’s focus in the next phase of talent development is to develop itself as a global nexus for local and international scientific talent, who are drawn to a unique, vibrant, inter-disciplinary and globally-connected environment for scientific research and innovation. STEP2015 will not only see A*STAR taking science to new heights, it will also see a surge in Singapore’s key economic clusters and help capture new economic opportunities. With our diverse scientific talent, world-class research infrastructure and resources, I am confident that the work of A*STAR researchers will help to establish Singapore as Asia’s Innovation Capital, and make us truly one of the most research intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economies in the world.

Lim Chuan Poh Chairman, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore

Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1

CHAPTER 1

Transformation of Singapore’s Economy

7

CHAPTER 2

Review of Science & Technology 2010 Plan

15

CHAPTER 3

Sustaining Singapore’s Economy Through Innovation

31

CHAPTER 4

Growing Economic Clusters Through Impactful Science

37

CHAPTER 5

Putting Science to Use

53

CHAPTER 6

Creating a Global Nexus for Scientific Talent

65

CHAPTER 7

Building World Class Research Infrastructure

73

CHAPTER 8

Resources and Targets

81

STEP2015 PLANNING PROCESS

83

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

84

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TRANSFORMATION OF SINGAPORE’S ECONOMY Since independence, Singapore’s economy has undergone tremendous transformation. From growing through industrialisation in the early years to powering the economy through knowledge and innovation in the last two decades, Singapore’s economic landscape has diversified significantly and grown from strength to strength, pulled back only momentarily by global crises. Twenty years on, after Singapore’s first directed and definitive 5-year plan, the National Technology Plan (1991-1995) to boost research and development (R&D) activities and investments, Singapore has entered the league of R&D-intensive countries. Between 1990 and 2009, Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by more than 3.7 times, with R&D expenditure accounting for 2.3% of the GDP. Singapore’s successful transformation into a knowledge-based/innovation-driven economy can be attributed to the swift and concerted efforts by both the public and private sectors to grow the country’s science and technology (S&T) assets, a holistic national R&D framework and strategy as well as long term commitment by the Government to stay invested in R&D.

REVIEW OF Science & Technology 2010 PLAN Under the S&T2010 Plan, A*STAR was allocated S$5.4 billion to drive mission-oriented public research and strengthen the base of scientific talent to support the development of the key industry clusters viz. biomedical sciences (BMS), chemicals, electronics, infocommunications & media and engineering. Phase 2 of the BMS Initiative from 2006 to 2010 focused on strengthening the basic research capabilities established in Phase 1, and building up a strong translational & clinical research (TCR) capability to facilitate the translation of scientific discoveries into new forms of treatment and diagnostics. The BMS Executive Committee, reconstituted in 2006 to be cochaired by Chairman A*STAR and the Permanent 2

Secretary for Health, spearheaded initiatives to develop a critical mass of intellectual and human capital for TCR. During this phase, the private sector continued to expand its R&D presence in Singapore. Singapore’s BMS manufacturing portfolio became more diversified when six major projects in biologics manufacturing were secured from leading pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech, Roche, Lonza, Baxter and Novartis. A*STAR has also developed a strong suite of capabilities in science and engineering (S&E) research. To date, a spectrum of research programmes from intelligent energy distribution systems, sustainable materials, future home technologies, to medical technologies, have been initiated with more than 1,000 research collaboration agreements (RCAs) with key industry partners including Nitto Denko, Mitsui Chemicals, Hewlett Packard, Fujitsu and BASF. Through targeted industry engagement strategies, industry consortia have been set up, helping to anchor high value-added activities in Singapore, as well as upgrading the capabilities of local enterprises. Local enterprises have also benefited from the Growing Enterprises with Technology Upgrade (GET-Up) programme. To provide a concerted and structured effort to foster inter-disciplinary research between physical scientists and engineers and the biomedical scientists at A*STAR Research Institutes ( RIs), the A*STAR Joint Council Office (JCO) was set up in 2007. Besides conducting grant calls on joint research areas, various events such as A*STAR Scientific Conference and RIs Open House were organised to promote greater inter-council interactions among the research communities. Commercialisation activities in terms of licensing and spin-offs intensified towards the end of S&T2010 Plan, as research began to mature with the potential to translate into tangible products, processes and services. A critical mass of more than 1,000 Singaporean PhD talent is being nurtured through A*STAR scholarships since 2001. With more scholars entering and completing the PhD phase of studies, A*STAR has focused particular attention on enhancing the quality of the PhD experience and facilitating the deployment and development of postPhD talent. To date, more than 25% have completed PhD and postdoctoral training and are actively contributing in A*STAR laboratories, academia and industry.

S&T2010 Plan also saw the completion and official opening of Fusionopolis in 2008. Together with the Biopolis, both facilities house about 2,500 scientists working in close proximity and alongside multi-national companies (MNCs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who have established their R&D labs in these purpose-built, state-of-the-art infrastructure. This success has spurred new ventures by private developers to develop additional business and lab spaces at onenorth. A*STAR has exceeded all the R&D performance targets set for S&T2010 Plan. The key achievements in Human Capital, Intellectual Capital and Industrial Capital Developments are summarised in the table below.

SUSTAINING SINGAPORE’S ECONOMY THROUGH INNOVATION In 2009, the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) was set up to develop strategies for Singapore to build capabilities and maximise opportunities to achieve sustained and inclusive growth in a new world environment. ESC assessed that Singapore was well placed to seize opportunities in the post-financial crisis world to create a strong presence in Asia. It recommended that Singapore make skills, innovation and productivity the basis for sustaining Singapore’s economic growth. On enhancing Singapore’s innovation capital, ESC recommended adopting supporting approaches that would be flexible and responsive to the needs of enterprises, namely ‘Integrating for Impact’ for the MNCs and gobally competitive companies (GCCs), ‘Gearing for

Growth’ for the local SMEs and ‘Seeding for Surprises’ for high tech start-ups. Against the backdrop of the ESC recommendations on the R&D landscape, the Research, Innovation & Enterprise (RIE) 2015 was convened in Aug 2009 to develop strategies to strengthen public and private R&D, expand innovation and enterprise efforts and sustain scientific talent development. Working groups were set up to deliberate on the five key functional areas – namely Public R&D, Private R&D, Innovation and Enterprise (I&E), Talent and Infrastructure – and to ensure alignment and support across the government agencies. Six key thrusts were identified to intensify the R&D efforts for a more sustainable R&D system in Singapore with greater competitive funding, and a more integrated, collaborative and vibrant research landscape.

GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE Public sector R&D is an important element of Singapore’s strategy. By making strategic and directed public R&D investments in key market and economic sectors, Singapore can develop deep capabilities against a broader spectrum of research areas and strong domain knowledge of the technological needs of industry. These expanded innovation capacities will in turn enhance Singapore’s ability to attract top calibre talent in various disciplines, stimulate significant private sector R&D investments and entrench MNCs to base their Asian and global operations in Singapore.

S&T2010 Performance Indicators for A*STAR Human Capital Development 1 No. of PhD students trained and graduated 2 No. of RI staff spun out to locally-based industry as RSEs Intellectual Capital Development 3 No. of primary patents filed 4 No. of papers published (in SCI and EI journals) Industrial Capital Development 5 No. of industry projects 6 Industry funding ($m)

Actual (as at 31 Mar 2011)

Target (by 31 Mar 2011)

555

220

1,058

835

1,170 15,978

1,100 7,940

1,554 219.53

1,120 197.0 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Going forward, A*STAR’s scientific research will continue to build on this solid foundation for a wide spectrum of leading edge expertise and deep knowhow in various sectors of manufacturing. A*STAR’s R&D agenda and priorities will remain closely aligned with economic and technological developments in global markets, and will continue to offer value propositions and partnership opportunities for companies to undertake knowledge-based activities and innovations. Building on the firm foundation of achievements in BMS Phases 1 and 2, Phase 3 of the BMS Initiative will seek to realise the full value of past and ongoing investments made via greater integration (1) across various players in the BMS ecosystem, particularly at the system-level, to facilitate the translation of research into applications for better economic value creation within a sustainable BMS cluster and (2) across the entire value chain from basic, translational & clinical research, process R&D to manufacturing, to strengthen and sustain its capabilities and develop new ones in the BMS ecosystem. Key priorities for the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) include focusing on missionoriented programmes to achieve economic impact, growing industry engagement and strengthening TCR capabilities. The Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC) will remain focused in its mission to enhance Singapore’s attractiveness as a location of choice for MNCs seeking to base in Asia. SERC will continue to develop and grow existing industry clusters through deep domain expertise in a wide spectrum of areas important to Singapore’s manufacturing sectors and quick exploitation of new technological opportunities. Platforms to transfer know-how and technologies to industry will be strengthened through a variety of customised- or broad- based approaches. SERC will also draw upon capabilities from various RIs to participate in multidisciplinary research programmes to develop key technology-based solutions to meet emerging, global societal trends. Under the direction of the Joint Council Office (JCO), efforts will be directed towards exploiting opportunities at the interface between physical sciences &

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engineering as well as the biomedical sciences. Key thrusts for JCO include adopting an A*STAR-wide, concerted approach to seed new thematic areas that leverage on A*STAR’s BMS and S&E capabilities, and instilling the culture of inter- or cross- disciplinary research. Working through the various working and steering committees involving EDB and key industry players, with inputs from various scientific advisory boards, A*STAR has identified and developed an R&D agenda and strategy to further strengthen Singapore’s competitiveness in each of four large economic clusters, namely biomedical sciences, electronics & infocommunications, engineering and chemicals & energy, and to position Singapore as a leading global business location and Asia’s Innovation Capital. In addition, strategies have also been identified and developed to enable A*STAR to leverage on its span of BMS and S&E capabilities to preposition Singapore to capture emerging market opportunities and to exploit new opportunities in areas such as medical technology and nutrition & personal care products.

PUTTING SCIENCE TO USE A*STAR proactively engages industry at various stages of the research and commercialisation continuum to facilitate knowledge and technology transfer in both directions, as well as to ensure better alignment between upstream research and downstream commercialisation efforts. Industry engagement platforms such as bilateral collaborations, consortia, and Centres of Innovation (COIs) have been successfully implemented in A*STAR. These are complemented by outreach platforms such as the joint A*STAR-SPRING Growing Enterprises with Technology Upgrade (GETUp) programme. In addition, industry development groups in the A*STAR Research Councils and RIs are constantly engaging the industry. As the commercialisation arm of A*STAR, Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL) manages the intellectual properties (IPs) resulting from A*STAR research. Besides working with various stakeholders to develop an integrated and aligned IP strategy and identify IP-

savvy companies to adopt the developed IPs, ETPL also provides technology intelligence and competitive intelligence (TICI) to facilitate the translation process of A*STAR technologies, and implement new initiatives to encourage A*STAR spin-offs. The two in-house gap funding programmes, Commercialisation of Technology (COT) and Flagship, will continue to be available to researchers to bridge the “Valley of Death”, with an emphasis on improving the commercialisation outcomes (in terms of licensing and spin-offs) from these programmes. A new multi-agency IP Intermediary will also be established to expand the innovation capacities of local enterprises by helping local enterprises identify, source and use IP thus enabling and optimising their businesses, products and services.

CREATING A GLOBAL NEXUS FOR SCIENTIFIC TALENT To realise Singapore’s vision of becoming a leading global city of talent, enterprise and innovation, the ability to attract, develop and nurture outstanding research talent is critical. Singapore’s highly-educated population and open policy towards international talent coupled with world-class research infrastructure, global networks, and financial resources will be its competitive advantage. As the lead government agency for R&D, A*STAR plays a pivotal role in the development of industry-relevant R&D human capital and establishment of conducive conditions for the mobility of talent between the public and private research sectors in Singapore. A*STAR’s focus in the next phase of talent development is to develop itself as a global nexus for scientific talent. The vision is to position A*STAR and Singapore as a world-class location for local and international scientific talent at all levels, who are drawn to a unique, vibrant, inter-disciplinary and globally connected environment for scientific research and innovation. To achieve its aim to be a global nexus for scientific talent, A*STAR will adopt a comprehensive talent

strategy based on five key thrusts, namely (1) sustaining top local PhD talent flow to A*STAR, (2) attracting international talent and strengthening international linkage, (3) creating a world class environment for scientific career development, (4) bridging A*STAR talents with industry and academia and (5) promoting science to the young people and building a pipeline of R&D talent. These five thrusts are mutually reinforcing and will serve to enhance Singapore’s position as Asia’s Innovation Capital and R&D Hub, attracting and anchoring foreign investments in Singapore. At the same time, they enrich the scientific landscape in Singapore, adding diversity and robustness to the local talent pool and help to facilitate the emergence of the next generation of scientific leaders.

BUILDING WORLD-CLASS Research INFRASTRUCTURE Since 2000, purpose-built facilities and infrastructure have been developed to enhance the research environment in Singapore. The success of Biopolis and Fusionopolis have earned international attention and have helped to spur further R&D infrastructure developments by the private sector. These lab and office spaces will serve to co-locate public research institutes and private labs, helping to stimulate greater collaborations and innovations. High performance computing (HPC) tools will be progressively provided to meet the increasing complexities of R&D efforts. IT services at A*STAR RIs will be aggregated to achieve greater inter-operability, synergy and scale economies at the organisational level. An array of soft infrastructure/platforms such as the A*STAR Scientific Conference and A*STAR Research Publication will provide opportunities for interaction within and beyond A*STAR and allow the convergence of great minds and ideas. In addition, A*STAR’s operational excellence initiatives such as the iGrant and A*STAR Resource Portal have the potential to be developed at the national level.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

RESOURCES AND TARGETS Over the next five years, the Government will set aside a national R&D budget of S$16.1 billion to promote public and private R&D with the aim of increasing the national Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) to 3.5% of GDP to track the higher GERD targets set by many knowledge-based economies and to strengthen Singapore’s position as the Innovation Capital of Asia. A*STAR’s allocated 5-year budget of S$6.39 billion, constitutes an increase of 18% over that of the S&T2010 Plan. Of this allocation, a significant portion will be granted on a competitive basis for the best ideas to thrive. In the new 5-year tranche, A*STAR researchers can also tap onto competitive funds beyond those managed by A*STAR.

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Chapter 1

TRANSFORMATION OF SINGAPORE’S ECONOMY Since independence, Singapore’s economy has evolved significantly. This chapter examines this evolution and the winning moves which have helped shape this.

1


TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE-BASED/ INNOVATION-DRIVEN ECONOMY Singapore has consistently been ranked in the top 10 per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) countries in the world. Globally unique, Singapore’s economy combines economic planning with free-market forces. Since independence, the economy has evolved significantly in terms of diversity and connectivity to the world (see Figure 1-1). Up into the 1980s, Singapore’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) never exceeded 0.5% of GDP. Much of the economic growth in the early years was driven by foreign direct investments. In the face of stiff regional competition in traditional manufacturing and services sectors, Singapore recognised the need to broaden and diversify its economic base to new value-added clusters and activities. Hence, investment in research and development (R&D) became essential to the long-term competitiveness of Singapore’s economy. In the 1990s, Singapore embarked on a technology drive to transform itself into a knowledge-based first world economy, Singapore’s GDP grew strongly in these years, pulled back momentarily by the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-98, the Sep11/Dot.Com bust in 2001 and the global financial meltdown in 200809. Real GDP rebounded sharply with a growth rate of 14.5% in 2010, following a contraction of 0.8% in 2009, attesting to the robustness and resilience of its diversified economy and focused economic strategies. Singapore’s manufacturing sector has grown in tandem, evolving from labour-intensive manufacturing in the 1960s to capital- and skill-intensive manufacturing in the 1970s-1980s. In the 1990s, Singapore’s manufacturing sector moved up the value chain, developed new capabilities and capacities in areas such as semiconductors and aerospace engineering, and also played an increasingly active role on the global stage. From the 2000s, Singapore’s manufacturing clusters diversified further to include biomedical sciences. As a whole, the output and valueadded for the manufacturing sector tripled in the last two decades (see Figure 1-2).

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The services sector in Singapore started to grow only in the 1990s after the Government set up the Services Promotion Division in the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Singapore diversified its economy into the service (and retail) sector to broaden its economic base. In 1997, the Committee on Singapore’s Competitiveness included services to complement the core manufacturing sector as Singapore’s twin engines of growth. Singapore began to grow existing hub services and develop new high-growth hub services. Today, Singapore is one of the leading business and financial hubs in Asia, consistently ranked among the top global financial centres. In the Global Financial Centres Index 9 (GFCI9) ranking released by Z/Yen Group in Mar 2011, Singapore was ranked fourth in the world after London, New York and Hong Kong.

SINGAPORE’S WINNING MOVES The success that Singapore has enjoyed so far in transforming itself into a knowledge-based economy can be attributed to three factors: (1) swift and concerted efforts by both the public and private sectors to grow Singapore’s science and technology (S&T) assets; (2) a holistic R&D framework and strategy for Singapore; as well as (3) long-term commitment by the Government to stay invested in R&D.

* Concerted Nation-wide Effort As a small country with limited knowledge capital and resources, Singapore needs to ramp up its knowledge assets to stay ahead and compete with the other advanced nations at the forefront of S&T. A concerted nation-wide effort was necessary to decisively and swiftly develop vital R&D infrastructure, attract a critical mass of senior researchers and scientists to jump-start developmental efforts, especially in new R&D areas such as the biomedical sciences, develop local talents to feed the R&D ecosystem and promote and catalyse greater private sector investments in research and innovation. In the 1980s, the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), recognising the need for basic R&D infrastructure to stage R&D activities and attract R&D investments in

Fig 1-1 Portrait of the Singapore Economy

Fig 1-2 Manufacturing Sector Total Output and Value Added Share of Manufacturing by Cluster, 1990 Biomedical Manufacturing 1.8% Transport Engineering 6.5%

Total Output (S$mil): 72,719.9

Precision Engineering 12.6%

Electronics 38.5%

General Manufacturing Industries 18.1%



Biomedical Transport Manufacturing Engineering 3.9% 4.6% Precision Engineering 11.4%

Share of Manufacturing by Cluster, 2010p

Total Output (S$mil): 163,720.8

Total Output

(S$mil): 270,494.7 Biomedical Manufacturing Transport 8.6% Engineering 9.3% Electronics Precision 34.8% Engineering Electronics 9.8% 51.3% General Manufacturing Industries 7.7% Chemicals

General Manufacturing Industries 8.9% Chemicals 19.9%

Chemicals 22.5%

Biomedical Manufacturing 5.3% Transport Engineering 9.5%

Share of Manufacturing by Cluster, 2000

29.8%

Total Value Added (S$mil): 16,245.1 Electronics 31.1%

Chemicals 16.0%

Biomedical Manufacturing 9.8% Transport Engineering 7.5%

Total Value Added (S$mil): 39,029.5


Chemicals 11.9%

Total Value Added (S$mil): 56,863.8 Electronics 31.4%

Electronics 44.2%


Biomedical Manufacturing 19.6%

Transport Engineering 14.7% Precision Engineering 13.4%

Chemicals 10.7%


Source: Economic Survey of Singapore 2010, Ministry of Trade & Industry, 17 Feb 2011

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Singapore, developed its 10-year master plan to build the Singapore Science Park (SSP) to promote R&D in Singapore and to provide a focal point for research, development and innovation in the Asia Pacific region. At the same time, through a bilingual education policy and a requirement for all schools to teach Maths and Science in English starting from first grade, Singapore has gradually and steadily fostered an educational environment that embraces and facilitates S&T, while creating a pipeline of local talent. In 1991, the National Science & Technology Board (NSTB) was set up, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), with the primary mission of raising Singapore’s capabilities in S&T. The Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) and the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) were formed in 2000 to strategise and engineer for greater S&T successes. In 2002, to highlight Singapore’s emphasis on the creation and exploitation of intellectual capital and the training of research manpower in its transition to a knowledge-based economy, the NSTB was renamed as the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

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In the 2000s, the Singapore government moved boldly to build an iconic creative research hub at one-north, where entrepreneurs, scientists and researchers from both the public and private sectors could co-locate and derive synergies from closer interactions. Biopolis Phase 1, a S$500 million development in one-north, was officially opened in 2003 to provide world-class biomedical R&D facilities with shared research resources and services, and to help promote collaboration amongst the biomedical research institutes and corporate labs located at Biopolis. In 2008, the Science and Engineering (S&E) research hub, Fusionopolis, was added to the one-north footprint. Fusionopolis was developed with the aim of catalysing the integration of S&E capabilities and to promote private-public sector partnerships through the colocation of public sector research institutes (RIs) in S&E as well as corporate laboratories. Fusionopolis will eventually see the coming together of A*STAR researchers in the fields of materials science and engineering, data storage, microelectronics, manufacturing technology, high performance computing, and information and communications under one roof. By co-locating private and public sector research entities,

Fusionopolis will provide greater opportunities for exchanges and collaborations between researchers in both sectors, resulting in R&D that is relevant and responsive to industry needs. The proximity of Biopolis and Fusionopolis also encourages collaborations across the biomedical and science & engineering fields, pioneering research in inter-disciplinary areas such as medical technology.

* Holistic R&D Framework and Strategy Starting with pockets of R&D capabilities residing in research institutes and the universities, Singapore has now established an emerging and vibrant R&D ecosystem comprising public sector research institutions (A*STAR RIs), Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) including the universities, polytechnics, Research Centres of Excellence (RCEs) and international institutions under CREATE1, hospitals and academic medical centres, and corporate R&D laboratories. At the same time, Singapore’s autonomous universities were also transformed to become more research-intensive. To manage the research performers and to ensure the long-term relevance of Singapore R&D investments, a holistic R&D framework and strategy was put in place. RIEC and NRF The Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) were set up in 2006 under the Prime Minister’s Office to lead and coordinate the research of different agencies, within a larger national framework, in order to provide a coherent and comprehensive strategic overview and to help advance Singapore’s National R&D Agenda. MOE The Ministry of Education (MOE) continues to oversee and fund academic research at the tertiary institutions as well as investigator-led research through the expanded Academic Research Fund (AcRF). Its focus is on research which is foundational in nature, with longer timeframes and driven by knowledge creation. 1 The Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) is a National Research Foundation’s initiative to bring selected elite international research universities to establish world-class research centres in Singapore.

MOH The Ministry of Health (MOH), through the National Medical Research Council (NMRC), focuses on scientific and health research with the aim of driving the translation of basic research to advance human healthcare, and to increase the translational and clinical research capabilities of public hospitals, research institutions and medical researchers. MTI The Ministry of Trade & Industry (MTI) continues to drive mission-oriented research through the close integration of the efforts of its economic agencies A*STAR, EDB and SPRING. A*STAR is the lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledgebased Singapore. A*STAR actively nurtures public sector R&D in biomedical sciences, physical sciences and engineering, and supports Singapore’s key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to partners in industry and the healthcare sector. A*STAR’s R&D strategies are closely integrated with Singapore’s economic development strategies, and these enable Singapore to attract R&D projects with multi-national companies (MNCs), widen industry reach and help local enterprises upgrade. Together with the EDB, A*STAR has helped to anchor various flagship R&D projects and attract more MNCs to locate corporate R&D activities in Singapore. Some renowned MNCs in R&D that have made Singapore their R&D centres include Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Vestas, Hewlett-Packard and Fujitsu. Apart from supporting research at its own research institutes, A*STAR has also played a key role as a funder of R&D in the extramural community in Singapore. Grants are provided, on a competitive basis, to researchers in the universities, polytechnics, hospitals and national disease centres to carry out investigatorinitiated research, as well as research along specific themes. Together with the various grants provided by the MOE, MOH and the NRF for basic investigator-led research, these grants have helped to stimulate and support research and innovation in the larger scientific community in Singapore, and contributed to knowledge creation and attracting industry projects. 11


A*STAR also partners SPRING, the enterprise development agency for growing innovative companies and fostering a competitive small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, to upgrade the technology capabilities of local enterprises by providing support such as financing, capability and management development, technology and innovation, and access to markets.

