Singapore: A home for innovation

• Pages: 18-21

p. 18 2012 | 5

good and societal bene t of Singapore. It is a conduit to sup-

port Singapore’s local industry and community through NYP’s

inventions and innovations,” Dr. Singh explains. To this end, it

helps spearhead po lytechnic-wide research, foster innovation

and enterprise and enco urage and develop student e ntrepre-

neurship initiatives.

CTIC works closely with the Poly technic’s seven schools –

Engineering, Information Technology (IT ), Chemical and Life

Sciences, Health Scie nces, Interactive and Digital Media (IDM),

Design, and Business Ma nagement – to fulll NYP’s two strate-

gic goals: to nurture the spirit of inn ovation and enterprise and

to “sell” its ideas. “CTIC’s role and responsibilities have evolved

over the years, and the Centre has now bec ome a window to

innovation and enterprise at NY P,” Dr. Singh notes.

IP PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT

The Centre focuses largel y on IP portfolio mana gement and

licensing but also plays a key role in c oordinating R&D funding,

strengthening collaboration with other universities and research

institutes, and forging links with ind ustry and business partn ers.

The Centre’s IP Management and Commerc ialization Pathway

clearly and systematicall y denes each stage involved in taking

an idea from the lab to the market. Once an inve ntion disclosure

(ID) outlining the details of an invention h as been completed, it

is submitted to the IP representati ve of the school concerned,

who conducts a rst-level asses sment before forwarding it to

CTIC. IP representatives are exper ts in their chosen domai n

and are trained by CTIC in IP manage ment and protection.

With this multidisciplina ry and close-kn it team in place, CTIC

can draw on a polytechni c-wide pool of expertise, leverag e

accumulated experience a nd extend its outreach and contacts.

Once the ID is received, CTIC’s technology of cers thoroughly

vet and evaluate the invention for its IP potential. A specia lly

designed “techno logy & market” matrix helps to sort can didate

technologies objecti vely and to consistently ascertain their pat-

entability and viability from both a technology and commercial

perspective. If cleared, a rec ommendation is made as to how

to protect and commercially exploit the invention.

“The decision to le or not for IP protecti on depends largely on

costs versus benets,” Dr. Singh explains. “If the technology is

suited only for the local mar ket then the national phase ling of

a patent for Singapore is done. However, if it has international

appeal, then the Patent Cooperatio n Treaty (PCT) route is our

SINGAPORE:

a home for innovation

Over the past d ecade, Sin gapore has e merged as on e

of the most com petitive e conomies in A sia, one of th e

easiest pl aces in the world to do busi ness and “a home

for innovatio n”. Ranked third in t he 2012 Global I nno-

vation Index for the second year running, Singapore’s

sustained emphasis on developing its knowledge and

innovation-intensive activity is paying dividends. This

drive is set to co ntinue. In 2 010, Prime Mini ster Lee

Hsien Loong a nnounced t hat Singa pore will inves t

$16.1 billion Singapo re dollar s (US$12.9 bil lion) – a 20

percent inc rease over the previou s ve-year period – to

support research, innovation and enterprise develop-

ment from 2011 to 2015. “Res earch and in novation un -

derpin th e competit iveness of ou r industr ies, catal yze

new growth a nd transfo rm our econo my. Increasing ly,

intellect ual capit al will be cri tical for ou r next phase of

economic deve lopment,” t he Prime Mini ster noted in a

September 2010 news conference.

Research and developm ent (R&D) has become a cornerstone

of the nation’s economic strategy. By 2015, the country aims

to increase gross expenditure o n R&D to 3.5 percent of gross

domestic product (GDP). Singapore’s tertiary sector – its

universities, research institutes and polytechnics – play a key

role in spawning the innovation that sust ains its economic

performance. The tec hnology transfer of ces established in

each of these sectors are instru mental in moving technolog y

from the laboratory to the market. They he lp identify resea rch

with commercial potential, ensure it is outcome driven, and

develop strategies for its commercial exploitation.

WIPO Magazine recently interviewed Dr. Valdew Singh, Direc-

tor of the Centre for Technology Innovation and Commercialisa-

tion (CTIC), the corporate arm of Nanyang Polytechni c (NYP), to

nd out more about CTIC’s role and the challeng es it faces in

managing NYP’s intellectual prope rty (IP) assets. NYP has won

several prestigious awards in rec ognition of its innovations as

well as its organizational and bu siness excellence. These include

the Singapore Qualit y Award, the Innovation Excellence Award

and the People Excellen ce Award. It is also an enthusiastic user

of WIPO’s IP services.

Established in 2008, CTIC is a rel ative newcomer to the eld

of technology transfer. However, it has quickly demonstrated

how it can make a positive contribu tion in its role to identify,

protect, manage and commercially exploit NYP’s IP assets.

CTIC’s mission “is to serve as an effecti ve institution-to-industry

bridge to facilitate technology transfe r for the greater economic