Mr Thomas Chua: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) whether research scientists and engineers from public research institutes can be trained and coached to improve their presentation and communication skills so that they can relate better to the business needs and thinking of SMEs.
Written Answer (to be attributed to Parliamentary Secretary Ms Low Yen Ling)
1. SMEs are important to Singapore’s economy, comprising 99% of enterprises and employing 70% of Singapore’s workforce. Government is committed to helping our SMEs tap on innovation and technology to optimise business processes, improve productivity and enhance competitiveness. SMEs are able to gain access to research expertise and advice at the public research institutions through programmes such as GET-Up, which provides secondment of research scientists and engineers (RSEs) to SMEs, technical advice, and operation and technology road-mapping (OTR) services.
2. To help researchers improve their communication skills, A*STAR organises regular training sessions and master classes on science communication and presentations. More than 600 researchers have attended these sessions since their inception in March 2015.
3. A*STAR also has a team of technology transfer and industry development professionals who link companies to relevant technologies that meet their business needs. In particular, A*STAR has established an SME Office to proactively reach out to SMEs.
4. These efforts have resulted in deeper and broader engagement between A*STAR’s research institutes and our SMEs. Projects with SMEs have increased by 40% from 2011 to reach 737 in 2015. Under GET-Up, A*STAR has seconded 657 RSEs to 356 SMEs, appointed 148 technical advisors to 100 SMEs and conducted 227 OTR projects for 194 SMEs as of 31 Jul 2016.
5. Government will continue to help our SMEs to innovate. Our SMEs must also play their part by taking the initiative to tap the capabilities and assistance available in our public sector research institutes, to develop and deploy technology solutions that can drive their transformation and growth.