* Singapore’s Long-Term Commitment to R&D – 20 Years of Science and Technology Plans (1991-2010) Singapore’s long term commitment to R&D is underscored by 20 years of directed S&T plans and government funding. The first 5-year S&T plan, the National Technology Plan (NTP, 1991-1995), developed and supported by an R&D budget of S$2 billion, laid the foundation to help spur R&D growth in Singapore. The second 5-year National Science and Technology Plan (NSTP, 1996-2000) provided another S$4 billion to deepen Singapore’s long-term S&T capabilities. The third 5-year S&T2005 Plan (2001-2005) provided S$6 billion to further strengthen Singapore’s R&D capabilities in targeted areas, nurture local talent and recruit global talent, and promote industry

collaborations under the three strategic thrusts of Human Capital Development, Intellectual Capital Development and Industrial Capital Development. These initiatives have transformed and shaped the R&D landscape in Singapore. At the end of the third 5-year plan, a national level review of R&D was undertaken to organise and intensify public R&D. A high-level Ministerial Committee on Research and Development (MCRD) engaged R&D institutions in Singapore and visited five small economically advanced economies (comprising Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland) to understand how to best organise the country’s R&D efforts for sustained economic growth. In its recommendations, the committee identified five strategic thrusts to guide Singapore’s R&D efforts:

• To intensify national R&D spending to achieve 3% of GDP by 2010.

• To identify and invest in strategic areas of R&D. • To fund a balance of basic and applied research within strategic areas.

• To provide resources and support to encourage private sector R&D.

• To strengthen linkages between public and private sector R&D.

Fig 1-3 Science and Technology Plans (1991-2010)

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5-year S&T Plan National Technology Plan (NTP)

Period 1991-1995

Budget S$2 billion

National Science & Technology Plan (NSTP) – Securing our future

1996-2000

S$4 billion

Science and Technology 2005 (S&T2005) Plan

2001-2005

S$6 billion

Science and Technology 2010 (S&T2010) Plan – Sustaining innovation-driven growth

2006-2010

S$13.55 billion

Key Thrusts • Develop a technology infrastructure • Support of private sector R&D • Develop R&D manpower • Deepen long-term technological capabilities and engage in medium- and longer- term technology development • Strengthen R&D capabilities in targeted areas • Nurture local talent and recruiting global talent • Promote industry • Focus on selected areas of economic importance • Balance of investigator-led and missionoriented research • Encourage more private sector R&D • Strengthen linkages between R&D and business

Fig 1-4 National R&D Framework

The budget for 2006-2010 more than doubled from the previous five years, with S$13.55 billion allocated for R&D efforts. Under the S&T2010 Plan, A*STAR received S$5.4 billion to support public R&D through intramural funding of its research institutes and extramural funding of other public sector organisations.

THE NEXT DECADE Today, Singapore is recognised as an emerging hub on many fronts such as high-tech manufacturing, R&D and attracting global talent. Singapore is overall wellpoised in its journey towards a knowledge-based/ innovation-driven economy. However, the challenges and opportunities ahead will be different. For Singapore to continue to succeed and grow, Singapore’s strategies must be refreshed to address and respond to new challenges and opportunities. It is imperative for Singapore to expand from adopting technologies and markets to creating indigenous technologies and markets. New capabilities and expertise must be developed and deepened so that Singapore will be well-placed to capitalise on the opportunities in the new landscape.

For example, stepping into the 2010s, manufacturing will have to become more knowledge- and innovationintensive to generate higher value-added activities. Singapore will need to continue the shift into complex manufacturing that leverage on know-how and intellectual property (IP). Several key manufacturing clusters (such as electronics, chemicals, biomedical sciences and engineering) will form the core of Singapore’s high value-added activities. Likewise, the focus of the services sector in the next decade will be in exportable services such as education, medical and financial services to tap into the expanding middle classes in rapidly growing economies such as China and India. Tourism will also be a key growing service industry with the opening of the Integrated Resorts and the attraction of international MICE2 events to Singapore. The creative industry is another service industry that is poised to grow in the future. To retain a globally competitive manufacturing sector, Singapore will also need to capitalise on the convergence of manufacturing and services, and grow manufacturing-related services such as headquarter activities, R&D, IP management and product lifecycle management. 2

Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions

13


In addition, the emergence of global trends and market opportunities in areas of healthcare, wellness and ageing and sustainable development have necessitated the shift of R&D towards research interfaces. Singapore should also leverage on its span of BMS and S&E capabilities and strengths to gain a first mover advantage in these emerging market opportunities.

14

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN This chapter reviews the achievements of the S&T2010 Plan and explores how A*STAR’s research agenda has developed capabilities that help fuel Singapore’s economic development.

2

REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN NATIONAL LEVEL OUTCOMES FROM Research INVESTMENTS Twenty years after Singapore’s first directed and definitive 5-year plan, the National Technology Plan (1991-1995) to boost research and development (R&D) activities and investments, Singapore has entered the league of R&Dintensive countries. Between 1990 and 2009, Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by more than 3.7 times, with R&D expenditure accounting for 2.3% of the GDP.

* Growth of GERD The national Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) grew from S$571.7 million in 1990 to S$6.0 billion in 2009. This represents a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2%. R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP has also been steadily increasing, from 0.8% in 1990 to 2.3% in 2009 at a CAGR of 5.6%. Singapore is targeting to increase GERD to 3.5% of GDP by 2015.

*

Growth of BERD

The growth of private sector R&D investment has outpaced that of the public sector R&D. Business Expenditure on R&D (BERD) – or private sector expenditure on R&D – has increased steadily, growing from S$309.5 million in 1990 to S$3,724 million in 2009 at a CAGR of 14.0%, compared to a CAGR of 12.2% in the public sector R&D expenditure (PUBERD) over the same period.

BERD has also grown as a proportion of the total expenditure on R&D, accounting for 61.6% of GERD in 2009 (versus 54.1% in 1990). In effect, for every dollar of public R&D spent in Singapore, about two dollars are spent on private R&D, demonstrating that a vibrant public sector R&D scene can stimulate significant private sector R&D investments.

*

Growth of RSE per 10,000 labour force

More R&D jobs have been created in Singapore, and there has been a steady expansion of the talent base for research. The number of research scientists and engineers (RSEs) as a proportion of the total labour force grew from 27.7 RSEs per 10,000 workers in 1990 to 87.8 RSEs per 10,000 workers in 2009.

Source: National R&D Survey

16

The number of RSEs in the private sector also outpaced that in the public sector. In 1990, the total number of RSEs in the public sector exceeded that in the private sector by 1,603. In 2009, the total number of RSEs in the private sector grew to 15,068 (CAGR 13.5%), outpacing the 11,540 RSEs in the public sector (CAGR 7.4%). The total number of PhD RSEs also grew from 970 in 1990 to 6,751 in 2009 (CAGR 10.8%).


*

Growth of Patents

There has also been a steady increase in both the number of R&D patents applied (from 142 in 1993 to 1,569 in 2009) and patents awarded (from 52 in 1993 to 747 in 2009), at CAGR of 16.2% and 18.1% respectively. The number of patents applied and patents awarded per 1,000 RSEs have also grown at CAGRs of 6.5% and 8.3% respectively over the same period.


17

REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN *

International Comparison

Internationally, Singapore is ranked among the world’s most R&D intensive countries (see Figure 2-1). Singapore’s GERD/GDP was 2.6% in 2008 and 2.3% in 2009. This puts Singapore in the league of research intensive countries such as Switzerland (3.0%), United States (2.8%), Taiwan (2.8%), Denmark (2.7%), Austria (2.7%), Iceland (2.7%), Germany (2.6%), France (2.0%) and Belgium (1.9%). Singapore’s researcher intensity (FTEs1 per 1,000 Labour Force) was 9.5 in 2008 and 10.1 in 2009. This places Singapore together with countries such as Denmark (10.6), Japan (10.3), Taiwan (10.1), Norway (10.0), Sweden (9.8), Korea (9.7) and the United States (9.2 in 2007). Singapore has consistently been ranked highly in competitiveness rankings (see Figure 2-2). In the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2010-2011 published by the World Economic Forum, Singapore maintained its third position, beating the United States and Denmark, for the overall Global Competitiveness Index after Switzerland and Sweden. In the World 1

Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2010 published by Swiss International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Singapore was ranked first, topping Hong Kong and the United States. Fig 2--2: International Competitiveness Rankings Country Finland Israel Korea Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Singapore

GCR 2010 7 24 22 2 1 13 3

Source: World Economic Forum (WEF) (Sep 2010), Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011 and Swiss International Institute for Management Development (IMD) (May 2010), World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010

In the area of patenting, the Government Agency Patent Scoreboard 2010, which provides an overall assessment of a government agency’s intellectual property (IP) quality and quantity at a broad level, placed A*STAR in the tenth position (see Figure 2-3).

Full-time equivalent researchers

Fig 2-1: Comparison of Selected Countries by Research & Researcher Intensity 2008

Bubble size indicates GERD in 2008 unless otherwise stated. Source: OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators 2010-1

18

WCY 2010 19 17 23 6 4 8 1

Fig 2-3: Patent ScorecardTM – Government Agencies Govt Agencies South Korea Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute US Department of Energy US Navy US Army Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology US National Aeronautic & Space Administration US Department of Health & Human Services Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry France Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research

2010 Ranking 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Source: Tammy D’Amato and Lindsey Gilroy of Patent Board™ (Aug 2010), The Patent Scorecard 2010 - Government Agencies, http://www.iptoday.com/issues/2010/10/thepatent-scorecard-2010-government-agencies.asp

A*STAR’S ACHIEVEMENTS UNDER THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (S&T) 2010 PLAN As an R&D agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), A*STAR leads the government’s efforts in fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based economy.

Under the S&T2010 Plan, A*STAR was allocated S$5.4 billion to drive mission-oriented public research and strengthen the base of scientific talent to support the development of the key industry clusters.

* Biomedical Sciences Since the launch of the Biomedical Sciences (BMS) initiative in 2000, A*STAR has developed key capabilities in BMS to develop this sector as the fourth pillar of Singapore’s economy, alongside electronics, engineering and chemicals. Based on a report released by the Massachusetts Biotech Council in Apr 2009 on integrated bioclusters around the world, Singapore was ranked as one of the emerging bioclusters that was “taking strides forward with significant government support”. Singapore was recognised for strengths in manufacturing of high-value biomedical products, and a good reputation for R&D and clinical trials.

BMS Phase 1 (2001-2005): Setting the Stage Prior to 2000, the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) was the only full fledged BMS research institute (RI). Pockets of biomedical research were located in the Singapore Science Park and the National University of Singapore (NUS), but there was no critical mass of BMS research activities in either the public or private sector.

Fig 2-4: Alignment of Bmrc Research with Industry Sectors

19

REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN During Phase 1 of Singapore’s BMS Initiative from 2001 to 2005, four new RIs were established by the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) to develop core capabilities in bioprocessing, genomics & proteomics, molecular & cell biology, bioengineering & nanotechnology and computational biology. Together with IMCB, all these institutes were then physically brought together at Biopolis. Major multi-national pharmaceutical companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Takeda began to set up corporate labs in Singapore, to take advantage of the shared services and facilities at Biopolis, as well as opportunities to collaborate with A*STAR scientists. Significantly, A*STAR has been successful in recruiting a critical mass of renowned scientists and top international talent to lead its RIs and spearhead its research programmes. Such luminaries include Prof Sir David Lane (co-discoverer of the p53 gene and founder of Cyclacel), Prof Sir George Radda (pioneer of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and former Chief Executive of UK Medical Research Council), Prof Edison Liu (former Director, Division of Clinical Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health), and Prof Jackie Ying (former Professor of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

BMS Phase 2 (2006 To 2010): Building The Team Phase 2 of the BMS Initiative from 2006 to 2010 focused on strengthening the basic research capabilities established in Phase 1, and building up a strong Translational & Clinical Research (TCR) capability to facilitate the translation of scientific discoveries into new treatments and diagnostics. To drive this new phase, the Biomedical Sciences Executive Committee (BMS Exco) was reconstituted in 2006 to be co-chaired by Chairman A*STAR and the Permanent Secretary for Health. Working through the BMS Exco, various initiatives were implemented by A*STAR and the Ministry of Health (MOH) to develop a critical mass of intellectual and human capital for TCR such as:

• Nurturing more clinician scientists, through the inauguration of Singapore Translational Research Investigator Awards and Clinician Scientist Awards. 20

• Providing more funding opportunities such as the BMRC-NMRC (National Medical Research Council) Bedside & Bench Grant Call to encourage collaborations between clinicians and basic scientists.

• Establishing TCR Flagship Research Programmes in cancer, neurosciences, eye diseases, cardiovascular/metabolic disorders and infectious diseases to address specific health problems of strategic interest to Singapore and Asia.

• Consolidation and reorganisation of medical schools and teaching hospitals at Kent Ridge and Outram into Academic Medical Centres. During this phase, the private sector continued to expand its R&D presence in Singapore. Significantly, Singapore’s BMS manufacturing portfolio became more diversified when six major projects in biologics manufacturing were secured from GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech, Roche, Lonza, Baxter and Novartis. More recently, major pharmaceutical companies have also begun to actively negotiate with A*STAR, the medical schools and the hospitals clusters to set up public-private R&D partnerships.

* Physical Sciences and Engineering A*STAR has also developed a strong suite of capabilities in science and engineering research, with seven steady-state RIs under the Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC), supporting Singapore’s four key manufacturing industry sectors in electronics, infocommunications & media, chemicals and engineering. The SERC strategy to build up a strong and diverse portfolio of capabilities is aimed at continually enhancing A*STAR’s value proposition to its partners and translating research ideas to industry. SERC has also taken significant steps to foster multidisciplinary research and initiate research programmes in intelligent energy distribution systems, sustainable materials, future home technologies, and medical technologies. These programmes tapped on the core capabilities residing in the RIs and universities, integrating them to develop new technologies that demand multidisciplinary solutions. HOME2015, for instance, has the participation of researchers from

SERC RIs, BMRC RIs, NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 11 joint projects such as home-based medical diagnosis system and configurable multimodal robot. SERC has also identified four growth themes in Innovative Services, High Value Manufacturing, Sustainable Development and Healthcare & Lifestyle as major cross-cutting disciplines that integrate the capabilities of the RIs. SERC’s RIs have closely aligned their research with the needs of the industry, resulting in over 1,000 Research Collaboration Agreements (RCAs) with industry. Projects ranged from one-to-one collaborations with multi-national companies (MNCs) or small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to consortia involving multiple companies and joint laboratories with corporate R&D organisations. These collaborations have helped to anchor high value-added activities in Singapore, as well as contributed to upgrading the capabilities of local enterprises. Today, SERC has several platforms to engage industry. For the SMEs, SERC offers a broad suite of technological capabilities and assistive schemes such as the Growing Enterprises with Technology Upgrade (GET-Up) programme which has benefitted local enterprises via the secondment of researchers and engineers as well as the provision of technical advice and customised technology roadmaps. Success stories include Resin & Pigment Technologies Pte Ltd, which was established as ExxonMobil’s first contracted

compounder in Asia, and Cal-Comp Technology Pte Ltd which has successfully developed an environmentallyfriendly coating technology that will reduce particulate contamination in Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). For the MNCs and globally competitive companies (GCCs), SERC adopted an integrative and customised approach with initiatives including the A*STAR Aerospace, A*CAR, MEMS, and 3D-TSV consortia, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Joint Labs established between companies and RIs. Such engagements have allowed SERC to attract companies like Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu, Mitsui Chemicals, BASF, Seiko and Nitto Denko to set up R&D centres in Singapore, creating highly-skilled jobs and generating economic impact for Singapore. SERC RIs also support industry by providing access to key research infrastructure and shared facilities for test-bedding and characterisation. For example, the SERC Nano-Fabrication and Characterisation (SNFC) facility provides a wide spectrum of nanofabrication, characterisation, analysis and testing services for all researchers, such as those in the semiconductor and precision engineering industries. The Fabrication, Processing and Characterisation (FPC) initiative will also support the development of highly specialised multidisciplinary capabilities and new, emerging industry sectors, notably in the printed electronics, bioelectronics & medical devices, photonics, advanced display and memory areas.

Fig 2-5: Alignment of SERC Research with Industry Clusters

21

REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN New technologies have also emerged from the research undertaken in SERC RIs. For example, in 2008, researchers at the Institute for Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) developed a flexible substrate film that can be used to create next-generation bendable electronic screens and solar cells. IMRE also created a spin-off company to commercialise the technology and attracted venture funding to scale up manufacturing of the film, potentially creating a new industry and reaping value for Singapore. To date, SERC has been successful in developing technologically-based partnerships which attract, retain and grow high value-add industries in Singapore especially in the microelectronics and data storage, aerospace and marine & offshore industries. Going forward, SERC will continue to play a key role to foster and catalyse growth in Singapore’s economy.

*

Multidisciplinary Research

There has also been a concerted effort to foster interdisciplinary research between the physical scientists and engineers and the biomedical scientists at A*STAR. The A*STAR Joint Council Office (JCO) was set up in 2007 to stimulate and support collaborations across the BMRC and SERC RIs through “bottom-up” grant calls as well as programmes such as the A*STAR Medical Technology Initiative. Besides conducting grants on joint research areas, various events such as A*STAR Scientific Conference and RIs Open House were organised to promote greater inter-council interactions among the research communities.

* International S&T Partnerships On the international front, A*STAR represented Singapore at several multilateral S&T fora. In 2009, A*STAR played host to the 13th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology (AMMST) and the 58th ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology (COST) meeting in Singapore. A*STAR also contributed towards regional and international S&T cooperation, having chaired the ASEAN COST between 2009 and 2010. In addition, A*STAR partners many international S&T agencies and actively seeks out new ones. Regular 22

dialogues/bilateral S&T meetings with key partners have been initiated. In areas of common interests, joint projects leveraging on complementary strengths were also spearheaded.

* Biopolis and Fusionopolis The development of Biopolis and Fusionopolis at onenorth is instrumental to the R&D capability build-up of Singapore and A*STAR. Fusionopolis was officially opened on 17 Oct 2008, just five years after the completion of Biopolis in 2003. Purpose-built stateof-the-art infrastructure and the presence of a critical mass of scientific talents housed at the A*STAR RIs located within Biopolis and Fusionopolis have attracted MNCs and SMEs to establish their R&D laboratories here. Such keen interests have led to private developers’ ventures to develop additional business and laboratory spaces. Fusionopolis Phase 2B (FP2B) and Biopolis Phase 3, completeted in Oct 2010 and Jan 2011, are developed by the private sector.

* Human Capital Development Since 2001, A*STAR has nurtured a pipeline of more than 1,000 Singaporean PhD talent through its scholarship and fellowship programmes. For S&T 2010, 555 PhD students have also been trained at A*STAR RIs and have graduated with PhDs from A*STAR partner universities. This is above the S&T2010 target of 220 students. Over the same period, 1058 RSEs have also been spun out from A*STAR RIs to industry, contributing to the transfer of knowledge and expertise to add value to private sector companies.

By 2008, the initial cohort of PhD scholars began to return to A*STAR laboratories. Particular attention was given to enhancing the quality of the PhD experience at A*STAR, finding a good fit for returning scholars and creating career development opportunities for young PhD talent. Flexible career advancement pathways were open within A*STAR, into industry and academia. In the last few years, the opportunities to pursue sponsored PhD training have expanded considerably, particularly as NUS and NTU moved towards establishing themselves as research-intensive universities. The Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA) was initiated by A*STAR in 2007 to offer opportunities for international students to pursue PhD studies in Singapore at NUS, NTU and A*STAR. Upstream in the talent development spectrum, A*STAR and the RIs continue to work with the Singapore Science Centre and schools under the Youth Science Programme to reach out to and inspire a passion for science among talented youths and early stage scientists. The A*STAR Science Award for Junior College and Upper Secondary were launched in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Together with research attachments, science competitions and fora, these programmes engaged young minds to build the pipeline of scientific talent amongst the next generation.

EXTERNAL SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF BMRC RESEARCH INSTITUTES The External Scientific Review (ESR) was established to provide a critical and objective assessment of the quality of research, the impact of scientific achievements, and overall administration and organisation at the BMRC RIs. Chaired by Dr Sydney Brenner and co-chaired by Prof Georg Friedrich Melchers and Prof Bertil Andersson, the ESR committee comprised more than 25 domain experts. The ESR Committee praised the establishment of Biopolis, with the recruitment of talented scientists and the development of the research programmes at the five reviewed RIs, as a major achievement by BMRC. It noted that Singapore had achieved international recognition as a centre for biomedical research in a short span of time.

Fig 2-6: BMRC Research Foci and Technology Platforms

* Intellectual Capital Development BMS Phase 2 has made steady progress towards deepening basic research, broadening capabilities and advancing TCR. Five of BMRC’s more established RIs, namely Bioinfomatics Institute (BII), Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI), Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have matured and developed deep strengths in their respective fields. An External Scientific Review (ESR) process was carried out to provide external validation of the scientific excellence and output of these five RIs. (See story box for the key findings of the ESR process). Through its research units, BMRC had built up considerable strength in the following research foci: molecular, cellular and developmental biology, cancer

genetics, stem cells and regenerative medicine, immunology and infectious disease, metabolic medicine and biomedical engineering. In addition, BMRC has successfully nurtured a collaborative environment that led to an increasing number of collaborations within the BMRC RIs/ Consortia and resulted in high-impact joint publications and the development of novel technologies or products. For example, in 2007, IBN, GIS and IMCB jointly developed a PCR-based diagnostic miniature device that could rapidly detect the H5N1 avian flu virus from throat swabs. 23

REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN Seven new RIs/Consortia/Centres have been set up since 2006 (see story box) to strengthen TCR. BMRC has also developed strong links with the extramural community in the hospitals, specialty disease centres and universities. For example, IMCB, GIS and Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) joined eight other institutions, including DSO National Laboratories, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, National Environment Agency, NTU, NUS and Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases to form the Singapore Dengue Consortium that aims to share findings related to better understanding of the dengue virus and the development of prevention, treatment and eradication strategies. In addition, through its extramural grants and consortia grants, BMRC has supported more than 350 projects in the last five years. More recently, it created the Bedside & Bench Grants to encourage and support a greater flow of ideas, insights and discoveries between basic scientists and the clinical community. BMRC has also developed strong strategic networks with international partners, including:

• SICS’ partnership with the Liggins Institute of the University of Auckland (New Zealand) to develop a new research programme in growth, development and metabolism.

• Bilateral Collaborative Research Fund with the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) to support research proposals in infectious diseases. A*STAR and UK MRC jointly awarded S$4.5m in grants to six collaborative projects in May 2010.

• Joint research funding with the Hungary National Office for Research and Technology (NKTH) and the New Zealand Health Research Council, both in 2008. Capabilities in Science and Engineering (S&E) were also strengthened. All seven SERC RIs are now mature RIs. The scientific excellence and industry relevance of all seven SERC RIs had been validated by the reviews conducted by the SERC External Review Committee (ERC) conducted in 2008-2009. (See story box for the key findings of the ERC). 24

NEW BMS RESEARCH INSTITUTES New research institutes/consortia set up since 2006 include: • The Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) was established to build up a critical mass of expertise in immunology, to support translational efforts and clinical research in Singapore. SIgN currently has 18 core laboratories, focusing on three major themes of infection, inflammation and immunoregulation. • The Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences (SICS) was set up to strengthen A*STAR’s capabilities to facilitate the translation of scientific advances in basic science into new diagnostics and therapeutics, and nurture clinician-scientists and investigators. SICS focuses on two disease-oriented research programmes, namely Growth, Development & Metabolism (GDM) and Infection & Immunity. • The Centre of Molecular Medicine was also repositioned to form the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), to provide the interface between basic science and medicine through research that investigates the mechanisms of human diseases. To date, IMB has 22 laboratory groups focusing on research in diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and degenerative diseases, and has established extensive collaborations and networking structures with hospitals and disease centres, such as NUH and National Skin Centre. • BMRC also established the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) and the Industry Development Group (IDG) to strengthen the commercialisation capabilities of its RIs and consortia. • The Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) was created to build a coordinated national programme of imaging research, and to bring together substantial strengths in the engineering and physical sciences with those in the biomedical sciences. • The Singapore Stem Cell Consortium (SSCC) was set up to catalyse the translation of basic stem cell research into clinically viable stem cell therapies for chronic debilitating diseases. • Led by renowned neuroscientist Dr Dale Purves from Duke University, the Neuroscience Research Partnership (NRP) with Duke–NUS Graduate Medical School (GMS) was established to create neuroscience research capability in A*STAR and Biopolis, and complements the translational and clinical research interests of the Duke-NUS GMS.

EXTERNAL REVIEW COMMITTEE OF SERC RESEARCH INSTITUTES

with Sweden’s Linkoping University to pursue research in environmental technologies.

The External Review Committee (ERC) was established to critically review research carried out in SERC RIs, in terms of scientific excellence and the economic impact of their achievements and activities, to shape the agenda of the SERC RIs going forward and to position them to take maximum advantage of future opportunities.

• The SIMTech Sustainable Manufacturing Centre

Chaired by Prof William Schowalter and co-chaired by Prof Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, the ERC comprised 24 domain experts. The ERC noted the significant achievements of the SERC RIs. Research at the RIs appeared to be very good, and was supported by excellent facilities and infrastructure. Peer recognition of the RIs was also steadily improving,

The RIs had developed robust research programmes to meet the medium- to long- term needs of Singapore’s economic sectors. Key initiatives include:

• The Experimental Power Grid Centre (EPGC) (previously known as SINERGY Centre) was launched in Nov 2007. EPGC’s Command & Control Facility at Fusionopolis was completed in end-2008 and has since been operational.

• The Advanced Digital Sciences Centre (ADSC) with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was launched in Fusionopolis in Oct 2008. The centre’s focus on digital sciences raises Singapore’s position as a hub for cutting-edge research and complement the country’s strategic thrust in interactive & digital media. Its flagship programme is the Human Sixth Sense Programme.

• The first translational clinical research facility at Fusionopolis, the Singapore Advanced Imaging Laboratory for Ocular Research (SAILOR), was officially opened in Mar 2010. The opening marked the culmination of five years of productive and close collaboration between Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) and the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI).

• Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) announced in Mar 2010 a collaboration

was launched in Nov 2009 to showcase and promote the concept of sustainability in manufacturing. The Centre aims to work with industry to develop and implement innovative technologies to reduce emissions, waste and toxicity in manufacturing, as well as promote the recycling and reuse of resources.

• The Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES) set up the Kilo Laboratory on Jurong Island to develop new process techniques and solve problems of scale-up and manufacturing for the pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals industries. The first of its kind in Southeast Asia, the Kilo Lab is a platform to train and develop a new generation of engineers and chemists in Singapore.

• SERC also spearheaded new programmes including Robotics, eHealth, Medical Technology and Terahertz, leveraging and integrating capabilities across RIs. For example, A*STAR’s Fuel Cell Technology programme leveraged on the combined capabilities of IMRE, ICES and SIMTech. To promote and support multidisciplinary research involving scientists from both BMRC and SERC, the A*STAR Joint Council Office (JCO) was set up in late 2007. To date, a total of six grant calls have been completed and a total of 43 cross-disciplinary projects have been funded in areas such as bioimaging, disease diagnostics and drug discovery. It also supported nine workshops in thematic areas aimed at fostering interaction between SERC and BMRC scientists. To promote cross-council interactions, the annual A*STAR Scientific Conference was organised to bring together researchers across the A*STAR family to learn about each other’s work and explore interdisciplinary research opportunities. JCO also facilitated the formation of the A*STAR Chemistry Club, officially launched in Jan 2009. In 2009, A*STAR formed a strategic alliance with the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) to create greater opportunities for impactful innovations in the area of medical technology 25

REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN NEW SERC RESEARCH PROGRAMMES A number of new multidisciplinary programmes were spearheaded at SERC. They include: • The Intelligent Energy Distributed Systems (IEDS) research programme, comprising 10 research projects, was launched in Mar 2008 to develop capabilities in smart grid technology. • The Carbon Capture & Utilisation (CCU) research programme was launched in May 2009 to develop capabilities in CCU. A total of 7 projects were awarded over 3 years. • The Sustainable Materials research programme was launched in May 2009 to develop new, environmentally friendly materials to support engineering applications relevant to Singapore’s industries. A total of 8 projects were awarded over 3 years. • The Metamaterials research programme was established to develop capabilities for modelling, simulation, fabrication and characterisation for metamaterial applications such as imaging and sensing, nanoplasmonic devices and nanophotonic integrated circuits and systems, microwave and THz devices and systems. 3 research projects were awarded over 3 years from Dec 2009. • The HOME2015 Phase 2 research programme was launched to build on the capabilities developed and move to an integrated systems level approach towards the development of future smart homes. 11 projects were granted over 2 years from Mar 2010.

(medtech) and at the same time develop an environment conducive to train innovators for the growing medtech industry in Singapore thus fostering a vibrant medtech innovation ecosystem in Singapore. A*STAR, together with EDB, also engaged Stanford University to establish the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign (SSB) Programme to train the next generation of Asian medtech innovators in Singapore. For S&T2010, A*STAR RIs have filed 1,170 primary patent applications and published 15,978 papers in science and engineering journals, exceeding the 5-year targets.

26

• The Integrated Nano-Photo-Bio Interface research programme aims to develop and strengthen multidisciplinary capabilities in the nanotechnology, photonics and biological sectors. This will complement existing application-driven programmes in the biological and medical areas. 8 research projects were awarded over 3 years from Mar 2010. • The Artificial Cognitive Memories (ACM) research programme is aimed at the development of an innovative memory-based intelligent system with cognitive functions to emulate the human memory. The ultimate goal of ACM is to pave a new way to realise cognitive intelligence. 1 project was awarded for 3 years from Feb 2010. • The Terabits research programme seeks to support the disk drive industry by developing 10Tb/in2 magnetic recording to increase the area density of hard disk drives by 30 times. It also aims to integrate relevant research resources in Singapore and accelerate the transformation of Singapore to become the R&D and manufacturing hub of the hard disk drive of the future. 12 research projects were awarded over 3 years from Jan 2010. • The Medtech Ingestible Capsule research programme was launched in Jul 2008 to develop an ingestible microcapsule for inspection, diagnosis and therapy of the GI tract. It is a multidisciplinary collaboration between the NTU, Institute of Microelectronic (IME), the Data Storage Institute (DSI) and I2R, consisting of 7 research projects.

Of note, based on the Nature Asia-Pacific Publishing Rankings 2010, A*STAR was ranked among the top ten most prolific agencies in the Asia-Pacific region, in terms of the total number of research papers published in the prestigious Nature Publishing Group’s portfolio of Nature-branded journals. By country rankings, Singapore came in fifth overall, out-performing New Zealand, Taiwan and India.

* Industrial Capital Development Partnering with private sector companies to perform R&D are important components of A*STAR’s mission. As an indication of A*STAR’s efforts to engage industry, for S&T2010, 1,554 industry projects have been performed in A*STAR RIs since 2006. The industry funding received stands at S$219.53 million.

Nature Asia-Pacific Publishing Index 2010 Institution Ranking #

Institution

1

The University of Tokyo, Japan RIKEN, Japan Kyoto University, Japan Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China Osaka University, Japan Tohoku University, Japan Tsinghua University, China Nagoya University Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore Seoul National University

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10

Corrected count1 (Articles) 34.33 18.24 16.98 13.35 13.27 8.04 6.16 5.44 5.00

• The

4.87

• Roche signed an agreement with six Singapore

Country Ranking # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Country Japan China Australia South Korea Singapore New Zealand Taiwan India Bangladesh Thailand

Highlights of industry links include:

Corrected count1 (Articles) 163.56 65.73 38.37 24.57 11.16 6.24 2.93 1.23 0.75 0.46

The corrected count adjusts for the number of affiliated institutions per author and the percentage of authors per institution, assuming equal contributions by all authors to each article. The corrected count for a country reflects the total corrected count for all institutions based in that region. 1

Source: Nature Asia-Pacific Publishing Rankings 2010 (Print issue: for period 1 Jan- 31 Dec, 2010)

bioprocess capabilities and expertise established at the Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) and its spin-off company, A*Bio Pte Ltd, have helped Singapore secure six major biologics investments totalling more than S$2 billion, creating about 1,300 jobs. parties, including A*STAR, NUS, Singhealth and NTU, to set up a Translational Medicine (TM) Hub in Singapore and commit a budget of CHF100 million (about S$135 million) over three years to work with A*STAR RIs and local hospitals/disease centres to discover and develop improved treatments for cancer and infectious diseases.

• In Sep 2010, Procter & Gamble (P&G) signed a Master Research Collaboration Agreement (MRCA) with A*STAR. With the MRCA, P&G will be able to tap on the Rls’ capabilities to help jumpstart an innovation eco-system that will support its expanded research and development activities in Singapore. The collaboration will also allow A*STAR RIs to access to the growing personal care industry. The groundbreaking ceremony for P&G Singapore Innovation Centre (SgIC) was held on 24 Jan 2011. SgIC will be a global state-of-the-art,

27

REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN SINGAPORE BIOLOGICS INDUSTRY A*STAR’s Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) played a critical role by establishing the necessary capabilities and expertise, which helped Singapore to attract biologics investments. In 2003, BTI’s Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre was spun off into a company called A-Bio Pharma, a contract biologics manufacturer. Over the next few years, A-Bio Pharma successfully secured major contracts from GlaxoSmithKline and Novo Nordisk, thus building up a strong track record for itself and for Singapore. As a result, Singapore secured six major biologics investments totalling more than S$2 billion from leading pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Genetech, Roche, Lonza, Baxter and Novartis. These facilities will manufacture biologics for the global market and create a total of about 1,300 new jobs. In Aug 2010, Luye Pharma Group Co. Ltd., a Shandong, China-based Company that focuses on the development, production and distribution of novel over-the-counter (OTC) chemical drugs acquired a major stake in A-Bio Pharma for S$7.36 million.

end-to-end mega-hub innovation centre that will develop products to power P&G’s Purpose-Inspired Growth Strategy.

• In Jan 2009, Abbott announced the opening of a new pharmaceutical analytical research laboratory in Biopolis. This is Abbott’s first pharmaceutical research and development site in Southeast Asia.

• Schering-Plough (now part of Merck) officially opened its first Translational Medicine Research Centre (TMRC), a 30,000 square feet facility located in the Biopolis in Feb 2009.

• Bayer announced five new projects in Dec 2010 with A*STAR’s Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC), NUS, National University Health System (NUHS), and SingHealth to investigate novel approaches to diagnose and treat cancers. The collaboration is part of Bayer’s S$20 million investment in joint research projects with Singapore-based universities, hospitals, research institutes and companies over six years. 28

• SIgN

partnered Switzerland-based Cytos Biotechnology Ltd in Apr 2009 to develop fully human monoclonal antibodies for combating and managing the Enterovirus 71 (EV71), one of the two most common viruses responsible for hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Singapore.

• In May 2010, Fujitsu opened its first biomedical focused research facility in the Southeast Asia region at Biopolis. Working with A*STAR, Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), NUS, NUH and the Cancer Science Institute (CSI), the lab aims to explore improvements in diagnostics for diseases such as prostate and gastric cancer, cardiovascular disease and dengue through the development of aptamers.

• Vestas Wind Systems A/S set up its Asia Pacific HQ in Singapore in 2006, followed by the Global Wind Technology R&D Centre in Nov 2008 with a commitment of S$500 million over ten years.

• In May 2006, SEIKO set up its first overseas corporate R&D centre in Singapore that aimed to drive collaborative research within A*STAR RIs, including Data Storage Institute (DSI), Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), SIMTech and Institute of Microelectronics (IME).

• In Oct 2006, Mitsui Chemicals opened its first petrochemical R&D centre outside Japan at ICES. Subsequently, in Aug 2008, ICES and Mitsui announced the development of a catalyst that could produce hydrogen and benzene from methane.

• In Nov 2008, Nitto Denko opened its research facility at Fusionopolis with an investment of S$10 million to pioneer research in organic electronic devices in Singapore. Research collaboration agreements were inked with DSI and IMRE.

• The SERC Aerospace Programme, launched in Jan 2007 to engage the aerospace industry has a total of 18 industry partners in consortium activities directed at pre-competitive technologies.

• A*STAR launched the Medtech Manufacturing and 3D Through Silicon Via (3D-TSV) Consortia in 2009, and the Micro-Electro-MechanicalSystems (MEMS) Consortium in 2010. The Medtech Consortium aimed to develop capabilities and technologies to address challenges of local

PRECISION ENGINEERING CENTRE OF INNOVATION (PE-COI)

A*STAR Aerospace Consortium

Launched in Jan 2007, the A*STAR Aerospace Consortium aimed to engage companies in pre-competitive research to drive innovation across the aviation industry and enhance the competitiveness of local companies. A*STAR and four aerospace giants, namely Boeing, EADS, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce, were the founding members. 18 companies in total have since joined the programme and a total of 24 research projects are funded in areas such as laser processing, non-destructive testing, and development of advanced materials for aircraft bodies. The Consortium won the 2009 Frost & Sullivan A*STAR Aerospace R&D Institution of the Year.

companies diversifying into the medtech industry; while the 3D-TSV and MEMS Consortia were formed to boost manufacturing capabilities and technical expertise in the semiconductor sector.

• The Precision Engineering Centre of Innovation (PE-COI) was set up in Apr 2007 as a combined effort between SPRING and A*STAR to promote and upgrade the local precision engineering industry.

• In Jan 2009, the Fujitsu-IHPC High Performance Computing Lab was established for the development of petascale computing and the deployment of the most powerful supercomputer in Singapore.

Launched in Jun 2007, the PECOI was a joint initiative by A*STAR and SPRING Singapore to empower local manufacturing companies to adopt technology innovation. Hosted at SIMTech, the centre offered a comprehensive infrastructure of technical manpower, equipment and facilities, and manufacturing IT resources for local SMEs to upgrade their manufacturing capabilities and accelerate the development of new products, equipment and processes.

• HP Labs Singapore held an official launch ceremony on 24 Feb 2010. IHPC and HP Labs’ successful Shared Services Platform (SSP) collaboration on grid computing and service automation, contributed to HP Labs’ decision to set up a full-scale research lab in Fusionopolis, to look into future concepts in data centre and cloud computing. Local enterprises received targeted assistance from SERC RIs through the Growing Enterprises with Technology Upgrade (GET-Up) programme. Based on a 2009 survey by the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, companies on the GET-Up programme projected twice as much revenue and employment when compared to companies which had not participated in the GET-Up

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REVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010 PLAN

programme. GET-Up companies also recorded a higher proportion of sales from new and improved products. Since its inception till 31 Mar 2011, 296 researchers have been attached to 183 SME companies, 161 roadmaps have been developed for 137 SME companies and 131 technical advisors have been appointed to 86 different SME companies.

OPPORTUNITIES IN A NEW LANDSCAPE Going forward, several global trends will shape the future of R&D. In the wake of the global financial meltdown, Asia led the global economic recovery, backed by robust exports and domestic demands. According to IMF’s update of the World Economic Outlook, released in Jan 2011, Asia’s economies grew between 8.2% to 9.3% in 2010, compared to 2.8% in the US, and 1.8% in the Euro area. The projected growth for Asia’s economies in 2011 is 4.7% to 8.4% compared to 3% in the US and 1.5% in the Euro area. Singapore’s economy grew by 14.5% in 2010, reversing the contraction of 0.8% in 2009, backed by strong manufacturing output and strong growth in the tourism and retail sectors. MTI forecasted the Singapore economy to grow by 4% to 6% in 2011. Socially, declining birth rates and ageing will combine to increase healthcare and pension costs, creating pressures on infrastructure, better medical and healthcare products and services at affordable cost. About 10% of the world population today are aged 60 and above. The United Nations predicts this percentage to more than double by 2050. Environmental issues will be brought more to the fore as global warming begins to take its toll on economies worldwide. The impact of environmental changes is expected to accelerate over the next 20 years, giving rise to urgent global issues such as food security, public health, poverty, water scarcity and security. Furthermore, global pressures for the implementation of the Climate Change Agenda will continue to change the current energy and chemical industrial sectors. 30

Sustainable development will be crucial as economies grapple with the environmental costs brought about by economic development. Sustainable development has a rapidly growing market of an estimated US$850 billion which is projected to reach US$2 trillion by 2020. Postfinancial crisis, there have been unanimous calls for economies to be measured not just against the financial yardstick but against a triple bottom-line including financial, environmental and social performance. More than half of the sustainability experts polled in the “Economic Crisis and Sustainability Development” report, commissioned by electronics conglomerate Siemens, said that the economic crisis may stimulate progress towards sustainable development. 86% of the experts anticipate increased investments in green technologies. One key challenge in sustainable development is the search for sustainable or renewable energy sources, fuelled by depletion of natural resources, volatility of oil prices and environmental concerns of climate change. Over the past year, technology development has advanced at alarming speeds. Technology development, driven by economic, environmental and national security reasons, is projected to continue at a rapid pace over the next ten years to 2020, especially in IT and in other areas of S&T. For example, biotechnology will drive medical breakthroughs that may lead to longer lifespan and better nutrition with genetically modified crops while breakthroughs in materials technology will generate widely available products that are multi-functional, environmentally safe, longer lasting and easily adapted to particular consumer requirements. These global trends present both challenges and opportunities for global economies. Singapore needs to tap onto this important window of opportunity to establish leading positions in key market niches and create a strong presence in Asia over the next 5-10 years. The ability to provide solutions to address the challenges and capitalise on the opportunities will greatly enhance the economic competitiveness for Singapore.

Chapter 3

SUSTAINING SINGAPORE’S ECONOMY THROUGH INNOVATION This chapter looks at the national framework and strategies for R&D and explores Innovation Capital as the next propellant of Singapore’s Economy.

3

SUSTAINING SINGAPORE’S ECONOMY THROUGH INNOVATION

“The current global financial turmoil has clouded Singapore’s economic outlook. Our economy has gone into recession. We must expect slower growth and greater uncertainties at least over the next year. But our R&D programme takes a longer term perspective. It will proceed despite these immediate ups and downs. Its funding will not be affected. The Government remains fully committed to investing in R&D, in order to develop a key capability that will keep our economy competitive in the long term.” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Opening of Fusionopolis 17 Oct 2008

GROWTH THROUGH INNOVATION Knowledge and innovation are two key drivers for sustaining economic growth in the 21st century. To continue driving its growth momentum, the key will be for Singapore to harness its strong science and technology (S&T) foundational ecosystem to industry-relevant research with a strong focus on commercialisation, and to extend the ecosystem to facilitate innovation and enterprise (I&E) development.

ECONOMIC STRATEGIES COMMITTEE The Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) was formed in May 2009 to develop strategies for Singapore to build capabilities and maximise opportunities with the aim of achieving sustained and inclusive growth. The ESC and its eight subcommittees put forward their key recommendations to the government in Jan 2010, with the full report released in Feb 2010. ESC assessed that “Singapore was well placed to succeed in the emerging post-crisis world”. With the shift of markets to Asia in the post-crisis world, it was essential for Singapore to seize the “window of opportunity to create a strong presence in Asia over the next 5 to 10 years”. Recognising Singapore’s workforce constraint, ESC recommended that Singapore make skills, innovation and productivity the basis for sustaining Singapore’s economic growth, targeting to achieve productivity growth of 2 to 3 percent per year over the next ten years. The three broad priorities include:

• Boosting skills in every job via a comprehensive national effort to boost productivity and make enterprise innovation pervasive, supported through both broadbased and targeted sectoral programmes.

• Deepening

corporate capabilities to seize opportunities in Asia, entrenching Singapore as the essential base in Asia for both multi-national companies (MNCs) and global small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through increasing private sector research and development (R&D) expenditure, developing stronger alliance to promote technology transfer, test-bedding and commercialisation, and helping SMEs develop capabilities to support the MNCs and global SMEs.

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Economic Strategies Committee Chaired by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Finance, the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) comprised members drawn from the Government, the labour movement and the private sector, to bring a wide range of views and fresh ideas. They included 14 private sector representatives from the manufacturing and services sectors; foreign and local enterprises, large and small; as well as academia. Objectives: • To develop and recommend strategies to grow Singapore’s future as a leading global city in the heart of Asia • To enable sustained economic growth, faster than other advanced economies • Developing depth of talent and superior capabilities • Seizing growth opportunities • Optimising use of scarce resources

•

So as to provide opportunities for all • Creating quality jobs and real wage growth for the broad majority • Making continued social investments for an inclusive, upwardly mobile society

To facilitate this, eight sub-committees of the ESC undertook in-depth reviews of the various issues, including: • Seizing growth opportunities • Developing a vibrant SME sector and globally competitive local companies • Attracting and rooting MNCs, Asian enterprises and global mid-sized companies • Growing knowledge capital • Making Singapore a leading global city • Fostering inclusive growth • Ensuring energy resilience and sustainable growth. and • Maximising value from land as a scarce resource Source: http://www.esc.gov.sg/index.htm

• Making Singapore a distinctive global city and a vibrant hub in Asia for enterprise, talent, cultures and ideas. Identified as one of the three bases for sustaining Singapore’s economic growth, innovation holds the key to Singapore’s future economic successes. Singapore is in an excellent position to become a key global R&D hub and Asia’s Innovation Capital – the home for private sector R&D activities and innovation, in partnerships and collaborations with world-class public sector R&D institutes, a hub for innovation and enterprise, and a location of choice for commercialisation. ESC has recommended to raise Singapore’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) to 3.5% of GDP by 2015 through increased private sector R&D expenditure. To strengthen emphasis on business innovation and commercialisation of R&D, the subcommittee on “Growing Knowledge Capital” recommended the adoption of a holistic framework covering knowledge creation, innovation capital, talent and funding. Besides further leveraging on public sector R&D institutions and facilities to drive innovation, Singapore would also need to ramp up its innovation capital to enhance the value created by its R&D investments.

* “Integrating for Impact” – for MNCs and GCCs

To attract MNCs and grow gobally competitive companies (GCCs), a concierge approach is needed one that leverages on Singapore’s intrinsic organisational strengths to responsively integrate capabilities, research institutes (RIs) and public sector agencies to deliver customised solutions with a common purpose. The focus is to develop appropriate models for interaction and collaboration between public and private sector institutions. These models or innovation platforms (comprising bilateral collaboration platforms, consortia-type platforms and system-level integrated platforms) create value for industries in a way that responsively caters to the unique needs of each particular industry. Infrastructure that provides companies with ready access to state-of-the-art facilities, test beds, pilot plants and living laboratories are also compelling innovative platforms for public-private sector partnerships. In order for any customised and integrated platform to be effective, it will be necessary for the private sector research performers to be partners in defining and shaping the research agenda for collaboration, for example through Chief Technology Officer (CTO)/Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) forum. 33


Fig 3-1: Key Recommendations from ESC Subcommittee on “Growing Knowledge Capital”

* “Gearing for Growth”– for Local Enterprises

Singapore’s local enterprises form a significant portion of its manufacturing sector and play a major role in supporting MNCs. In 2007, local enterprises in the manufacturing sector, specifically in precision engineering, biomedical sciences, electronics, logistics, engineering & environment technology and chemicals, collectively employed some 170,000 skilled workers and contributed a Value-Added (VA) of S$19.1 billion, which was about 38% of the total VA of the key manufacturing sectors. Singapore should create more opportunities to develop the capabilities of local enterprises and gear them for continued growth, support upgrading of their capabilities and help them keep pace with the rapidly changing technological landscape. Gearing for the growth of local enterprises takes a different approach from that of attracting MNCs or growing GCCs. Public sector R&D capabilities need to be adequately broad-based due to the numerous local enterprises across many sectors. The institutions should be facilitative in engaging local enterprises through R&D partnerships, technology development efforts, manpower training and outreach efforts. 34

In addition to innovation platforms such as consortiatype platforms, the polytechnics can play a bigger role through both the Centres of Innovation (COIs) and outreach platforms to provide technological help to locally-based enterprises to enter new, innovative growth areas such as medical technology (medtech) and clean energy. Whenever possible, local enterprises should be networked with the MNCs as part of a cluster approach to develop research and innovation activities in a synergistic way. Singapore could also look at how the public sector can provide the innovation platforms for local enterprises by playing the role of lead reference users. This can be done by establishing a government co-innovation platform through the extension of the current Public Service Innovation Framework (PSIF) scheme, or adopting an approach similar to that of the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants.

* “Seeding for Surprises” – for Startups

A knowledge-based/innovation-driven economy must also have a vibrant entrepreneurial sector. Here, research-intensive universities can play a significant role in cultivating and training entrepreneurs through

seed funding, supporting small-scale incubators and recruiting faculty with entrepreneurial skills and track record as mentors and role models. For example, the University Innovation Fund (UIF) could be extended to alumni to leverage on their extensive networks. In addition, public sector research institutions can develop a more directed approach in encouraging start-up activities originating from their R&D. The bioengineering field (such as medtech), for instance, presents many opportunities for institutions to effectively translate cross-disciplinary research into value-creating innovations. Public sector agencies should also consider adopting or adapting proven models, such as the model for the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT), for initiating and accelerating multidisciplinary research through use-driven platforms to link practitioners and researchers to undertake applications-based research and develop breakthrough solutions and products. In addition, Singapore should provide ease of access to a range of ideas and intellectual properties (IPs) from both the public and private sectors and be a marketplace of ideas as part of the strategy of “not invented here but commercialised here”.

RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND ENTERPRISE (RIE) 2015 The Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2015 planning process was initiated in Aug 2009 to chart the direction of Singapore’s R&D efforts for 2011-2015. Against the backdrop of the ESC recommendations, working groups were convened to deliberate on the strategies and resources for the five key functional areas - Public R&D, Private R&D, Innovation and Enterprise (I&E), Talent and Infrastructure. In Sep 2010, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong unveiled a S$16.1 billion national budget to support research, innovation and enterprise activities for 2011-2015. A 19% increase from the S$13.55 billion allocated for 2006-2010, the budget represents Singapore’s steady commitment to R&D. The six key strategies identified are:

Research, Innovation & Enterprise 2015 RIE2015 is the culmination of a year-long planning process, harnessing the collective effort of all research, economic and funding agencies across the Singapore public sector. Working groups were set up to look into the functional areas of Public R&D, Private R&D, Innovation & Enterprise and Talent – assessing the results of the Singapore government’s investment in these areas up until 2010, evaluating the strategic changes in the global and local R&D landscape, and benchmarking Singapore to similar R&D-intensive countries. Built on the reviews done by the ESC, the objective of RIE2015 was to shape the direction of Singapore’s RIE efforts over the next five years and determine the resources and strategies that would bring about the desired outcomes, that support Singapore’s aim to be one of the most research-intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economies in the world.

• Investing in basic science and knowledge to seed the intellectual capital that forms the basis for future innovations. Scientists will receive the support and autonomy to pursue the questions that emerge from their research, with the aim of promoting peaks of excellence in areas with longterm economic and societal impact.

• Continued emphasis on the attraction and development of scientific talent to meet the needs of Singapore’s industry and public sector research institutions. Funding will be provided for scholarships and fellowships for talent training at renowned institutions both locally and overseas, to create a pipeline and critical mass of young scientific talent.

• Greater emphasis on competitive funding to spur innovation and bring out the best ideas for further support and development. A greater proportion of R&D funding will be available on a competitive basis, while maintaining an appropriate level of assured funding for core capabilities.

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• Strengthening synergies across various R&D performers in the public sector research agencies and with industry. Greater funding priority will be given to multidisciplinary and collaborative efforts, including with corporate R&D laboratories.

• Focusing a greater proportion of R&D on economic outcomes. This means greater support for private sector R&D, closer collaborations between public and private sector R&D, and added emphasis on commercialisation of IPs, leading to new and better products and services. Within public R&D, the Industry Alignment Fund will encourage public researchers to work more closely with industry.

• Providing stronger support for scientists to take their ideas from basic research through to commercialisation, through increased funding to technology transfer offices, translational and innovation centres, and enterprise incubators and accelerators. RIE2015 will also introduce a new S$1.6 billion White Space fund for responding to emerging opportunities in the course of the five year period.

“Singapore’s long term aim is to be among the most research intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economies in the world in order to create high value jobs and prosperity for Singaporeans. Research and innovation underpin the competitiveness of our industries, catalyse new growth areas, and transform our economy. Increasingly, intellectual capital will be critical for our next phase of economic development. Hence, the government will allocate S$16.1 billion to support research, innovation and enterprise activities in the next 5 years.” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong 4th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) meeting 17 Sep 2010

Fig 3-2: RIE 2015 – Macro Allocation

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Chapter 4

GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE A*STAR has, through its research initiatives, developed key capabilities to deliver high impact scientific discoveries and innovative solutions to industry in a wide range of disciplines. This chapter looks at A*STAR’s strategies in growing Singapore’s existing economic clusters and seeding new growth areas.

4

GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR A*STAR’S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Global trends present a window of opportunity for Singapore to strengthen its lead in research and development (R&D) and create a strong presence in Asia over the next 5 to 10 years. This is thus a critical juncture in Singapore’s aspiration to become an innovation-driven economy as global companies look to Singapore as a preferred location to launch into Asian markets, and as Asian companies increasingly choose to be based in Singapore to globalise their products and services. Public sector R&D is an important element of Singapore’s strategy. By making strategic and directed public R&D investments in key markets and economic sectors, Singapore can develop deep capabilities and strong domain knowledge of the technological needs of industry. These expanded innovation capacities will in turn enhance Singapore’s ability to attract top calibre talent in various disciplines, stimulate significant private sector R&D investments and entrench multinational companies (MNCs) to base their Asian and global operations in Singapore. Strong public sector R&D institutions, like A*STAR, capable of providing innovative solutions, attracting top talent and being flexible and responsive to various needs of enterprises such as MNCs, globally competitive companies (GCCs), local companies and high-tech start-ups, are significant enablers to making Singapore an Innovation Capital.

38

A*STAR’s R&D agenda and priorities will remain closely aligned with economic and technological developments in global markets, and will continue to offer value propositions and partnership opportunities for companies to undertake knowledge-based activities and innovations.

* Priorities of the Biomedical Research

Council

BMS Phase 3 (2011-2015): Playing to Win During the past ten years, the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) has built up core research capabilities and expanded its talent pool. Biomedical Sciences (BMS) Phases 1 and 2 investments in the A*STAR RIs, universities, academic medical centres and hospitals have enabled Singapore to become the preferred site in Asia for novel drug discovery and device development, thus drawing pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies to anchor their R&D and manufacturing activities here. The overall focus for BMS Phase 3 is greater integration across various players in the BMS ecosystem including public and private sector R&D performers, hospitals, academic medical centres and government agencies, particularly at the system-level, to facilitate the translation of research into applications for better economic value creation and health improvement (See Figure 4-1). To achieve the vision for BMS Phase 3, BMRC and Singapore will need to further integrate this virtuous cycle of activities across the entire value chain from basic, translational & clinical research, process R&D and manufacturing, to strengthen and sustain its capabilities and develop new ones to fill strategic gaps in the BMS ecosystem.

A*STAR’s scientific research will build on the long-term investments in R&D that have laid the foundations for a broad range of leading edge expertise and deep knowhow in various sectors of manufacturing. This has been achieved concomitantly with high quality discoveries and internationally recognised technological advances. In many areas, A*STAR Research Institutes (RIs) are well-known as being among the very best in the world in their disciplines.

Focusing on Mission-Oriented Programmes to Achieve Economic Impact

Furthermore, the focus on sustained capability development, nurtured through stable funding of the research institutions, with a mission to respond to industry needs, has been a major asset of Singapore’s public sector R&D endeavours.

To achieve the greatest economic impact, BMRC will focus on mission-oriented programmes that draw on existing strengths and capitalise on growing market sectors. For a start, key programmes identified include pharmaceutical and biotechnology (pharmbio),

Fig 4-1: BMS Cluster and Value Chain

biologics, medical technology (medtech), nutrition & personal care products.

collaborate with the BMRC RIs, hospitals and academic medical centres.

BMRC will also coordinate and integrate the efforts of its RIs to develop clinically relevant research programmes as well as uniquely differentiated technology platforms that will attract collaborations and investments from industry. Some examples include the Clinical Nutrition Research Centre and the Asian Metabolic Phenotyping Platform. Other platforms are currently being developed/explored and will be added over time.

BMRC will engage pharmbio MNCs as well as biotechnology small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a strategic and synergistic manner, so as to capture the opportunities arising from the outsourcing of R&D activities by MNCs to academic and public sector collaborators.

Growing Industry Engagement Reduced productivity in drug discovery coupled with increased R&D costs, rising pressure from regulators and health authorities to demonstrate cost-benefit of novel therapies, as well as mounting competition from generics as the patents on their current best-selling drugs reach their expiry dates have led many pharmbio companies to adopt novel business models in order to remain competitive. MNCs such as GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Roche have begun outsourcing their R&D activities to academic and public sector collaborators. This presents opportunities for Singapore to be a location of choice for these leading global companies as they look to outsource their R&D activities to Asia to capitalise on the emerging opportunities, markets and talent in the region. Recently, Roche established its Translational Medicine (TM) Hub in Singapore to

To meet industry’s growing interest in multi-institution collaborations, BMRC has worked closely with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) to establish the BMS Industry Partnership Office (IPO) to provide a single point-of-contact for BMS companies pursuing research collaborations with multiple entities in Singapore, including A*STAR RIs, hospitals and academic medical centres. To attract and anchor corporate R&D labs, BMRC will also offer partnership opportunities and access to technology platforms and scientific capabilities. These would draw on BMRC’s expertise from across a wide range of disciplines (including molecular biology, immunology, bioengineering and bioinformatics) as well as cutting-edge technology platforms (such as genomic sequencing and bio-imaging). Access to these capabilities will enable industry to explore new and innovative approaches to interrogate research data as well as develop new solutions to difficult questions. 39

GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE Strengthening Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Capabilities BMRC’s ability to move discoveries out of the lab and into clinical proof-of-concept and validation studies is highly attractive to industry and has become a key competitive advantage for Singapore. In the next five years, BMRC will continue to strengthen and align its capabilities in translational & clinical research (TCR) with its current strengths in disease biology and platform technologies. BMRC will work even more closely with MOH, National Medical Research Council (NMRC) and the clinical community to strengthen core capabilities in key therapeutic areas, including cancer, neurosciences, eye diseases, cardiovascular/metabolic disorders and infectious diseases. A series of programmes and initiatives will be implemented to build up local expertise and thought leadership in Asian disease biology, train and support a critical mass of clinician-scientists for TCR, and integrate basic as well as TCR activities and resources across Singapore in order to increase research efficiency and, in turn, attract research investments and private-public partnerships (PPPs) with industry.

* Priorities of the Science & Engineering

Research Council

Over the past five years, the Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC) RIs have achieved remarkable success in engaging industry through partnerships, collaborations and technology transfer. These institutes have worked on over 1,000 industry related projects, attracted major corporate laboratory activities, upgraded the capabilities of a large number of SMEs and nurtured a new generation of scientific talent. Over the next five years, in growing impact through integration (Figure 4-2), SERC will remain focused in its industry development mission by:

• Developing and growing existing industry clusters through deep domain expertise in a wide spectrum of areas important to Singapore’s manufacturing sectors and quick exploitation of new technological opportunities.

• Strengthening and growing platforms to transfer know-how and technologies to industry through 40

a variety of customised- or broad- based approaches.

• Drawing upon capabilities from various RIs to participate in multidisciplinary research programmes to develop key technology-based solutions to meet emerging, global societal trends.

Developing a Mission-Oriented Research Portfolio and Growing Impact through Integration Moving forward, SERC RIs will increasingly operate with a portfolio approach where a balance is sought in delivering domain specific capabilities to industries and supporting large scale multidisciplinary research programmes to solve significant technological issues. The strategic integration of the span of engineering science capabilities that exist at the RIs will be central to SERC’s efforts in this quinquennium. To ensure efficient deployment of resources, individuals in the same cluster but housed in different RIs will be strategically integrated and managed as part of a single capability. Through this integrative approach, SERC will be better able to manage its R&D portfolio with greater speed, flexibility and responsiveness.

Pre-positioning Research Capabilities for the Future To fuel economic growth and secure Singapore’s future, SERC will help pre-position the research community outside A*STAR through partnerships, to address both short and long term industrial requirements within existing economic clusters. SERC pursues a two-pronged approach to deliver this outcome. First, through sponsored research agreements, demonstration projects, road mapping and consortia, SERC research programmes will continue to work closely on industry and user defined priorities. Second, SERC will have a competitive process seeking ideas based on the creativity of SERC researchers and network of technical experts. SERC will continue to engage the extramural community through the Public Sector Fund (PSF) and Thematic Strategic Research Programme (TSRP) Grant Calls to grow capabilities at the universities that would complement the SERC RIs.

Fig 4-2: Growing Impact Through Integration at Serc

SERC also seeks to identify and grow research themes that form the basis of new economic clusters and which support the technological underpinning of the Singapore economy.

Enhancing Industry Engagement Efforts SERC will continue to provide the platforms and opportunities for MNCs and SMEs to collaborate and integrate for impact through bilateral collaborations, consortia and talent transfer initiatives. In particular, SERC endeavours to gear the SMEs up for growth and move them up the value chain through outreach platforms and assistive schemes such as the Growing Enterprises with Technology Upgrade (GET-Up) programme. In line with the recommendation of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) to grow 1,000 Singapore enterprises with revenues of over $100 million in ten years, A*STAR will be expanding and enhancing the GET-Up programme by partnering with the local polytechnics and Centres of Innovation (COIs) to support the manpower and technical needs of SMEs.

Drawing from SERC’s Span of Capabilities The span of capabilities at the SERC RIs presents opportunities for participation in highly integrated Multidisciplinary Research Programmes (MRPs) to solve deep challenges in cross-cutting areas such as

urban living, sustainable development and clean energy systems. These solutions also enable SERC to enter new markets and expand Singapore’s manufacturing clusters into new economic growth areas.

* Priorities of the A*STAR Joint

Council

Towards the end of A*STAR’s journey in the S&T2010 Plan, global trends that portend the rising shift of R&D towards research interfaces started to emerge. These trends include the creation of new departments in bioengineering or cross-faculty/cross-school institutes (for instance the Bio-X Programme in Stanford University and the Centre for Integrative Systems Biology at Imperial College) signify the rising opportunities that cross-disciplinary research can offer. A*STAR recognises the need to capture new opportunities and is well-positioned to do so through the integration of its existing capabilities and strategic advantages built over the years:

• Strong and deep research expertise in specific domains and disciplines spanning across biomedical sciences to physical sciences and engineering.

• Close proximity of biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering researchers, shared

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GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE

research facilities and infrastructure made possible by the co-location of Biopolis and Fusionopolis research powerhouses.

• Close linkages with sister agencies such as EDB and SPRING and close networks with industry facilitate the solicitation of industry feedback and collaborations on emerging market opportunities. The Joint Council Office (JCO) was established in end of 2007 with the mandate to foster joint council research within A*STAR in a systematic and coordinated approach. Building on the success to-date, A*STAR will expand its efforts on joint council research and develop it as an important strategic thrust in A*STAR’s scientific agenda.

Joint Council Agenda in STEP2015 In STEP2015, A*STAR will continue to foster Joint Council collaborative research by building an eco-system that facilitates interaction and creates opportunities to allow multidisciplinary ideas to come together and cross-pollinate through top-down and bottom-up approaches. This is in response to the opportunity for a portfolio approach to develop higher-risk, longer-term R&D that could potentially yield big winners. Advances in technology and global trends have created new prospects and challenges in the cross-disciplinary space. In the top-down approach, significant resources will be allocated for strategic areas identified in the multidisciplinary space. These initiatives will leverage on existing capabilities to develop new thematic areas as well as enable A*STAR to build up a whole new suite of capabilities. To complement the top-down approach for strategic research programmes, JCO will also be rolling out several new initiatives to grow community interest in joint council research through empowering individual groups as well as the younger research scientists and engineers in A*STAR. In addition, JCO will foster the development of interdisciplinary scientific capabilities through interaction and collaborative platforms to instill new mindsets within the A*STAR research community to engage in inter-disciplinary research. 42

GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE A*STAR’s R&D efforts have been focused on attracting and anchoring MNCs in four large economic clusters namely biomedical sciences, electronics & infocommunications, engineering and chemicals & energy. Along with the growing influence and economic power of Asia in the world economy and as globalisation of Asian enterprises gain speed, there is a need for Singapore to further strengthen the competitiveness of these economic clusters and position itself as a leading global business location and Asia’s Innovation Capital.

* Biomedical Sciences Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology (Pharmbio) The global market for medicines is expanding as a result of population increase, growing affluence in E7 countries (comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey) and new medical needs. It is projected that by 2020, the market will be worth US$1.3 trillion, representing 2.5 times increase from the current US$518 billion market1 . To remain competitive, pharmbio companies are employing novel business models. MNCs such as GlaxoSmithkline, Pfizer and Roche have begun to adopt a more collaborative approach and outsource their R&D activities to academic and public sector collaborators. Pharmbio companies are also expanding into Asia to capitalise on emerging opportunities, markets and talent pool. This is not only due to the opening up of markets in China and India, but also because of the increasing burden of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer. As many of these diseases manifest differently in Asian ethnic groups, pharmbio companies seeking to develop therapies and diagnostics for Asian patients will need to partner with scientists who have a deep understanding of disease biology in Asian populations as well as access to patients from the ethnic groups that represent the largest populations in Asia. 1

Pharma 2020: The Vision, PWC Report 2007

With a comprehensive suite of BMS R&D scientific capabilities, the ability to integrate efforts across the entire value chain as well as a growing pool of scientific thought leaders and clinician-scientists around specific areas of disease and disease biology, Singapore is well-placed to capture these growing opportunities. Companies are also attracted by Singapore’s ability to carry out proof-of-concept (POC) and early phase clinical trials in a multi-ethnic/Asian-representative captive patient pool, the availability of well-phenotyped longitudinal population/cohort studies and a robust and credible ethical and regulatory framework (including Institutional Review Boards and good intellectual property (IP) protection).

Biologics Biologics is the fastest-growing segment of the pharmbio industry. It involves complex manufacturing processes to develop new technologies or products in areas such as cell therapy, vaccines and antibodies. According to the Biotechnology Industry Organisation, there are more than 400 biotechnology drug products and vaccines currently in clinical trials, targeting more than 200 diseases, including various cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, diabetes, AIDS and arthritis. BMRC has attracted industry interest based on its capability in cell therapy and vaccines/ antibody development platforms. Going forward, BMRC will continue to build on its strengths in bioprocess technology for biologics manufacturing, human immunology for development of vaccines and therapeutic antibodies as well as stem cell research and regenerative medicine to engage industry partners to capture this fast growing market. Partnering with industry in biologics R&D projects at the early discovery stage will also enable Singapore to have a higher chance of retaining other opportunities further down the value chain within Singapore. This is because the development and pilot manufacturing of biologics are closely linked processes - the subsequent scale-up process development and industrial scale manufacturing require deep expertise transfer from the development stages.

Pharmbio Proof-of-Concept (POC) Projects Increasingly, pharmaceutical companies and venture capitalists (VCs) are preferentially interested in projects that already show POC data in man. They are also keen to partner with public sector organisations to take their candidates to a POC stage. This presents an innovation gap in the biomedical area between basic research and late stage clinical developments. Through the spectrum of capabilities built up in BMRC and by partnering with the extramural community (including the academic medical centres, investigational medicine units, Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA)) in a coordinated manner, BMRC and Singapore BMS community could take hits/leads to the product candidate stage where they are mature enough to be attractive to downstream partners in the pharmbio industry. Besides the upside from potential licensing deals with the pharmbio industry, there are other intangible benefits, such as allowing BMRC researchers and relevant authorities and regulatory to gain the experience of bringing a candidate through the drug development process, and appreciating industry go-and-no-go decisions.

Medical Technology (Medtech) Today, Singapore hosts 27 manufacturing plants and 25 R&D centres from leading medtech companies such as Applied Biosystems, Becton Dickinson, Edwards Life Sciences and Siemens. Because of its established research capabilities in bioengineering, bioimaging, precision engineering and manufacturing technologies, A*STAR believes that Singapore is able to attract many other top medtech companies and grow this sector in a significant way. In particular, BMRC will contribute its biology expertise in the area of novel diagnostics/life science instrumentations. For example, efforts in biomarker discovery and validation at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) in 2009 led to the development of the H1N1 birdflu virus detection surveillance tool that allows the monitoring of the virus as it evolves in the population. The technology development of PET imaging modalities as a mammogram tool at the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) could contribute 43

GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE Fig 4-3: SERC’s Focus Areas in Data Storage

towards game-changing medical treatment for breast cancer in Asians. Knowledge of blood-brain barriers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnolgy (IBN) could lead to the effective and safe delivery of drugs through nanoparticles. BMRC’s capabilities will synergise with those of the physical sciences & engineering to deliver impactful and innovative medtech solutions.

Moving forward, SERC is shifting emphasis to new research efforts including the 10 Terabits per square inch programme, non-volatile memory programme and the network storage and services programme. These industryrelevant capabilities provide SERC the competitive edge needed to partner with the private sector, to commercialise more efficient data storage technologies.

Semiconductors

* Electronics Data Storage As hard disk drive (HDD) companies consolidate and move up the value chain to offer data storage services, Singapore’s data storage sector will have to move up the value chain to undertake enterprise network storage manufacturing thereby expanding Singapore’s leadership in hard disk media production and data storage services. Areas of focus include media, HDD, solid-state drive (SSD), storage software and system integration. SERC’s data storage programme integrates mature capabilities to support current and future needs of the data storage sector. Its expertise lies in spintronics, media and interface, mechatronics and recording channels, optical materials and systems, and network storage technologies. 44

In the semiconductor sector, SERC has built up strong capabilities in areas such as integrated circuits and sub-systems, IC design, packaging, CMOS and MEMS processes, and integrated circuit devices. In recent years, as incumbent miniaturisation technologies approach atomic limits and conventional device scaling reaches physical limits, the ability to develop more complex versions of the same system components is fast reaching its end. Industry players will have to adopt a diversified and integrative approach which taps on ‘More-than-Moore’ capabilities. Through the investment in a 12-inch state-of-theart fabrication facility, SERC will play a leading role in contributing towards global technological advances in the field of microelectronics. These are vital capabilities needed to ensure Singapore’s electronics sector continue to create high value-add manufacturing activities and attract major investments to Singapore.

Fig 4-4: SERC’s Focus Areas in Semiconductors

In the coming years, SERC RIs will strengthen capabilities that support the development of integrated sensors, actuators, biomedical devices, diagnostic kits, MEMS devices, wireless and lowpower electronics, energy storage devices, nanoelectronics, silicon-photonics and advanced packaging. These capabilities will enable the development of technology platforms to meet the needs of new growth industries such as avionics, clean energy, maritime and medical engineering.

* Infocommunications The infocommunications (infocomm) cluster is a large and disparate sector representing business needs from hardware manufacturing, software development to service provisions. A*STAR has built capabilities and will continue to develop them to support the infocomm cluster. These include ubiquitous communication, multimedia processing, intelligence, sensing, services and security. To retain Singapore’s position as a global telecommunications innovation centre, SERC will develop and partner with industry in the implementation of novel technologies that build on the next generation broadband network infrastructure.

Data analytics and higher forms of data exploitation are receiving more attention from enterprises, governments and research communities, and are increasingly moving to analysing real-time information flows. The data management and analytics industry is estimated to be worth more than US$100 billion and is growing at almost 10% a year, roughly twice as fast as the software business as a whole. The research focus on data analytics is synergistic with Singapore’s vision for an integrated information infrastructure starting with the sharing and agglomeration of data collected by public entities and convenient access to quality geospatial information, to provide insight into the decision making and service delivery process. Fig 4-5: SERC’s Focus Areas in Infocommunications

One of the key areas in the infocomm space is data analytics – the process of turning data into knowledge. 45

GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE Research will focus on developing the service framework and architecture to support cloud-based architecture and programming models. Technologies will be developed to address data security and privacy issues to protect the data in the shared cloud-based ecosystem as they are being created, stored, accessed, transferred and processed.

Research in pervasive microfluidics will involve the development of high volume manufacturing of microfluidics-based devices. Priority will be given to the creation of a library of process capabilities, laying down of standards for device design and manufacturing, innovations in cost-effective manufacturing technologies viable for mass production and development of technology platforms for application testing.

* Engineering & Manufacturing

Research initiatives in printed electronics will develop materials, electronics and large area process capabilities for the manufacture of high value printed electronics in Singapore.

Precision Engineering Manufacturing is a key pillar of Singapore’s economy. The manufacturing sector in Singapore has driven the transformation of the Singapore economy from one that is labour intensive to one that is high value-added and knowledge intensive. SERC RIs will continue to advance their manufacturing capabilities through the development and use of advanced materials, enhance the speed to commercialisation from R&D and adopt a systems approach to technology solutions. Research in advanced materials will focus on the synthesis and engineering of materials for enhanced properties and new functionalities. These will include the development of new, light-weight, high-strength and sustainable materials that leverage on new understandings in nano-science and biomimetic materials. In addition, SERC has identified strategic research areas to promote high value manufacturing which include pervasive microfluidics, printed electronics, nano-manufacturing of multi-functional products and devices and sustainable manufacturing. Fig 4-6: SERC’s Focus Areas in Precision Engineering

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A*STAR’s strategy for research in nano-manufacturing of multi-functional products and devices will leverage on existing strengths to develop two key areas, namely fabrication of nano-structures and instrumentation at the nano-scale, to integrate the formulation of engineering rules for nano-fabrication scale-up, POC of nano-products and devices, and innovative nano-scale analytical devices. In sustainable manufacturing, SERC will collaborate with local and international research communities and industries to build capabilities in sustainable manufacturing technologies and services that minimise toxicity, emissions and waste.

Transport Engineering: Aerospace The aerospace industry is a fast-growing sector with a compound annual growth rate of 13% since 1990. With an aircraft MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) market share which accounts for a quarter of the Asia Pacific business and 7-8% of the global market, and the anchoring of world leading companies such as ST Fig 4--7: SERC’s Focus Areas in Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace, General Electronics, Pratt & Whitney, Boeing and Rolls Royce, Singapore has achieved a strong leadership position in this sector. Furthermore, the sector has created good jobs for Singaporeans, with an increasing skills content in which many Singaporeans have strong interest.

total output of S$20.1 billion in FY2009, an increase from S$16.3 billion in FY2007. The sector also contributed 9.4% of total manufacturing output and 12.2% of total manufacturing value-added. The industry employed close to 70,000 people with skilled employment of almost 12,000 people.

The A*STAR Aerospace Consortium was set up in 2007 to engage companies in pre-competitive research to drive innovation across the aviation industry and enhance the competitiveness of local companies. A*STAR was awarded the Aerospace R&D organisation of the year at the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Aerospace and Defense Awards.

A*STAR already has a number of R&D initiatives targeted at growing the marine and offshore sector. Major ones include the Offshore Technology Research Programme (OTRP), Maritime Port Authority (MPA) - Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) Maritime Research Programme, and the Joint MPA-Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) Infocomm@Seaport Programme.

Moving forward, the research focus for aerospace will still be in MRO, with new focus in manufacturing technologies. SERC will continue to use the Aerospace Programme to work with the Queen Bees for the latest aircraft technologies such as composite materials and avionics. Partnering with SPRING, the programme will also develop the SMEs to anchor Singapore as the place for total MRO solutions. The new focus in manufacturing technologies will be in engine-related technologies for supporting the emerging needs at the Seletar Air Hub.

In addition, A*STAR also has pockets of capabilities that enable Singapore to capitalise on new opportunity in deepwater drilling. For instance, the high temperature electronics R&D capabilities available at the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) can be expanded to ruggedised electronics R&D for high temperature high pressure (HTHP) applications. Data Storage Institute (DSI)’s research in ruggedised high-density memory can be customised for offshore deepwater applications and the research on manufacturing technologies at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) can be applied to downhole and subsea equipment makers.

Transport Engineering: Marine & Offshore In the marine and offshore sector, Singapore has achieved global leadership through an indigenous industry. The marine and offshore sector recorded a

In 2010, A*STAR, together with EDB, set up the Marine & Offshore Taskforce (MOTF) to identify the public sector R&D strategy and research agenda which will support

Fig 4-8: Marine and Offshore R&D Capabilities and Strategy

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GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE

Singapore’s marine, offshore and oil & gas equipment and services industry to achieve a strong and sustainable competitive advantage. MOTF’s vision is to establish Singapore as an Integrated Global Marine & Offshore Hub, to be the “Norway and Houston of the East”. This involves a three-pronged strategy of ensuring sustained leadership position for Singapore’s major yards via productivity initiatives, growing the oil & gas equipment and services sector as an additional pillar for the marine and offshore industry beyond the shipyards and growing Singapore’s base of marine and offshore knowledge and technology. Moving forward, SERC’s strategy is to launch holistic efforts, working with the whole marine and offshore community (including relevant government agencies, academia, industries and international experts), to sustain the competitive advantages of the industry. SERC will also leverage and integrate existing capabilities at the RIs and develop an R&D agenda to address Singapore’s technology and capability gap to support the offshore deepwater segment of the marine & offshore cluster. Key programmes identified include (1) Deepwater platform design & oil production including subsea systems; (2) Specialised vessel design including emerging clean & engine technology; (3) Composite materials for marine & offshore applications; (4) Advanced ruggedised electronics for equipment & sensor design including logging systems; (5) Oil & gas equipment manufacturing; and (6) Reservoir information & data acquisition.

* Chemicals & Energy The chemicals and energy industry, the largest manufacturing cluster after electronics, is a key contributor to Singapore’s economy. As one of the world’s top three exporting refining centres, Singapore has attracted major investments from many leading global petrochemical and specialty chemicals companies, such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Mitsui Chemicals, BASF and LANXESS. As the chemical and energy industry moves into its next phase of growth, Singapore will focus on developing longterm sustainability with the development of competitive

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and diversified feedstock options for companies, as well as high value specialty chemicals and advanced materials. To enhance the competitiveness of Singapore’s chemicals industry, a new ‘Jurong Island version 2.0’ initiative will be implemented to develop technology solutions to optimise resources such as energy, carbon, water and land for the island. SERC will participate in these efforts to enhance value through R&D to move the industry up the value chain. The focus will be on R&D that meets industry needs including identifying competitive energy and feedstock options, developing carbon mitigation solutions and achieving leadership in the specialty chemicals space. On the energy front, in making its recommendations, the ESC Subcommittee on “Ensuring Energy Resilience and Sustainable Growth” concluded that the global energy challenge is a problem that Singapore, as an open and small nation state, will have to grapple with, and that having affordable, clean and reliable energy will be essential for Singapore’s continued economic growth and competitiveness. To meet these challenges and seek economic opportunities from global energy developments, the Subcommittee’s recommendation was for Singapore to become a smart energy economy that is resilient, sustainable and innovative. Aligning to this, the National Energy Research Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Strategy (2011-2015) envisaged Energy RD&D as an enabler for Singapore to achieve broader energy policy objectives of growing economic competitiveness, enhancing energy security, and securing environmental sustainability. To achieve these objectives, Singapore needs to adopt a portfolio approach to its RD&D strategy, focusing on system-level solutions and technologies closer to demonstration/ commercialisation, with appropriate links to upstream research, while leveraging on Singapore’s value propositions as a competitive business location and a “living lab”, with strong manufacturing base and whole of government synergy across government agencies. Together with various government agencies, A*STAR’s R&D initiatives will span three focus areas of developing intelligent energy infrastructure and addressing both supply and demand issues.

Fig 4-9: SERC’s Focus Areas in Chemicals And Energy

A*STAR’s Intelligent Energy Distributed System (IEDS) R&D programme aims to develop local capabilities in smart grid technologies. In addition, A*STAR has established the Experimental Power Grid Centre (EPGC) to enable the research and experimental testbedding of next-generation smart grid technologies and distributed energy systems, in partnerships with industry players and government agencies such as the Energy Market Authority (EMA). The EPGC will also play a key role in supporting the R&D of national initiatives to promote the use of electric vehicles and energy efficiency for buildings, industry and homes. On the supply side, solar is recognised as a potential renewable energy sources that can help enhance Singapore’s energy resilience and environmental sustainability. A*STAR will continue in its research efforts with industry partners to seek technological breakthroughs in the development of solar photovoltaic through innovations in new materials, device designs, plastic electronics and manufacturing. On the demand side, the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES) is developing carbon conversion and utilisation (CCU) solutions, positioning Singapore as a key node for CCU RD&D.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES LEVERAGING ON INTEGRATED CAPABILITIES Leveraging on its span of biomedical and science and engineering capabilities and strengths in flexibly creating and organising research programmes that transcend cluster and disciplinary boundaries, A*STAR is in an excellent position to pre-position Singapore to capture emerging market opportunities that have a science and technology base and to translate crossdisciplinary research into value-creating innovations. Besides strengthening the competitiveness of existing economic clusters, A*STAR is also leveraging on integrated capabilities across the biomedical and the physical sciences and engineering disciplines to exploit new opportunities in areas such as medtech and nutrition & personal care products.

* Medical Technology Innovation and Enterprise

Medtech encompasses technologies such as devices, equipment, as well as IT platforms that diagnose, treat and/or improve human healthcare. The medtech industry, though smaller in revenue size as compared to the pharmaceutical industry, is a rapidly growing industry with high profit margins, supported by 49

GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE Fig 4-10: Medtech R&D Capabilities and Strategy

high value manufacturing. Strategically, this makes medtech a highly attractive cluster that can boost Singapore’s economy, and at the same time leverage on the nation’s existing strengths in engineering, manufacturing and biomedical sciences.

Fostering Innovations and Innovators Central to A*STAR’s medtech strategy is to foster innovations, innovators and collaborations. To foster innovations, A*STAR will continue to leverage on the Biomedical Engineering Programme (BEP), a competitive grant first conceived in 2008 aimed at engaging the local clinical community with A*STAR

A*STAR – CIMIT COLLABORATION The A*STAR - CIMIT collaboration will cover the following aspects: • Adopting and adapting CIMIT’s model (“Find, Fund & Facilitate”) into BEP to strengthen the innovation process. • Late stage R&D of commercialisation projects from CIMIT (funded beyond proof-of-concept) in Singapore to increase pipeline of commercialisable projects. • Launching Joint Grant Calls to support upstream and collaborative projects between Boston clinicians and Singapore engineers and/or clinicians. 50

scientists and engineers, to develop cost-effective innovations through a needs-driven approach. A*STAR will also collaborate with the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT), a consortium of Boston-based hospitals and engineering schools, whose primary mission is to improve patient care through medtech innovations by facilitating collaborations among scientists, engineers and clinicians. To foster medical device innovators, A*STAR partners with EDB, hospitals, Schools of Medicine, Engineering and Business in NUS and Schools of Engineering and Business in NTU to establish the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign (SSB) programme in Singapore.

* Nutrition and Personal Care

Products

Increasing population growth, urbanisation and greater consumer affluence in Asia have led to the expansion of the personal care, food and nutrition industries. Opportunities are abundant in the global consumer market, which hit US$227 billion globally in 2005 and is due to reach US$265 billion in 2010. Singapore’s capabilities in chemistry, food sciences, biomedical sciences and engineering have translated into well-skilled manpower for knowledge-intensive manufacturing and specialist R&D activities and innovation.

SINGAPORE - STANFORD BIODESIGN (SSB) PROGRAMME

Modelled after the Stanford Biodesign Programme, the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign (SSB) Programme is a prestigious multidisciplinary educational programme to train the next generation of Asian medical technology innovators and leaders. Its curriculum (“the Biodesign Process”) is designed to encompass the entire value chain of medical device innovation from the identification of unmet clinical needs, to invention, prototyping, commercialisation implementation and business plan writing and pitching. Additionally, SSB also aims to customise the “Biodesign Process” to characterise an Asian medical device innovation process that is relevant to industry and healthcare needs in Asia. This know-how will be highly valuable to BEP and will help Singapore stay competitive with other leading innovation centers globally. The SSB programme consists of two components: (i) a highly competitive year-long postgraduate fellowship where 4-8 fellows from diverse backgrounds (medicine, engineering, business) are selected to be trained per year and (ii) a 2-quarter graduate student class for 25-30 people, jointly run by the Engineering, Business and Medical Schools from NUS and NTU.

A*STAR’s strengths and capabilities have also begun to attract interest from companies outside of the traditional pharmbio and medtech fields. Manufacturers in the nutrition and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry have approached A*STAR RIs to seek collaborations that can lead to products and applications in skin care, nutrition and personal care. To build on these interests, A*STAR has jointly identified with EDB the areas of nutrition and personal care for research and industry development, leveraging existing investment to widen the opportunities for industry engagement and investment. Going forward, A*STAR will actively work with companies in the nutrition, skin care and personal care industries to seek out more opportunities for collaboration and commercialisation. In the area of nutrition, A*STAR will focus on obesity and diabetes management, health and high value foods, food processing and safety, food ingredients, and food efficacy and satiety. This can potentially lead to the development of innovative fortified foods that meet the needs of specific metabolic disease patient groups and specially formulated food that prevents food allergies. Relevant research capabilities include clinical epigenetics and phenotyping, developmental biology, immunology, manufacturing technology, modelling and simulation, chemical synthesis and extraction of flavours and natural products as well as food packaging techniques. Fig 4-11: Nutrition R&D Capabilities and Strategy

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GROWING ECONOMIC CLUSTERS THROUGH IMPACTFUL SCIENCE Fig 4-12: Personal Care R&D Capabilities and Strategy

In the area of personal care, A*STAR’s strategy is to focus on areas where there is capability to be at the leading edge and to seek industrial partners who can leverage on these capabilities to advance their research and manufacturing activities in Singapore. Focus areas will include hair care, skin care, personal care, and fabrics and home. A*STAR’s understanding of Asian physiology and biology presents exciting opportunities for the development of innovative products tailored for the growing Asian market. For example, differences in skin architecture and susceptibility to UV rays alter the composition of skin care products for Asian population. Research capabilities include computational modelling and simulation of hair and skin, development of functional polymers for encapsulation, development of lubricants and protection layers, development of a nano-imprint for anti-bacterial growth, micro and double emulsion for topical delivery, cell-based diagnostic devices, modelling of mechanical stress and ageing on skin, as well as drug delivery techniques with hydrogels.

ENGAGING AND SUPPORTING THE EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY A*STAR will continue to lead and engage the broader extramural research community such as the hospitals, universities and the polytechnics, in its efforts to 52

enhance the competitiveness of existing industry clusters and to create new industry clusters to sustain Singapore’s economy. Besides collaborating with and engaging key members of the extramural research community to be members of industry consortia, A*STAR will also continue to fund and support research in the extramural research community. Where possible, grants would be provided to build up industry-aligned capabilities and industry collaboration initiatives, as well as the development of multidisciplinary and integrated programmes with early industry involvement. BMRC will be tapping onto the BMS Open Collaborative Fund managed by the BMS Executive Committee to deepen its engagement with the universities and hospitals, and to strengthen TCR capabilities in Singapore. SERC’s Public Sector Funding (PSF) grants will support high quality research at the local Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and to seed capabilities which SERC can tap on in the future. SERC will also assist in setting up GET-Up programmes at the polytechnics and its COIs. In addition, scientific shared facilities will continue to be available to the extramural research community. Through engaging and supporting the extramural research community in a synergistic manner, A*STAR can further integrate, push and expand its research capabilities for greater economic impact for Singapore.

Chapter 5

PUTTING SCIENCE TO USE In understanding how R&D can deliver value through the commercialisation of intellectual properties and establish Singapore as Asia’s Innovation Capital, this chapter looks at the innovation and enterprise (I&E) strategies and initiatives in A*STAR that will bring its technologies from mind to market.

5

PUTTING SCIENCE TO USE

As a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade & Industry (MTI), A*STAR’s mission and work is closely aligned to industry needs. To further facilitate the transition from mind to market and strengthen the innovation and enterprise (I&E) value chain, five mechanisms have been identified. They include: (1) engaging the industry, (2) facilitating the use of intellectual properties (IPs), (3) securing gap funding, (4) encouraging entrepreneurship and commercialisation and (5) spurring new growth through open innovation (see Figure 5-1).

enhance their technological edge through the transfer of technology and know-how from the RIs.

ENGAGING THE INDUSTRY

This A*STAR-CIMIT collaboration will potentially result in the co-development of IPs between A*STAR, the universities, hospitals and CIMIT. Other potential outcomes of the collaboration include the creation of more high-level and high-skill jobs in the growing medtech industry, the creation of value to large medtech companies in Singapore, and the gearing effect with local manufacturers as part of the supply chain.

A*STAR proactively engages the industry at various stages of the research and commercialisation continuum to facilitate knowledge and technology transfer, as well as to ensure better alignment between upstream research and downstream commercialisation efforts.

* Research Collaborations A*STAR seeks to engage top international research organisations through bilateral collaborations, or direct one-to-one research and development (R&D) collaborations between a private company and A*STAR Research Institute (RI). This allows the companies to

In Nov 2009, A*STAR announced a collaboration with the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT), a consortium of Boston-based hospitals and engineering schools. Bringing together practitioners and researchers in a use-driven platform, it not only creates greater opportunities for impactful innovations in the area of medical technology (medtech), but more importantly, it provides an environment conducive to training innovators for the growing medtech industry in Singapore.

A*STAR’s Lab-in-RI initiative, a form of bilateral collaborations where A*STAR RIs provide private sector companies with state-of-the-art infrastructure and scientific support at an early stage of the R&D projects, enable companies to jumpstart their R&D activities in Singapore before making major capital investments.

Fig 5-1: Strengthening the Innovation and Enterprise Value Chain

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Such collaborations have led to the establishment of corporate R&D labs by multi-national companies (MNCs) in Singapore. For example, Hewlett-Packard set up its first corporate R&D lab in Southeast Asia in Fusionopolis in Feb 2010, after an earlier 3-year joint research programme with the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), when they created the HP Shared Services Platform Laboratory. Likewise, in May 2007, the Data Storage Institute (DSI) collaborated with Fujitsu Asia to establish the first Storage Area Network (SAN) Academy in Singapore to foster R&D, training and offer end-user services for SAN technologies. Subsequently, in Jan 2010, Fujitsu and IHPC entered into a collaborative R&D partnership on petascale computing in Singapore. As a result, Fujitsu set up their corporate lab in Biopolis in May 2010. Going forward, in line with the recommendation of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC), A*STAR will continue to engage MNCs and gobally competitive companies (GCCs) through bilateral collaboration platforms. A*STAR will also actively secure bilateral collaborations with other international R&D research organisations.

facilitate both bilateral and multi-lateral collaborations among the members. Lastly, consortia serve as learning platforms for industry to gain new insights from users in the research community, which may facilitate the advancement of technology and the development of new protocols and techniques. Following the success achieved with the A*STAR Aerospace Consortium which was launched in Jan 2007, various consortia have been established including the 3D Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) Consortium in 2009 and the Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) Consortium in 2010. Going forward, playing to Singapore’s strengths in organising itself through a Singapore Inc and whole of government approach, A*STAR will continue to establish selected consortia (particularly industries in the new growth areas such as clean energy and urban solutions), in partnership with industry (including MNCs, GCCs and local enterprises), to develop leads and exchange ideas that will encourage technology adoption.

* Industry Consortia

* Centres of Innovation (COIs)

Increasingly, industry consortia leveraging on the wide spectrum of technical expertise in the RIs have been key in helping local industries upgrade and move up the value chain. There are several important reasons for this.

Establishing focused Centres of Innovation (COIs) is another way in which A*STAR engages the industry. The physical setup of COIs allows local enterprises to approach the host RI to seek specific technological assistance and expertise thus helping local enterprises upgrade their capabilities, acquire advanced manufacturing expertise and gain access to strategic manpower training.

Firstly, such programmes provide the conduit and opportunities for local companies to work with MNCs through research collaborations or membership programmes, and to backward integrate into upstream innovation and R&D activities, that are often limited due to resource and capability constraints. This cultivates a strong local supplier base for the MNCs, and helps local enterprises develop keen market sense and capabilities that may have export potential. Secondly, industry competitors who may otherwise not collaborate can be brought together into a common space to work on pre-competitive research areas that will benefit all parties. In addition, the consortia provide platforms to inform members on the broad developments within the sector, and at the same time,

One success story is the Precision Engineering Centre of Innovation (PE-COI), a joint-initiative launched in 2007 by A*STAR and SPRING Singapore to empower local manufacturing companies to adopt technology innovation. Hosted at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), the centre offers comprehensive infrastructure of technical manpower, equipment and facilities, and manufacturing IT resources for local enterprises to upgrade their manufacturing capabilities and accelerate the development of new products, equipment and processes. 55


As Singapore adopts a broad-based, facilitative strategy to upgrade the capabilities of local enterprises, the COIs at both the RIs and polytechnics will play bigger roles in the next five years. A*STAR will continue to replicate the COIs in growth areas such as medtech and clean energy.

* Growing Enterprises with Technology

Upgrade (GET-Up)

A*STAR also reaches out to local enterprises via the Growing Enterprises with Technology Upgrade (GETUp) programme, a pro-active holistic and integrated approach aimed at boosting the global competitiveness of local technology-intensive enterprises. It leverages the existing schemes of EDB, SPRING Singapore and IE Singapore, as well as the technical capabilities of the A*STAR RIs, to address the financial, human resource and technology constraints that enterprises face. Going forward, the GET-Up programme will take on a greater role in strengthening industry engagement by working with the RIs and the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) for a coordinated and comprehensive strategy. For a start, the GET-Up programme will be scaled up and multiplied through involvement of the polytechnics. Announced in Apr 2010, four COIs in local polytechnics came on board the GET-Up programme to help more local enterprises upgrade their R&D capabilities to stay competitive. They are the Food Innovation Resource Centre at Singapore Polytechnic, the Centre of Innovation for Electronics at Nanyang Polytechnic, and the Marine & Offshore Technology Centre of Excellence and the Environment & Water Technology Centre at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. With the polytechnics’ participation in the GET-Up programme, local enterprises will now have a bigger pool of public sector research performers to tap on. They will have more access to R&D expertise, scientific resources and industry network to accelerate innovations. This will help them to upgrade their capability, increase their productivity and boost their competitiveness.

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GET-Up Programme To help companies identify and plan for technologies that are relevant to their businesses and tap on expert talent, the GET-Up programme adopts three key tools, namely the Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up), Operation & Technology Roadmapping (OTR) and the Technical Adviser (TA) scheme.

Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) The T-Up initiative is a multi-agency effort by A*STAR, EDB, SPRING Singapore, IE Singapore and IDA in which research scientists and engineers (RSEs) from A*STAR RIs are seconded to local enterprises. The RIs match suitable RSEs to the company, based on the R&D projects and requirements in mind. Partial funding by SPRING Singapore is provided for the salary of the RSEs (for up to two years). After this period, there is an option for companies to retain the seconded staff on a full-time basis if there is mutual agreement. Operation & Technology Roadmapping (OTR) The OTR provides the ‘big’ picture view of technology required to meet the various business and market needs. This ensures that any technology introduced is relevant to the company and will have a direct impact on its business. At the end of the technology roadmapping process, the company will have a defined technology roadmap created by its key staff with support from the relevant RIs’ technology specialists. This will enable the company to link business objectives with the required technology development and to plan a R&D strategy with the key themes identified. Technical Adviser (TA) In the TA scheme, senior scientists with in-depth knowledge of the technologies used by a company, can advise senior management on the changing technology landscape and recommend new technologies needed by organisations. Unlike OTR which seeks to outline a wide-ranging technology adoption timeline that is aligned with the company’s business objectives, TA provides a more focused & in-depth support on one or two key technical issues faced by the company, assistance in formulating new projects, and acts as a bridge to seek assistance and contacts from the various RIs.

Fig 5 -2: GET-Up Programme and Achievements (as at 31 Mar 2011)

SUCCESS STORIES FROM GET-Up Programme

CEI Contract Manufacturing Ltd, an electronics manufacturing services provider, engaged DSI’s Mr Chuah Chong Wei on a 2-year T-Up project titled ‘Technology and Capability Development for Opto-mechanical Instruments’. The project was completed successfully with CEI attaining production qualification for High Level Assembly and Test for its U.S. customer, Zygo’s metrology product. This led to increased revenue of S$1 million for CEI. The T-Up had also helped CEI to create a new line of optics and photonics engineering service offerings and enabled CEI to venture into new market segments such as medical instrumentation and semiconductor equipments. Mr Chuah was recruited by CEI after the T-Up project and continued to support CEI’s Optics and Photonics technical requirements and develop new process technologies.

ESCO Audio Visual, an audio-visual integration company, has been providing consultancy and integration services for diverse technologies from all over the world in the last 20 years. They had an initial product concept for an innovative facilities reservation system, called NEMO, but needed expertise to take the idea through. Facilitators under GET-UP’s OTR services worked with them to develop a 3-year product strategy that includes development of technologies for production and manufacturing, as well as the marketing, line development and branding of NEMO. The strength of the plan convinced a Swedish firm to develop and market NEMO jointly. The product is almost ready and will be ready to launch in markets in the U.S. and Europe.

SETSCO has identified an increased demand for materials testing and failure analysis from companies operating in the packaging and assembly sectors of the microelectronics industry in the region. With its strength in chemical analysis, it wanted to meet this demand but lack this industry-specific capability. An A*STAR researcher was thus seconded to the company to build up the company’s capability through a transfer of knowledge and skills in failure analysis. Now, SETSCO is able to expand its range of services and add greater value to its customers in the region. Pantone 286U (Uncoated)

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* A*STAR Private Consultancy

Scheme

FACILITATING THE USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTies

The scientific knowledge and experience of A*STAR researchers are valuable assets which are much sought after by industry. A*STAR recognises that while several programmes have been in place to second its researchers to industry through Research Collaboration Agreements (RCAs) and the GET-Up programme, more can be done especially in the area of private consultancy.

IP management is an integral part of the process of bringing intellectual capital to industry. Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL), the commercialisation arm of A*STAR, works with various stakeholders to develop an integrated and aligned IP strategy based on factors such as thematic commercialisation and qualitative indices. ETPL also identifies IP-savvy companies to adopt the developed IPs.

Consultancy is encouraged in A*STAR as it forms part of its mission to train and contribute to the research capabilities of private sector R&D. A*STAR supports consulting work that enables researchers to draw on their professional capabilities to contribute to the development of their respective professions, catalyse the entrepreneurial exploitation of research undertaken in the RIs, and/or have direct experience of commercial considerations in the business world. The A*STAR Private Consultancy Scheme, implemented in Sep 2009, allows senior researchers to take on private consultancy work in their personal capacity while being employed by the RIs. In doing so, A*STAR researchers will be able to apply industry knowledge and networks gained from consulting in their research.

Joint Grant Calls with External Agencies & Private Sector Companies

*

To further engage industry and boost the mind-tomarket pipeline, A*STAR will be exploring further joint grant calls with external agencies and private sector companies.

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* Licensing of A*STAR Technologies During the period FY06-10, more than 220 licenses were signed, with total realised license revenue of about S$5.5 million. Not withstanding, Singapore is still in the early stages of commercialisng its intellectual capital and has yet to hit blockbusters. It is also noted that the current technology-push approach alone is not sufficient to attract increased adoption rates from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and MNCs. To address this, ETPL provides technology and commercialisation intelligence to researchers in the form of specific industry trends and market needs, prior to the start of their research projects. This has been successfully carried out with scientists from the Institute of Bioengineering & Nanotechnology (IBN), and will be extended to other RIs. Moving forward, to aid in the licensing process, ETPL will work with the RIs to translate the technology further downstream, i.e. to be more commercially-ready, as well as work with potential licensees in integrating the technology into their existing operations.

SECURING GAP FUNDING Funding is and will continue to be a critical resource for successful commercialisation of technologies. Typically, funding support for the development of a technology from the RIs stops at the IP stage; more funding is often needed to translate the IP created into market-ready technologies for commercial use. At A*STAR, two types of in-house funding, namely Commercialisation of Technology (COT) and Flagship funding, are provided to bridge the gap needed to take projects with strong commercialisation potential further. To increase the chances of success, shortlisted projects are put through in-depth due diligence on both technical and commercial aspects to ascertain the challenges faced to enhance industry adoption. This is complemented by marketing strategies and deeper engagement with industry to enable better proliferation of A*STAR technologies to the industries. Besides enhancing the chances of success in the marketplace, COT and Flagship funding have attracted industry dollars to co-fund projects. In the last five years, ETPL managed to attract 29% of external funding from industry partners for COT and Flagship projects. This is significant as it represents growing industry participation and validation of A*STAR’s projects.

* Commercialisation of Technology (COT) Funding

COT funding provides “technology incubation” for the development of proof-of-concept (POC) or a prototype for commercial adoption. In addition, ETPL provides technology intelligence and supports engineering development. The COT initiative has gained good momentum. Since 2006, the total number of COT projects per year has increased from 7 to more than 20 projects in FY2010 and the grant amount has also grown from S$0.75 million to S$6 million in 2010. COT-funded projects have also resulted in 10 spin-offs from A*STAR.

Commercial Outcomes from Commercialisation of Technology (COT) IP Licensing to SME AIT Biotech, a business division of Advance Interactive Technologies (AIT) group, a quality industrial IT hardware to solutions provider in Australia and the South Pacific region, licensed five different diagnostic assay technologies (TB, HIV, Flu, Chikungunya, Dengue), of which three have generated sales. Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) are currently using the diagnostic kits to screen and diagnose all Chikungunya and Dengue cases in Singapore due to the high specificity, sensitivity and multiplexing capability of A*STAR’s technology. The technology was developed by Dr Masafumi Inoue who was with the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) during the development, but is currently in the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC). Spin-off The initial research at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) focused on analysing traffic for well-known “bad” applications such as file sharing systems that can overload networks. With the support of COT funding, researchers expanded their scope further into methods designed to analyse previouslyunknown traffic and identify features that could be used as part of a detection rule set. The resulting CUB4 engine was then applied towards enabling network managers to better audit and control their networks. The engine can detect IT policy violations and perform fine-grained analysis for potential threats, without enforcing unnecessarily strict blocking policies. Currently, the CUB4 technology can detect more than 4,000 protocols, services and applications, a four-fold improvement over existing products in the market. Dr Kostas Anagnostakis, a former research scientist from the I2R acquired the license and started Niometrics Pte Ltd in May 2009 as a spin-off from I2R. In 2010, Niometrics won the “Asia Pacific Frost & Sullivan New Product Innovation Award for Network Traffic Analysis Solutions”.

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* Flagship Funding Unlike COT funding, Flagship funding provides “business incubation” for larger projects with longer gestation periods and significant commercial possibilities. In addition, ETPL also helps with business strategies and financial modelling, provides competitive intelligence and also engages industry partners to co-nurture inventions for market adoption. A total of S$86.5 million has been committed for Flagships with a total of 54 approved projects. These Flagship projects have resulted in two spin-offs, with three more potential spin-offs in the pipeline.

* Technology Enterprise

Commercialisation Scheme (TECS) In addition to the provision of gap funding, A*STAR has worked with SPRING Singapore to avail TECS funds to A*STAR spin-off companies. TECS is a competitive grant, evaluated by investment professionals and industry leaders, and only the strongest proposals with the best potential commercial outcomes are funded. Through A*STAR’s facilitation, a number of spinoff companies have been successful in securing TECS grants. For instance in Jun 2009, a group of four portfolio companies under ETPL, namely, Curiox Biosystems Pte Ltd, D-SIMLAB Technologies Pte Ltd, Niometrics Pte Ltd and SG Molecular Diagnostics Pte Ltd, were each awarded up to S$500,000 under TECS for their proof-of-value projects. The founders of all four companies were either researchers with the A*STAR’s RIs or had leveraged A*STAR technologies in their businesses. Curiox Biosystems Pte Ltd was spun off in 2007 from the Institute of Bioengineering Nanotechnology (IBN), D-SIMLAB Technologies Pte Ltd in 2006 from SIMTech and Niometrics Pte Ltd is a spin-off from the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R). SG Molecular Diagnostics Pte Ltd took a licence from ETPL in 2009 to further develop and market technology from IBN.

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Commercial Outcomes from Flagship

Tera-Barrier Films Pte Ltd, founded by two researchers from the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Dr Mark Auch and Mr Senthil Ramadas, was spun off from IMRE in Aug 2009 after securing a strategic investment from Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc. The funds have gone into the development and manufacture of a new proprietary, moisture resistant film that can significantly extend the life span of devices such as organic solar cells and flexible displays. The new film protects the easily degraded moisture-sensitive organic materials of plastic devices and targets the burgeoning plastic electronics industry. Applications of the film include the manufacturing of flexible, lightweight and cheap electronics such as disposable or wrap-around displays, identification tags, low cost solar cells and chemical- and pressure-sensitive sensors. The ultrahigh barrier film technology was successfully developed at IMRE and the barrier properties were validated by solar and flexible display manufacturers. In 2010, Tera-Barrier further secured second round of funding from KISCO, Japan. This would include the distributorship rights for the Asia Pacific region. Prior to its spin-off, Tera-Barrier signed a license agreement with EPTL to obtain the rights to develop and market products using the breakthrough flexible substrate technology. The company was also incubated by EPTL as a Flagship program for 2 years prior to spin-off.

* Funding Support for Start-ups After start-ups have been incorporated, funding schemes are available from both the private and public agencies. In Singapore, more than 25 government agencies offer about 150 schemes to assist businesses through grants, loans, equity financing and tax incentives. Among these are the micro-loan programme which provides loans of up to S$100,000 for small businesses, the Angel Investors Tax Deduction (AITD) Scheme which gives angel investors tax breaks for investing in start-ups, and government investment in start-ups by matching investment dollars of up to S$1.5 million. To complement this pool of money, ETPL has spearheaded and established a network of business and angel investment interest groups, under the Angel Investment Management (AIM) programme, which could be tapped on by potential start-ups to secure additional monetary and business support. Currently, the programme comprises angel development activities from HP Alumni, NTU Alumni Club, Business Angels Network South East Asia (BANSEA), Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation (SMa), and Institute of Engineers Singapore (IES).

ENCOURAGING ENTREPRENEURSHIP & COMMERCIALISATION For a vibrant I&E ecosystem, A*STAR recognises the need to have a critical mass of technopreneurial talent who can creatively bring innovative technologies and assets to the market. A series of initiatives will be rolled out to encourage entrepreneurship and commercialisation efforts amongst A*STAR researchers.

* Promoting Entrepreneurship within the Research Community

To encourage spin-offs and start-ups and to promote entrepreneurship within the researcher community, ETPL provides incubation services to entrepreneurial researchers from the A*STAR RIs. These services include provision of office space, IT and communications

HIGH POTENTIAL SPIN-OFFS FROM A*STAR Singular ID Pte Ltd, a nanotechnology A*STAR spinoff company that was founded to commercialise magnetic tagging technology, was acquired by Bilcare in Dec 2007. Head-quartered in Singapore, and with a subsidiary in Padua, Italy, Singular ID is engaged in research, development and creation of micro and nanotechnology based novel products. With a mission to safeguard customers’ interests by providing integrated tagging solutions, Singular ID is a leading solution provider for tracing and authenticating items of value. It adopts a customer-centric approach and works closely with its clients to tailor its technology to meet specific customer requirements. Curiox Biosystems Pte Ltd is a Singapore-based local bioinstrumentation company that has been incubated by ETPL. It has a range of patent-pending technologies and its vision is to accelerate the progress of research in life sciences, diagnostics and drug discovery through its innovative “wall-less” DropArray™ platform. Curiox is currently the only company that is able to provide a miniaturised, simple, accurate, inexpensive and convenient platform for conducting bioassays. The DropArray™ technology is applied to run immuno assays such as ELISA and cell-based assays. The technology follows the instrument and disposable business model. Product offerings comprise “wallless” plates to replace ubiquitous microtitre plates, coupled with an enabling DropArray™ washing station. The sales of proprietary “wall-less” plates provide significant, stable revenue to the company.

D-SIMLAB Technologies Pte Ltd, an A*STAR spinoff company, is the leading provider of high-end simulation-based decision support solutions for the aerospace and semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its mission is to develop, market, and deliver high-performance simulation-based business analytics decision and support solutions that enable corporations to enhance their performance in a sustainable manner, leading to significant cost savings. In 2010, D-SIMLAB made it to the Red Herring Global Top 100, an annual list of the hottest start-ups in the world.

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facilities, mentoring, business model refinement, business plan development and execution, access to investors for funding, industry and technology partners for market development, as well as provision of license to A*STAR’s IP. Since 2006, there have been a total of 20 spin-offs from A*STAR. Two spin-offs, Singular ID and EDS Labs have exited with a total of over S$20.5 million. Another spin-off, D-SIMLAB Technologies has made it to the Red Herring Global Top 100, an annual list of the hottest start-ups in the world.

* Incentivising and Motivating the

Researchers in Technology Transfer

To incentivise and recognise researchers, the performance indicators of researchers will be better aligned to commercialisation activities and the RIs will be encouraged to work more closely with ETPL to identify projects with high commercialisation potential. ETPL will also work towards better incentives to encourage A*STAR researchers to participate in COT and Flagship projects and build a healthy entrepreneurial environment. A structured rewards and recognition scheme to motivate researchers to pursue research with greater commercial outcomes will be implemented:

• A new category for commercial excellence in the Annual A*STAR Awards will be introduced, as part of organisational efforts to recognise projects that have strong commercial outcomes.

• On the rewards front, RIs and researchers will be recognised for their efforts & achievements in patent and COT/Flagship, in addition to achievements in research and industry collaboration.

• A*STAR will also front-load the licensing compensation to the researchers.

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* Distinguished Technopreneur Speaker (DTS)

The Distinguished Technopreneur Speaker (DTS) series is an event to seed innovation and entrepreneurship in Singapore. Speakers are invited based on their proven track record of exploiting technology and innovation to create value-add and wealth for their communities. DTS aims to engage entrepreneurs, industry professionals, researchers, scholars and students and inspire them to explore the potential of entrepreneurship, innovation and emerging technologies as envisioned by the new economy. Previous luminaries include Prof Stephen Davies, Dr Michael Hayden and most recently Sir Gregory Winter. A*STAR will continue to invite these highly accomplished entrepreneurs and academics to engage the research community in Singapore.

SPURRING NEW GROWTH THROUGH OPEN INNOVATION To reinforce Singapore as Asia’s Innovation Capital and to build a vibrant technology transfer ecosystem, it is vital to facilitate local enterprises’ access to useful technologies to optimise their businesses, products and services. In the last ten years, Singapore’s R&D landscape has expanded strongly with growth in the number and diversity of research performers. However, the attention to and resources allocated for developing innovations from R&D to enterprises has evolved with varying success within different entities. In gearing local enterprises for the next stage of growth, there is a critical need to strengthen efforts to expand their innovation capacities. In 2011, A*STAR will establish a new multi-agency IP Intermediary called IPI Ltd, as a pilot national initiative, to expand the innovation capacities of local enterprises.

DISTINGUISHED TECHNOPRENUER SPEAKERS (DTS) Prof Stephen Davies, Chairman of Chemistry and Waynflete Professor of Chemistry, a highly successful serial entrepreneur and an accomplished Oxford professor in research, was the first Distinguished Technopreneur Speaker at the inaugural seminar on 30 Oct 2008. As a brilliant entrepreneur, Prof Davies founded Oxford Asymmetry and VASTox. Oxford Asymmetry was floated for £58 million in 2004. The company offers chemical genomics technology to aid drug discovery. As an accomplished academic, Prof Davies received his B.A. in 1973 from New College, University of Oxford and D. Phil in 1975, also at Oxford. Prof Davies subsequently held an ICI Postdoctoral Fellowship (1975-1977 with Prof Malcolm Green) and a NATO Fellowship (1977-1978 with Prof Sir Derek Barton) before joining the CNRS at Gifsur-Yvette collaborating with Dr Hugh Felkin. He returned to Oxford in 1980 to a University Lectureship and then Professorship, as well as a Fellowship of New College. He has since published over 375 research papers, and has been the recipient of a variety of awards for his contribution to organic synthesis, including the Hickinbottom Fellowship (1984), the Pfizer Award for Chemistry (1985, 1988), the Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Organometallic Chemistry (1987), the Royal Society of Chemistry Bader Award (1989), the Tilden Lecture Award (1996), the Royal Society of Chemistry Award in Stereochemistry (1997), and the Prize Lectureship of the Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan (1998). Dr Michael Hayden, a world-renowned geneticist, a Killam Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine, presented at the DTS in Oct 2009. He is also the Director of the Center for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT) in Vancouver, Canada; and a gene research center under UBC’s Faculty of Medicine. Dr Hayden was the top graduate in Medicine (1975) from the University of Cape Town, where he also received his PhD in Genetics (1979). He completed a post-doctoral fellowship and further training in Internal Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Michael is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Genetics. He has since published over 600 peer-reviewed publications and invited submissions and is the recipient of numerous prestigious honours and awards including Canada’s Health Researcher

of the Year (2008), Prix Galien (2007), Leadership and Research Excellence award of the National Centres of Excellence (2004), and Lifetime Achievement award of Huntington Society of Canada (2001). Dr Hayden is also the founder of three successful biotechnology companies: NeuroVir, Xenon Genetics and Aspreva Pharmaceuticals. In 2006, he received five different Entrepreneurial Awards including the Career Achievement Award from the BC Innovation Council and the BC Biotech Life Sciences award for Company of the Year. Sir Gregory Winter currently serves as the Deputy Director of the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and is a Fellow of Trinity College in the University of Cambridge. Amongst his many achievements, he pioneered a technique to “humanise” mouse monoclonal antibodies in 1986. The technique has since been licensed to around 50 companies, and led to the production of the blockbuster anti-cancer antibodies Herceptin and Avastin by Genentech. In 1989, Sir Gregory founded Cambridge Antibody Technology, a biotech company involved in antibody engineering. One of the most successful antibody drugs developed was HUMIRA (adalimumab), an antibody to TNF alpha, and the world’s first fully human antibody, which achieved annual sales exceeding $1 billion. Cambridge Antibody Technology was acquired by Astrazeneca in 2006 for £702 million. Sir Gregory is a serial entrepreneur, basing companies on his inventions. In 2000, he set up Domantis to develop single domain antibodies (subsequently sold off to GlaxoSmithKline in 2006 for £230 million), and in 2009, he set up Bicycle Therapeutics, to develop bicyclic peptides as small antibody mimics. For his achievements, Sir Gregory received his knighthood, the “Commander of the Order of the British Empire” for his services in Molecular Biology in 2004. His other accolades include the Prix Louis Jeantet de Medecine (Switzerland) in 1989; the King Faisal International Prize for Medicine (Molecular Immunology, Saudi Arabia) in 1995; the Cancer Research Institute William B. Coley Award (USA) in 1999, and the National Biotechnology Ventures Award (USA) in 2004.

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The main activities of this new entity comprise IP Intermediation, Network and Information:

Transfer Network (TTN) formed under ETPL will be part of this network.

a. IP Intermediation – It will provide dedicated and professional resources and expertises to help local enterprises identify, source and use IP thus enabling and optimising their businesses, products and services.

c. Information – An IP Storefront will be developed to improve accessibility of IPs from the public sector and beyond. In addition to providing “self space”, the storefront will develop IP offerings in user friendly language in key industry clusters.

b. Network – It will develop a network of partners and suppliers, locally and from abroad, to facilitate the flow of IPs to local enterprises. The Technology

These approaches will work towards building up IPI Ltd as a national IP intermediation platform for local enterprise to grow further.

Fig 5-3: Catalysing IP Intermediation Activities Through Open Innovation

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Chapter 6

CREATING A GLOBAL NEXUS FOR SCIENTIFIC TALENT To realise Singapore’s vision to become a leading global city of talent, enterprise and innovation, this chapter explores the key thrusts for A*STAR talent management and development – from sustaining top local PhD talent flow, to attracting international talent and strengthening international linkages.

6

CREATING A GLOBAL NEXUS FOR SCIENTIFIC TALENT

A*STAR TALENT STRATEGY To realise Singapore’s vision of becoming a leading global city of talent, enterprise and innovation, the ability to attract, develop and nurture outstanding research talent is critical. Singapore’s highly educated population and open policy towards international talent, coupled with world-class research infrastructure, global networks, and financial resources are its competitive strengths. Given A*STAR’s strong research foundations aligned to Singapore’s key economic sectors, as well as its strong links and networks with universities and research labs both locally and around the world, A*STAR plays a pivotal role in the development of industry-relevant research and development (R&D) human capital and the establishment of conducive conditions for the mobility of talent between the public and private research sectors in Singapore. A*STAR’s focus is to develop itself and position Singapore as a global nexus for scientific talent at all levels (see Figure 6-1). A*STAR will adopt a comprehensive talent strategy based on five key thrusts. Fig 6-1: A*STAR – Global Nexus for Scientific Talent

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* Thrust 1 – Sustaining Top Local PhD

Talent Flow to A*STAR

A diverse and top-notch community of scientific talent has been a cornerstone of A*STAR’s intensive efforts since 2001 to develop Singapore as a biomedical sciences hub and to enhance Singapore’s engineering and physical sciences R&D capacity. While international talent could be actively recruited, there was no quick solution to growing the local PhD talent pool in the research institutes (RIs) or increasing the enrollment of Singaporean students in the engineering and science PhD programmes at the local universities. To address this challenge, A*STAR pioneered a series of PhD scholarship programmes in 2001 to build a pipeline of 1,000 local PhD talents by 2010. To date, A*STAR has exceeded this target. It has nurtured a pipeline of more than 1,000 talented young local PhDs through various scholarship and fellowship programmes. About 25% of A*STAR scholars and fellows have completed their training and are contributing to R&D in the public or private sector. The remaining majority are in the process of working towards a PhD or obtaining postdoctoral experience.

The A*STAR scholarships, coupled with extensive youth science outreach programmes by A*STAR and its partners, have led to an increase in the number of Singaporeans enrolled into engineering and sciences PhD programmes in the universities. As Singapore continues to expand its R&D activities and programmes, it is projected that the public and private sectors will continue to require more PhD talent. A*STAR will continue with an active scholarships programme to ensure that a critical mass of local PhD talent flow is sustained for A*STAR and Singapore. This will establish a pool of Singaporean scientists and scientific leaders who will contribute in diverse sectors such as corporate R&D labs, start-up companies, technology businesses, public research institutes, academia and government.

* Thrust 2 – Attracting International Talent and Strengthening International Linkages International talent adds diversity and robustness to the talent pool, and contributes towards expanding Singapore’s global network and development as an international R&D hub. A*STAR has some 1,800 PhDqualified research staff in its RIs from Singapore, Asia, Europe, America and other parts of the Asia Pacific. In parallel with attracting and developing outstanding Singaporean talent, A*STAR will continue to welcome international talent into its community of scientific and graduate talent. Through its International Awards, A*STAR seeks to encourage a vibrant and diverse flow of young pre-graduate and graduate students from around the world to Singapore.

In addition to graduate and pre-graduate awards, A*STAR will work in partnership with the local universities to create more platforms in Singapore to engage top young international talent at the undergraduate and graduate level. This provides another level of engagement to strengthen Singapore’s international network of relationships in the global scientific community.

Thrust 3 – Creating a World-Class Environment for Scientific Career Development

*

A*STAR aims to create a world-class environment for scientific career development and provide an invaluable experience for local and international PhD students and early career researchers in its RIs. A multi-faceted approach depicted in Figure 6-2 will be adopted.

Enhancing Supervision and Mentorship Practices at A*STAR Various initiatives are being developed to enhance supervisory and mentorship practice and culture at the RIs to provide guidance, feedback and perspective to early career researchers. For example, positive role models and outstanding mentors will be given recognition across the A*STAR community. Senior leadership at the RIs and at A*STAR will also focus attention on the progress and developmental opportunities open to young researchers. Fig 6-2: Enhancing the Environment for Scientific Career Development at A*STAR

A*STAR programmes such as the Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA), the A*STAR Research Attachment Programme (ARAP) and the Singapore International Pre-Graduate Award (SIPGA) create opportunities for international students to join Singapore’s vibrant R&D community through research internships, PhD research attachments, and scholarships for PhD research at A*STAR labs, in partnership with local and overseas universities. 67


MULTIPLE CAREER PATHWAYS FOR A*STAR RESEARCHERS Multiple pathways have been paved for A*STAR talent to develop and chart their careers along differentiated paths. Examples of pathways are outlined below: • A*STAR research scientists and engineers (RSEs) may be seconded to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to boost the industry R&D efforts through the Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) scheme. Such secondments have yielded good results, with the participating SMEs reporting increases in bottomlines. Several seconded RSEs eventually joined industry as R&D staff, consultants, R&D Directors or Chief Technology Officers to lead R&D teams in the companies. • PhD scholars who have gained solid research experience at the RIs have the opportunity to broaden their experience in a variety of new challenges while serving out their remaining service commitment. Scholars may develop further in scientific research or venture into corporate R&D, business development in technology enterprises, management and commercialisation of technology, academic teaching and research, administration and public policy, amongst others. • The A*STAR – Academia Pathway enables scholars to hold joint appointments with tenure consideration at the local universities, allowing them to focus on their research at A*STAR while exploring their interest in an academic career. Under the agreement with NUS and NTU, scholars may also be seconded full time as junior faculty and be considered for tenure. A*STAR scientists may also be appointed as adjunct faculty.

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Supporting Skills Development in Early Career Researchers A*STAR has a structured training framework to support the development of transferable and professional skills in early career researchers. A taskforce led by senior scientists has identified the soft skills required for early career researchers during the different stages of their research career. It has developed a training roadmap to facilitate the development of core competencies such as project management and writing skills, analysis and peer review, research ethics, mentoring or teaching and communication skills.

Facilitating Career Progression of Young A*STAR Researchers Greater support will be provided for early career researchers who are ready for transition to an independent research career. More opportunities will be provided through avenues such as competitive grants and project leads for early career researchers, to develop their capacity for original independent research and research leadership skills. Mechanisms will also be put in place to encourage scholars and other early career researchers to work on cross-disciplinary research including training opportunities to help acquire skills in new fields and more platforms for interactions. A*STAR will also support initiatives by the early career researchers society. The society, initiated and run by early career researchers themselves, will serve the social and networking needs of this group of researchers and provide a mechanism to communicate with institutional leaders. Further, this society could invite alumni and visiting speakers, including those from industry and other non-academic settings to share their experiences.

Recognising Diversity of Talent As the scholarship programmes mature, there is a growing recognition of the diversity of talent, strengths and interests among A*STAR PhD talent pool. While A*STAR will continue to support and provide a conducive environment for the majority of scholars and researchers who want to focus on advancing their careers as scientists at the RIs, there will also be opportunities for them to develop and chart their careers along differentiated paths.

These pathways not only include research in A*STAR and academia but also corporate positions in R&D labs, public administration, technology enterprises and hospitals. Institutional joint appointments, adjunct appointments and secondment options with academia and industry, as well as sponsorships of MBA programmes and engineering doctoral programmes create alternative developmental opportunities for A*STAR researchers. All these open up opportunities for A*STAR PhD talents to explore careers that would bring out the best of their PhD education, research experience and skills to related fields that would benefit from the infusion of PhD talent.

Engaging A*STAR Alumni A*STAR alumni represent a unique and growing group of individuals who are actively bringing their experience in A*STAR to the wider community, not just in research but in industry, commerce, government and education. They are well positioned to assist in providing contacts, in-roads, and the genesis of new companies, or act as competent advisory partners. Proactively engaging alumni would open channels for initiating, maintaining and strengthening these valuable and mutually beneficial relationships. A*STAR will also actively maintain and develop links with scholars, even after they have left A*STAR.

Networking Opportunities for International Exposure A*STAR also aims to provide resources that enable deserving PhD students and early career researchers to participate in high profile local and international conferences and other events so that they can interact with their peers and world renowned leaders in their fields and build professional networks.

Thrust 4 – Bridging A*STAR Talents with Industry and Academia

*

A*STAR will actively create bridges for talent to the industry and academia and vice versa to enhance Singapore’s attractiveness as Asia’s Innovation Capital and R&D Hub and encourage cross-flow of talents between A*STAR and industry or academia.

ESTABLISHING A SCIENTIFIC CAREER IN A*STAR Singaporean scientist and NSS (PhD) scholar, Dr Cheok Chit Fang, obtained her PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Oxford in 2005. Dr Cheok built up her research experience working with renowned international cancer scientist, Prof Sir David Lane at A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and p53 Lab. Her training and research experience have stood her in good stead to lead a lab of her own. That opportunity came in Feb 2011 when she was identified to lead the IFOMp53Lab Joint Research Laboratory. This collaboration between A*STAR’s p53 Lab and Milan-based FIRC Institute for Molecular Oncology (IFOM) is also the first international outpost for IFOM.

Dr Joel Yang, an NSS (PhD) scholar who completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was awarded the A*STAR Investigatorship in 2009. This prestigious award aims to groom the next generation of world leaders in scientific research, and provides for an early independent position in A*STAR RIs. Dr Yang joined A*STAR’s Institute for Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) in 2009 as Research Engineer to work on the application of high-resolution patterning in nanoplasmonics. Dr Yang was also recipient of the 2009 Philip Yeo Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Research. In 2010, the team that developed the Subwavelength-Separated Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector Array, which included Dr Yang, was recognised with an R&D 100 Award.

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CONTRIBUTING TO SINGAPORE’S KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES Biologics is the fastest-growing segment of drugs today, and involves highly complex manufacturing processes dealing with live cultures. Dr Sebastian Ku and Dr Lim Yiping, A*STAR AGS scholars, completed their PhDs and continued their research at A*STAR’s Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI). Providing them with a strong foundational training for the biologics industry, both Dr Ku and Dr Lim were seconded to Genentech and Lonza, both leaders in the biologics industry.

While working as a Senior Research Fellow at A*STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), Dr Low Yen Ling, an A*STAR NSSPhD scholar, had the opportunity to work on a major industry collaboration with Abbott. In late 2009, Dr Low was seconded to Abbott Nutrition Research & Development as a Clinical (Nutritional) Scientist.

Dr Ang Hwee Ching returned to Singapore after earning her PhD from the University of Cambridge, to work with Professor Sir David Lane at A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), and Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC). Her PhD training and prior experience have helped prepare her for a business development role at Lilly Singapore Centre for Drug Discovery and subsequently at the BMS Industry Partnership Office, facilitating links between industry and the scientific and medical community.

A*STAR as a Talent Developer and Talent Reservoir for Industry A*STAR RIs serve both as a talent developer and a talent reservoir for industry. Since 2006, A*STAR has spun out 1,058 research scientists and engineers (RSEs) into industry, surpassing the target of 835 RSEs to be spun out to industry by FY2010. As A*STAR’s research agenda is closely aligned with key industry clusters, many RSEs at A*STAR work on collaborative projects with industry and develop capabilities that are highly valuable to companies. They move into small and medium enterprises (SMEs), multi-national companies (MNCs), other technology enterprises and start-ups. Mid and senior level scientists have moved on to helm R&D teams in companies. PhD scholars and other young PhD talent hired by A*STAR join the talent pool where they can deepen their experience and exposure to industry-related research. A*STAR will continue to provide opportunities for RSEs to gain exposure to industry relevant R&D and facilitate networking sessions with companies. While the flow of talent into industry is in line with A*STAR’s mission to build a vibrant knowledge economy, it could also drain talent from the RIs. A robust flow of top PhD talent into RIs and balancing mechanisms to retain expertise within the RIs would enable A*STAR to sustain talent flow to companies, without adversely impacting core research carried out at A*STAR.

Industry-oriented Scholarships and Talent Development Programmes A*STAR will work with its RIs, university partners and industry to leverage on scholarships to build a pipeline of talent. It will also work on talent development programmes specific to industry cluster needs. Some examples include:

• RI-University Joint PhD Programmes, developed in partnership between A*STAR RIs and the relevant university departments, aim to: a. Encourage a thematic focus in PhD research topics, with greater industry relevance; b. Encourage RIs and partner university departments to have greater ownership in recruiting students and

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guide them to develop capability in areas of demand; and c. Position A*STAR and Singapore as a global centre for PhD education and research training.

• To speed up the translation from knowledge creation to the market, the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign Programme (SSB), a joint initiative among A*STAR, EDB, NUS, NTU and Stanford University, has been introduced to provide a systematic approach for developing a group of medical technology (medtech) innovators wellversed with the process of medical device innovation. Through this, A*STAR hopes to eventually build a medtech ecosystem in Singapore to grow and fuel the medtech industry, furthering translational clinical research.

Thrust 5 – Promoting Science to Young People and Building a Pipeline of R&D Talent

*

To complement the scholarship programmes, A*STAR has initiated an extensive range of outreach programmes since 2001 to develop and sustain a pipeline of young talent for science, technology and research in Singapore (see Figure 6-3).

Sustaining Science Outreach Efforts A*STAR’s science outreach efforts with the Science Centre, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and other partners have created a vibrant science buzz and raised the level of interest in science and research. The Science Upstream collaborative programmes by A*STAR and the Science Centre benefited about 1.5 million participants and visitors from 2002-2010. A*STAR will continue its key outreach programmes such as the A*STAR Talent Search, the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair and the Singapore Science Festival and introduce new initiatives to further engage students and the public.

STRENGTHENING LINKS WITH ACADEMIA A*STAR has created academia pathways for its scholars with both the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Such exchanges of talent between academia and A*STAR will strengthen the overall scientific talent pool in Singapore and deepen partnerships between the universities and A*STAR.

Dr Zhang Rui embarked on the A*STARNUS Joint Appointment Scheme in early 2010. As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NUS, and a Senior Research Engineer at A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R), Dr Zhang teaches and supervises students, works on collaborations with NUS professors, and has access to additional funding support for his research, all of which help to advance his research. An NSS-PhD scholar, Dr Zhang completed his PhD at Stanford University in 2007.

After completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2007, Dr Teo Hsiang Ling joined the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), working in Dr Vinay Tergaonkar’s laboratory which studies the transcription factor NFĸB. Dr Teo has published in high impact journals such as Cell and Developmental Cell. Her background in structural biology was a good fit for research strengths at the NTU School of Biological Sciences, and Dr Teo was seconded to NTU in June 2010, where she has the opportunity to work with Professor Par Nordlund, a renowned structural biologist.

Dr Ho Han Kiat graduated with a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Washington in 2005, and gained post-doctoral experience in the Singapore OncoGenome Laboratory, A*STAR, under eminent cancer scientist, Professor Axel Ullrich. He recently became an Assistant Professor at the NUS Department of Pharmacy, where he will apply his training in toxicological sciences and cancer biology to the study of liver diseases such as liver cancer and cirrhosis, while teaching and supervising students. 71


Nurturing High Potential Young Talent

Deepening Awareness of R&D Careers

A*STAR will work closely with the MOE, schools, Science Centre Singapore and the scientific community to augment the capacity of educators and scientists to mentor and guide students in research projects. In particular, A*STAR will support and collaborate with the Science Centre to pilot a centre that provides students with mentored research opportunities and develops teacher-researchers and teacher-mentors.

A*STAR will also focus its outreach on deepening awareness of R&D careers. The promotion of science, engineering and research careers will build up the pool of talent as Singapore transforms into a vibrant hub for knowledge creation, innovation and commercialisation.

In addition, a strong network called the Singapore Academy for Young Engineers and Scientists (SAYES) will be established amongst the growing community of like-minded young people to galvanise the enthusiasm and energy of aspiring scientists. This youth movement will be a platform for students to develop and express their creativity, leadership, and problem solving skills and to explore and stay engaged in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Local undergraduate scholarships and A*STAR Science Awards at the Junior College and Upper Secondary school level will continue to be offered to support young talent interested to pursue studies and careers in STEM.

Fig 6-3: A*STAR Human Capital Development Programmes

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A GLOBAL NEXUS FOR SCIENTIFIC TALENT Through its suite of scholarships, fellowships and talent development programmes, A*STAR will sustain a healthy flow of PhD students and early career PhD researchers into research labs. A multi-faceted approach will be adopted to create a world-class environment for scientific career development of local and international PhD students and early career researchers at A*STAR. Eventually, these young talent would develop within and beyond A*STAR into the wider Singapore and global economy. This diaspora of outstanding PhD research talent could be networked for the benefit of Singapore science. A diverse flow of talent in and through A*STAR will make A*STAR and Singapore a global nexus for talent.

Chapter 7

BUILDING WORLD-CLASS Research INFRASTRUCTURE Chapter 7 looks at the infrastructure needed to support an innovation-driven environment. This includes the physical infrastructure that fosters a conducive environment for innovations, soft infrastructure that encourages and promotes research collaborations and operational excellence that enables A*STAR as a R&D organisation to continuously improve.

7

BUILDING WORLD-CLASS Research INFRASTRUCTURE

CREATING AN INNOVATION-DRIVEN ENVIRONMENT An innovation-driven environment is essential to stimulate vibrant innovations. Central to realising an innovation-driven environment are the following:

• Physical infrastructure with state-of-the-art science and technology (S&T) and IT facilities that fosters a conducive environment and enables innovations to thrive.

• Soft

infrastructure that encourages and promotes research collaborations and discovery breakthroughs amongst researchers.

• Operational excellence that enables A*STAR to continuously improve its processes and activities to foster an innovation-driven environment. Since 2000, purpose-built facilities and infrastructure have been developed to enhance the research environment in Singapore. Under the S&T2005 and S&T2010 Plans, Singapore witnessed the completion of Biopolis Phases 1 and 2 as the cornerstone for its biomedical sciences (BMS) research, successfully integrating biomedical research capabilities and achieving the co-location of public-private research at a single focal point. Today, Biopolis has earned an international reputation as a vibrant BMS hub where exciting biomedical research discoveries and collaborations are formed. The success of Biopolis is replicated via the integration of the physical sciences & engineering capabilities and the co-location of public research institutes (RIs) with corporate research and development (R&D) laboratories in Fusionopolis. Fusionopolis Phase 1 (FP1) was officially launched in Oct 2008, and houses over 1,200 researchers from both public RIs (such as the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) and Network Storage Department of the Data Storage Institute (DSI)) and corporate R&D labs, such as Nitto Denko, Linden Lab, Vestas and Hewlett-Packard. State-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities present at FP1 include:

• Computational Resource Centre (CRC) that provides advanced computational resources on 74

multiple operating platforms to serve computeintensive R&D projects.

• Anechoic

Chamber that isolates external electromagnetic radiation sources thereby facilitating the design and development of antennas and wireless devices.

• Visualisation Facility that provides high-resolution 3D display capabilities for visualisation of complex scientific and medical data and product evaluation.

• Experimental Power Grid Centre to develop nextgeneration technologies deployable in intelligent grids and distributed energy resources. The physical proximity of Biopolis and Fusionopolis, located just 600 metres apart, also facilitates research collaborations across multiple disciplines. The current consolidation of synthetic chemistry efforts at Biopolis Phase 2 under the Chemistry@one-north initiative, as well as the establishment of the Joint Council Office (JCO) in A*STAR to promote and support cross-council research among the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) and the Science and Engineering Resaerch Research Council (SERC) researchers, are evidence of ongoing cross-disciplinary efforts.

NEW BMS FACILITIES OUTSIDE BIOPOLIS While key BMS facilities are located at Biopolis, A*STAR also collaborates with partners to establish new BMS facilities in other strategic locations. • Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) at NUS – A key initiative by A*STAR to develop world-class clinical sciences programs, its mission is to improve the health and economic wellbeing of Singaporeans by better understanding Asian-relevant diseases and by developing new diagnostics and therapeutics. • Clinical Imaging Research Centre (CIRC) at NUS – An A*STAR-NUS partnership with Siemens to develop and validate new imaging methods as well as novel interventions in humans, complementing and strengthening the imaging capabilities in translational medicine provided at Biopolis.

The very successful Biopolis Phases 1 and 2 and Fusionopolis Phase 1 developments by the Government at one-north1 has helped to catalyse further R&D infrastructure developments by the private sector. Both Biopolis Phase 3 and Fusionopolis Phase 2B (FP2B) are developed by the private sector. In Jan 2010, the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) announced plans to launch tenders for both Biopolis Phase 4 and the expansion of the medical technology (medtech) cluster respectively at one-north and Tukang Innovation Park. The strong and ever-growing demand for space at Biopolis led JTC to further announce the development of Biopolis Phase 5 in May 2010.

R&D INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTS BY PRIVATE DEVELOPERS Construction of Biopolis Phase 3 by the Crescendas Group, a privately owned local company engaged in a diversified range of businesses in real estate, manufacturing, distribution, technology and hospitality, has been completed in Jan 2011. It adds another 41,000 square metres of space for private sector companies in translational and clinical research and medical technology research.

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: BIOPOLIS & FUSIONOPOLIS Looking ahead, the focus of physical infrastructure development is to promote further integration of the physical sciences & engineering capabilities through Fusionopolis Phase 2A (FP2A), optimisation of space in Biopolis to better serve the research community, and coordination of both establishments to foster inter-disciplinary research. When fully completed, both Biopolis and Fusionopolis will form the key components of a vibrant R&D landscape at onenorth. Coupled with the establishment of the Mediapolis2, touted as the third strategic industry cluster at one-north after Biopolis and Fusionopolis, the close proximity of the three strategic clusters will provide greater collaborative opportunities, and provide a boost to research and industrial development efforts in Interactive and Digital Media (IDM).

Fusionopolis Phase 2B (FP2B), undertaken by Soilbuild Group, an integrated property developer with a development portfolio of residential and business space properties, has been completed in Oct 2010. FP2B, also known as Solaris, creates an additional 50,000 square metres of business park and laboratory space that will house private sector companies in the fields of infocommunications, media and physical sciences and engineering.

* Completing the Integration of Physical Sciences & Engineering Capabilities through Fusionopolis Phase 2A (FP2A)

All the physical sciences & engineering capabilities will be integrated in one central location with the completion of FP2A. By then, the following additional state-of-the-art scientific facilities will be available to support research and scientific efforts of both private and public R&D performers: 1 one-north is a national initiative to position Singapore as a world-class research and development (R&D), innovation and technopreneurial hub in Asia. 2 A 200-ha innovation and R&D hub envisioned to be a selfcontained and vibrant digital media cluster.

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FUSIONOPOLIS PHASE 2A (FP2A) FP2A will see the construction of three towers generating 103,600 square metres of business park and R&D space. Towers A & B will site dry and wet laboratories and business park space. Tower C will consist of a cluster of high specification laboratory spaces, including multi-storey stacked vibrationsensitive laboratories and clean rooms that meet stringent micro-vibration criteria such as NIST-A, VC-E, VC-D, VC-C and VC-A, potentially the first such establishment in the region. FP2A will house the remaining SERC RIs of DSI, Institute of Microelectronics (IME), Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), bringing together all the SERC RIs to be located at Fusionopolis, with the exception of Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES), which will continue to be located at Jurong Island.

• SERC Nano-Fabrication and Characterisation (SNFC) Facility, a network of world-class facilities and expertise will provide a wide spectrum of nanofabrication, characterisation, analysis and testing services.

• Advanced Silicon Foundry, a first in the region, will offer access to advanced wafer fabrication facilities on top of manpower expertise for prototype development and small volume pilot production in a cost effective manner, thereby providing an attractive value proposition to technology startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), fab-less companies, research organisations and universities.

* Facilitating Greater Inter-disciplinary

Research

In order to inculcate the spirit of inter-disciplinary research and innovation, ensure optimal utilisation of resources, and avoid the creation of institutional silos, joint council programmes will be implemented virtually. The virtual network will make use of a hub-and-spoke model of resource allocation, comprising a hub of

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core group of researchers working in a centralised location in the host RI, supported by distributed sub-groups located in each collaborating RI. Where necessary, common spaces will be provided to allow researchers to network, exchange and cross-pollinate ideas in the white space that exists at the interfaces of multidisciplinary research.

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING (HPC) INFRASTRUCTURE High Performance Computing (HPC) resources consist of five primary functions: computing systems, storage, network services, operations (including data-centre housing and utilities), and user support & expertise. In the past, HPC demands in A*STAR were met through individual hardware acquisitions by the respective RIs. Over the years, this has resulted in a legacy of different small HPC systems residing within each RI. In 2006, as part of the move to centralise HPC resources in A*STAR, the A*STAR Computational Resource Centre (A*CRC) was established to host and deliver HPC resources and services for the entire A*STAR research community and oversee data centre operations at both Biopolis and Fusionopolis. In the last two years, a number of obsolete, smaller systems have been retired and replaced by much more powerful computers. The combined computational capacity of systems administered by A*CRC rose by over 960%. By mid-2011, A*CRC will operate four major computing systems with combined computing power of close to 120 TFLOPS. A*CRC also responds to the burgeoning demand for storage that has multiplied by a 100-fold over the last seven years and will be reaching 3000 TBytes (3 PBytes) in 2011. The increasing sophistication in R&D efforts calls for more sophisticated HPC tools to predict new phenomena, yield new information, drive innovation and offer fresh insight to problems in virtually all areas of humanities, natural sciences and engineering. To project the HPC resources required by the A*STAR

community over the next five years, a myriad of tools were used, including user forecast surveys, equivalent benchmarks and global HPC trends.

* Increasing Computing Needs for A*STAR

Survey results indicated that the HPC capacity of A*CRC has never kept pace with user demands. This demand for computational cycles is growing unabatedly, and in order to keep up with this demand, the computational resources of A*CRC will have to be increased substantially over the next five years. It is projected that the HPC resource capacity will need to be increased by 100% every 18 to 24 months. This is equivalent to growing from 120 TFLOPs in 2011 to over 800 TFLOPS in 2015 (or a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50% over five years). Projections indicated that while the profile of HPC users of the A*CRC over the next five years will continue to be dominated by capacity-type users who generate large volumes of compute jobs of moderate parallel scale (typically requiring not more than a few tens of CPU cores per job), the community of capability-type users (users who require large compute resources in the order of thousands of CPU cores per job) will grow to approximately 30% of the total compute capacity as more large complex problems are being studied such as for bioimaging and genomics. This profile of users is typical of academic HPC centres worldwide. To balance capacity and capability needs, A*CRC will focus on managing acquisitions of appropriate HPC scale computer systems to match user demands and providing quality computational working environment. This is the approach of most leading HPC facilities worldwide. Based on the projections, A*CRC will procure several large systems over the next five years and allow for the obsolescence of current systems over time. At steady state, the Centre will centrally manage 3 to 4 medium to high-end supercomputers and resources. As computational methods are pervasively used in most research environments, small scale servers and workstations will continue to be hosted by respective laboratories or RIs.

* Increasing Storage Needs for

A*STAR

There has been an inexorable rise in the demand for storage, stemming from huge volumes of data, mainly from genetic sequencing, biomedical imaging and data mining research in the last few years. The total storage volume has grown from less than 10 TBytes in 2002 to over 2 PBytes today or at a CAGR of 77%. Storage capacity requirements will continue to escalate, albeit at a slower rate given the higher base. It is projected that during the period 2011-2015, the CAGR for storage capacity is expected to be 45%, growing from 3 PBytes to more than 10 PBytes. To address rising storage demands and to mitigate costs, A*STAR will adopt some cloud storage capacity. For a start, A*CRC will maintain 80% of the storage profile while the remaining 20% will be managed as the private cloud storage initially, and later possibly managed by a service provider and accessible by an agreed delivery standard. This mix should reach 50:50 in 2015.

* Improving Software Support, Network and Operation

With rising demand for computing and storage capacities, centralisation of HPC resources and provision of a broader suite of services to its users, it is imperative to grow a team of IT professionals. This new team will help users achieve optimum performance of their codes, better utilise their allocated compute resources and achieve greater productivity from job execution sessions, and raise the education and training levels in deep parallelism of such codes. Additional manpower will also be required from 2012 onwards to help in the setup (and subsequent operations) of the new data centre and the National Supercomputing Centre. To better support the research community, the A*CRC will develop the following areas of expertise:

• In-house expertise in HPC specific software tools. • User code optimisation with advanced HPC system tools such as tuning, optimisation and parallel programming. 77


• Optimal resource allocation, use and accounting through sophisticated application of schedulers.

* Development of a National Supercomputing Centre

Many developed countries support a central user facility to optimise procurements, account for a broad set of user needs that keep pace with a rapidly changing technological landscape and achieve economies of scale. In these countries, government organisations remain the single biggest user of supercomputing for mission-oriented and basic research, health care, education and defence. It is therefore timely to examine the merits of a Singapore National Advanced Computing Centre (SNAC) as the use of HPC grows rapidly in Singapore’s R&D landscape. Discussions are currently underway with NUS and NTU to explore the feasibility of sharing HPC resources and establishing the SNAC. The immediate goals of this effort are to:

• Consolidate high end HPC resources and give

• •

users access to a range of systems and resources beyond those that are managed separately by A*STAR, NUS or NTU. Adopt best practices and apply consistent procedures for planning, procurement and delivery of service. Develop more efficient use of a larger pool of combined resources.

The intention is to explore the possibility of sharing resources though a grid-like infrastructure that leverages on the Next Generation Broadband Network. A phased approach will be taken to resolve issues inherent in the merger of practices and resources but will over time pave the way for other academic, teaching and research organisations to be partners in the SNAC. It is envisaged that the SNAC may eventually manage a green, state-of-the-art HPC data centre.

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* Increasing Data Centre Space

Requirements

A*CRC currently hosts systems in two locations, namely the A*CRC Data Centre located at Fusionopolis and the A*STAR Data Centre located at Biopolis. Today, both data centres face pressures in terms of receding space and limited utilities (namely electricity and cooling). With the recommendation to acquire and manage a few large systems, additional electrical power and space requirements are needed. Based on today’s technology trends, it is expected that much of the new space will be dedicated to HPC systems with high power consumption (in the order of more than 20kW per rack). The projected requirements are for about 1.5MW of power rising to more than 3MW beyond 2015. In terms of space, the data centre should cater for 800 square metres with the ability to scale to about 1200 square metres by 2020. In addition, when this data centre space forms part of the planned SNAC, the requirements for power, cooling and space will likely increase by at least 50%. In view of this, A*STAR will explore an alternate location in the vicinity of Fusionopolis and Biopolis, in which the new data centre will be sited so as to align with expansion plans and meet power demands.

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: IT SERVICES IT services include both IT Infrastructure Services (such as wide area network, local area network, data centre, internet access, IT security management, corporate data storage and desktop services) and IT Application Services (such as corporate IT applications). As with HPC resources, traditional IT services were provided by the IT departments within specific entities in A*STAR under the S&T2005 Plan. This was possible as there were relatively fewer RIs under A*STAR then. The S&T2010 Plan saw the rapid expansion of A*STAR and the progression of IT services to IT shared services to achieve synergy and economies of scale.

Consolidation of IT shared services across A*STAR and new developments for IT infrastructure and applications have been planned under the STEP2015 Plan.

* Consolidation of IT Shared Services across A*STAR

With the emphasis towards inter-disciplinary research, it is imperative to ensure that the IT infrastructure and services support of the organisation keep pace with the IT requirements necessary to support A*STAR’s strategic goals. Provision of IT services at both the BMRC and SERC RIs will be aggregated to achieve greater inter-operability, synergy and economies of scale at the organisational level, capable of providing a seamless digital platform essential for supporting corporate computing, communication and collaboration needs across all entities within and beyond A*STAR.

* New Developments for IT

Infrastructure and Applications

Arising from the need for robust and sufficiently sophisticated IT infrastructure and applications under STEP2015, A*STAR identified the following portfolio of IT infrastructure and applications for development over the next five years:

IT Infrastructure Development

• Seamless High Speed Network Connectivity – Provision of seamless high speed network connectivity in one-north through a wide area network that digitally connects all A*STAR entities regardless of location. This will be achieved through fibre optic links that connect FP1 and FP2A, and the upgrading of the bandwidth of leased lines to achieve connectivity with entities outside onenorth, such as the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) in NUS, to support seamless data exchange within A*STAR.

• Green IT – Establishment of Green IT initiatives to achieve energy efficiency through reduction, re-use and recycling wherever possible to support A*STAR’s corporate social responsibilities.

Initiatives include Green Data Centres that advocate the adoption of green features/design guidelines for upgraded/new data centres, Green IT Equipment that advocates the adoption of green IT equipment guidelines, and Green IT disposal practices.

• Security-in-Depth – Enhancement of A*STAR’s IT security services to better protect A*STAR’s IT assets through the establishment of multiple layers of defence throughout the IT ecosystem.

IT Applications Development

• Virtual Collaboration – Provision of virtual collaboration platform that facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration amongst researchers within and beyond A*STAR. Such a platform facilitates the sharing of research content and promotes collaboration online, through the provision of tools such as team calendars, discussion forums and features that allow creation of contents.

• A*SAP2015 – Revamp of A*STAR’s SAP system to provide optimal functions that cater for future developments in A*STAR’s corporate functions.

• R&D Programmes and Project Management – Establishment of a central repository to house all key information relating to research programmes and projects undertaken across A*STAR .

• A*STAR InfoHub – Establishment of an A*STAR Information Architecture that defines standards (such as definition and format) for commonly used data items across A*STAR. This will lead to a reduction in data duplication, resulting in greater efficiency and improved data quality.

• Enterprise

Document Management – Establishment of a common document management platform for A*STAR entities that includes document management features such as routing, indexing and versioning to enable effective management and tracking of documents, emails and scanned images as well as an e-registry for e-filing of documents. This will enable better integration and sharing of information across all entities.

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BUILDING WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

SOFT INFRASTRUCTURE: PLATFORMS FOR INTERACTION AND MINING OF IDEAS

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS IN A*STAR

Complementing the physical hardware infrastructure is the presence of soft infrastructure that provides opportunities for interaction within and beyond A*STAR. A*STAR will continue to provide platforms for interaction and mining of ideas including:

A*STAR has launched a series of operational excellence initiatives that focus on the needs of its customers, empower employees and optimise existing activities, with the aim of improving operational excellence within A*STAR and at the national level.

• A*STAR Scientific Conference – An annual event

To be implemented in 2011, iGrants is a centralised, single platform system for grant application and management across A*STAR. It is planned to be a userdriven, highly scaleable, “enter once-use everywhere” convenient electronic portal for researchers in A*STAR and Singapore to apply for A*STAR grants. Through collaboration with external funding agencies such as the National Medical Research Council (NMRC), it is envisioned that a universal grants portal can be rolled out at the national level for Singapore researchers.

that connects researchers across A*STAR for networking and knowledge exchanges.

• Research Interest Groups – Focus interest groups that encourage researchers to interact informally thereby potentially seeding new cross-disciplinary ideas. The A*STAR Chemistry Club is one such interest group established in 2008.

• A*STAR

Research Publication (“A*STAR Research”) – A one-stop information portal (both web and print) that publishes up-to-date coverage of the latest scientific and technological developments in A*STAR, and showcases them to the international and local community.

• Joint Council Workshops – Platforms that facilitate the exploration of collaborative opportunities from bottom-up, through the informal sharing and presentation of ideas. Promising ideas and proposals conceived through these workshops could serve as a pipeline for Joint Council Grant Calls and also future Thematic Programmes.

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Chapter 8

RESOURCES AND TARGETS This chapter details the budgets, key performance indicators and targets for A*STAR for this quinquennium.

8

RESOURCES AND TARGETS

R&D RESOURCES With markets expanding in Asia and multi-national companies (MNCs) investing heavily in research and development (R&D) in this region, Singapore can leverage on its strengths – commitment to R&D, strong talent pool, good public sector research capabilities and Global-Asia value proposition – to become a key global R&D hub and strengthen Singapore’s position as the Innovation Capital of Asia. To provide long-term stability in Singapore’s public R&D sector and quicken the pace of innovation and enterprise, it is important that Singapore sustains its commitment to public sector basic and missionoriented R&D that is closely aligned with industry development opportunities. Over the next five years, the Government will set aside a national R&D budget of S$16.1 billion to promote public and private R&D (excluding defence).

Fig 8-1: Distribution of A*STAR’s Budget, by Functional Areas for FY2011-FY2015

A*STAR’s allocated budget for FY2011-FY2015 amounts to S$6.39 billion, representing an increase of 18% over its budget of S$5.4 billion under the S&T2010 Plan. Figure 8-1 below shows the distribution of A*STAR’s budget across the four functional areas.

R&D TARGETS A*STAR’s mission is to foster world-class scientific research and talent to transform Singapore into a knowledge-based and innovationdriven economy. The performance measures identified articulate the value of A*STAR’s research and the value propositions A*STAR brings to the Singapore economy. See Figure 8-2 below for A*STAR’s Key Performance Indicators for FY2011-FY2015. Fig 8-2: A*STAR’s Key Performance Indicators for FY2011-2015

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Industry funding received No. of industry projects No. of Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) projects No. of RSEs from RIs seconded to industry No. of licences (overall) No. of licences or spin-offs arising from COT/FS No. of licences or businesses facilitated by IP Intermediary No. of PhD postgraduates trained or being trained by the RIE2015 talent budget No. of PhD postgraduates who work in Singapore upon graduation No. of PhD postgraduates who work in Singapore within a 5-year window of graduation Joint KPIs with EDB for the Industry Alignment Fund Industry R&D Spending in Singapore No. of industry projects 82

5-yr Target S$255 mil 1,651 234 275 263 100 80 780 399 399 5-yr Target S$500 mil 75

STEP2015 Planning Process In developing the STEP2015 Plan, A*STAR pursued a highly participatory process that involved experts and leaders from the research community and industry, both local and international, as well as the key economic development agencies. A*STAR’s key planning processes include: a. External Review of Research Institutes (RIs). External review committees were convened at the mid-point of the S&T2010 tranche to conduct systemic reviews of A*STAR RIs. The review committees were helmed by international scientists of eminence in their respective fields, and tasked to assess the relevance and impact of the research programmes (for example, in commercialisation activity and economic impact) and to benchmark their international competitiveness. In addition to reviewing the RIs, the committees also scrutinised the organisation and management of research by the Councils, ensuring that their internal processes of directing and evaluating research were robust. b. Foresight and Technology Scans. The scans provided important inputs in the development of A*STAR’s R&D programmes, and involved a broad group of stakeholders encompassing scientists, industry experts and economic agencies. The process included identifying opportunities to grow existing clusters, reducing efforts in capability areas where their economic impact has declined, and identifying opportunities in new growth areas. Inputs from A*STAR researchers were also solicited through a two-day STEP Summit. c. Working with Economic Agencies & National Committees. A*STAR worked closely with other government agencies and committees to achieve alignment of its 5-year plan to larger national plans. A*STAR and EDB jointly developed cluster development plans to support the growth of key manufacturing sectors, which were presented to the Minister for Trade and Industry for endorsement. For the biomedical sciences (BMS) sector, A*STAR’s plans were also developed in conjunction with national-level committees such as the BMS Executive Committee (Exco), the Steering Committee on Life Sciences (SCLS) and the BMS International Advisory Council (IAC). The BMS Exco played a key role in deciding on resource allocation for collaborative programmes across the BMS sector. The BMS IAC provided an important platform for A*STAR to solicit international perspectives on BMS development, to guide the development of A*STAR’s strategic plans moving forward.

A*STAR’s 5-Year Planning Process

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS STEP2015 PLANNING GUIDANCE GROUP / RIE TASKFORCE Chairperson Mr Lim Chuan Poh Members Prof Tan Chorh Chuan Ms Yena Lim Prof Low Teck Seng Prof Sir George Radda Prof Charles Zukoski Mr Teoh Yong Sea Prof Edward Holmes Prof Lee Eng Hin Prof Chong Tow Chong Dr Lim Khiang Wee Mr Philip Lim Secretariat Mr Lim Zhi Yang STEP2015 COORDINATION MEETING Chairperson Dr Raj Thampuran Members Dr Andre Wan Ms Bernadette Foong Mr Timothy Sebastian Mr Walter Lee Mrs Jerusha Ang Mr Ong Yew Hing Ms Hazel Khoo Ms Joyce Tong Ms Lim Leh Hoon Mr James Ong Secretariat Ms Veon Lee Contributors Ms Tricia Huang Ms Khoo I Jean Ms Koh Mingshi Ms Quek Boon Zhi Mr Andy Chan Ms Jane Lee Ms Amanda Ang Ms Michelle Khor Ms Ng Koon Ling Mr Walter Lee Mr Christopher Yu Dr Lim Keng Hui Ms Evelyn Tan Mr Foong Huei Tai Mr James Koh Ms Ning Siew Moi Mr Khor Aik Lam Ms Emily Liew

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY VALUE CHAIN (STVC) PLANNING COMMITTEE STVC Steering Committee Chairperson Prof Charles Zukoski Members Prof Chong Tow Chong Ms Bernadette Foong Panel Chairperson & Co-Chairperson of each panel STVC Panel Meeting Healthcare, Wellness and Ageing Panel Panel Chairperson Dr Keith Carpenter Panel Co-Chairperson Prof Dim-Lee Kwong Panel Co-Chairperson Mr Beh Kian Teik Facilitator Mr Michael Ferrill Ms Tan Joo Lett Internal Dr Wang Zhiping Dr Guan Cuntai A/Prof Tham Chen Khong Dr Paul Huleatt Ms Lim Hooi Been Mr Teo Keng Hwa Dr Sean O’Shea Dr Wong Woon Kwong Mr Budiman Sastra External Ms Tan Wei Na Ms Josephine Moh Dr Walter Lim Mr Jan Teo Ms Samantha Su Secretariat Dr Davy Cheong Ms Chia Siao-Wei High Value Manufacturing Panel Panel Chairperson Dr Lim Khiang Wee Panel Co-Chairperson Dr Lim Ser Yong Panel Co-Chairperson Mr Damian Chan Internal Dr Liu Bo Dr Ong Eng Hong Mr Gerard Ang Dr Chen Zhining Dr David Wang Dr Ng Wai Kiong Dr Paul Sharatt Ms Yvonne Lek Dr Su Yi Dr Rakesh Kumar Dr Andrew Wong Dr Akkipeddi Ramam Dr Low Hong Yee

External Secretariat

Dr Zeng Xianting Mr Lee Hock Wee Dr John Yong Dr Jasbir Singh Ms Woo Kwai Merng Ms Fong Pin Fen Mr Fung Mok Wing Ms Shirlene Liew

Innovative Services Panel Panel Chairperson Dr Raj Thampuran Panel Co-Chairperson A/Prof Tham Chen Khong Panel Co-Chairperson Ms Angeline Poh Facilitator Mr Mike Ferrill Dr Alastair Johnson Mr Vivek Singh Internal Dr Wilson Wang Dr Yeo You Huan Dr Bao Feng Mr Cheah Kok Beng Dr Ng See Kiong Dr Yau Wei Yun Dr Terence Hung Prof Chua Soo Jin Dr Lee Eng Wah Ms Jenny Ang Mr Budiman Sastra Mr Andy Chan Mr Hoang Du’c Ms Jane Lee Mr Walter Lee External Mr Kee Thian Seng Mr Dennis Sng Mr Too York Lou Secretariat Mr Soh Kok Hoe Dr Ian Chan Sustainable Development Panel Panel Chairperson Prof Ho Hiang Kwee Panel Co-Chairperson Dr P K Wong Panel Co-Chairperson Mr Goh Chee Kiong Facilitators Mr Ferrill Michael Bryan Arthur Mr Chow Siew Loong Mr Rick Ong Shao Chen Internal Dr Lee Hui Mien Dr Song Bin Dr Chen Luwei Dr Ludger Paul Stubbs Dr Choi Won Jae Mr Poh Hee Joo Dr Zhu Furong Mr Budiman Sastra Dr Vincent Soh

External Secretariat

Ms Yong Sim Seah Ms Jane Lee Mr Leonard Lee Ms Jocelyn Chua Weiying Mr Ang Kian Seng Ms Tan Li Yen Mr Ong Eng Seng Prof Ng Wun Jern A/Prof OBBARD Jeffery Philip A/Prof SRINIVASAN Dipti A/Prof WITTKOPF Stephen Klaus Mr Victor Tay Dr Yar Kar Peo

Urban Lifestyle Panel Panel Chairperson Panel Co-Chairperson Panel Co-Chairperson Facilitator Internal External Secretariat

Prof Lye Kin Min Dr Thomas Liew Ms Thien Kwee Eng Mr Pan Seng Peng Jeffrey Mr Michael Ferrill Snr Mr Colin Leong Dr Susanto Rahardja Dr Teng Jinghua Mr Yeoh Wooi Gan Mr Charles Lee Dr Jason Png Dr Leong Siang Huei Dr Albert Lu Mr Chew Shee Hoe Mr Tay Chor Shen Mr Tham Hock Chuan Ms Kow Ree Na Dr Tan Geok Leng Dr Ng Teck Khim Prof Er Meng Joo A/Prof Chan Weng Tat Mr Edwin Chow Dr Ng Tian Tsong

STVC Working Committee Chairperson Mr Budiman Sastra Members Prof Chua Soo Jin Dr Thomas Liew Mr Lee Hock Wee A/Prof Tham Chen Khong Dr Wu Ping Mr Teo Keng Hwa Mr Mike Ferrill Dr Alastair Johnson Mr Jeffrey Pan Dr Ludger Stubbs Dr Jasbir Singh Mr Andy Chan Ms Jane Lee

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BMRC FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS BMRC Dr Andre Wan Ms Tricia Huang Dr Lee Meng Har Dr Foo Ngee Chih Mr Huang Junquan Mr Lin Daoxun Ms Audrey Teh Dr Lim Juay Yong Ms Joyce Lee Mr Terence Soo Mr Tan Wee Beng Ms Khoo I Jean Dr Wee Boon Yu Ms Petrina Ho Ms Joyce Lee Ms Sharon Wong JCO Dr Hazel Khoo RI EDs Dr Frank Eisenhaber Prof Miranda Yap Prof Edison Liu Prof Jackie Ying Prof Birgit Lane Prof Neal Copeland Prof Sir George Radda Prof Judith Swain Prof Phillipe Kourilsky RI PIs Dr Chandra Verma Dr Vladimir Kuznetsov Dr Martin Wasser Dr Lee Hwee Kuan A/Prof Lam Kong Peng Dr Steve Oh Dr Andre Choo Dr Niki Wong Dr Lee Yih Yean Dr Ng Say Kong Dr Jimmy Chao Dr Lee May May Dr Victor Wong Dr Lee Dong Yup Dr Florence Chua Ms Hoo Kuwan Yee Dr Larry Stanton Dr Lim Bing Dr Frank McKeon Dr Guillaume Bourque Dr Liu Jianjun Dr Mark Seielstad Dr Martin Hibberd Dr Neil Clarke Dr Wei Chia Lin A/Prof Wang Shu Dr Yang Yi Yan Dr Kurisawa Motoichi 86

Dr Edwin Chow Prof Hanry Yu Dr Andrew Wan Dr Zhuo Lang Dr Gao Zhiqiang A/Prof Francis Tay Dr Li Mo-Huang Prof Davor Solter Dr Lim Sai Kiang Dr Bruno Reversade Dr Colin Stewart Dr Leah Vardy Dr Stephen Ong Dr Jeremy Crook Prof Nancy Jenkins Prof Jean-Paul Thiery Prof Wanjin Hong Prof Graeme Guy A/Prof Edward Manser A/Prof Graeme Guy A/Prof Uttam Surana Dr Frederic Bard Dr Philip Kaldis Dr Chang Young-Tae Dr Han Weiping Dr Wieslaw Nowinski Dr Malini Olivo Dr Chuang Kai-Hsiang Ms Cher Meng Chu Prof Peter Gluckman Dr Antonia Bertoletti Ms Chia Hsin Ee Prof Paola Castagnoli A/Prof Ren Ee Chee Ms Koh Mingshi External SERI NUHS TTSH NMRC NUS STEP SUMMIT ORGANISING COMMITTEE Chairperson Dr Raj Thampuran Members Mr Lim Zhi Yang Mr Khor Aik Lam Ms Veon Lee Ms Edna Wong Ms Jacqueline Koh Ms Tricia Huang Mr Andy Chan Dr Lim Keng Hui Ms Lim Leh Hoon Mr Cheong Yu Chye

For enquiries, please contact: Planning & Policy Department Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) 1 Fusionopolis Way, #20-10 Connexis North, Singapore 138632 Tel: 65 6826 6111 Fax: 65 6777 1711 www.a-star.edu.sg

Published by: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) May 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanised, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of A*STAR.

Design by Ms Li Xin Hui

STEP 2015 Science, Technology & Enterprise Plan 2015

Asia’s Innovation Capital 1 Fusionopolis Way, #20-10 Connexis North, Singapore 138632 Tel: 65 6826 6111 . Fax: 65 6777 1711 . www.a-star.edu.sg