Speech by Minister S Iswaran at the Launch of Innosparks, an ST Engineering Open Lab

​SPEECH BY GUEST-OF-HONOUR MR S ISWARAN, MINISTER FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY (INDUSTRY) AT THE LAUNCH OF INNOSPARKS, AN ST ENGINEERING OPEN LAB, ON 3 OCTOBER 2017, 10.50AM

Mr. Kwa Chong Seng, Chairman of ST Engineering,

Mr. Vincent Chong, President & CEO of ST Engineering,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Introduction

1. I am pleased to join you today to witness the official launch of Innosparks, an ST Engineering Open Lab.  

2. This year marks ST Engineering’s 50th anniversary since its establishment as Chartered Industries of Singapore in 1967.  Today, ST Engineering employs over 20,000 staff globally, and has attained global leadership in areas such as aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), as well as satellite communication and network solutions. 

3. This Open Lab marks yet another significant milestone in ST Engineering’s growth story, and reflects the company’s continued commitment to strengthen its innovation capabilities and grow new businesses. 

Innovation and value-creation are important for companies to maintain their competitiveness in the future economy. 

Importance of innovation and partnerships 

4. Rapid technological change and digitalisation are transforming industries.  Against this backdrop, the capacity to innovate and create value through new ideas, products, services, and business models will be critical for companies to maintain their competitiveness. Indeed, one of the key recommendations of the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) is for enterprises to strengthen their capabilities to innovate and scale up. 

5. Many of today’s innovations are catalysed by a vibrant startup eco-system. However, large enterprises also need to nurture their innovation capacity and harness the energy of startups, both to grow their existing businesses, as well as to develop new differentiating capabilities and create new opportunities. Innovation will enable companies to re-imagine and re-invent their businesses.

6. To this end, large enterprises are increasingly adopting open innovation strategies, and the co-creation of new technologies and solutions with start-ups. Such partnerships allow both parties to leverage each other’s complementary strengths: startups and SMEs tend to be nimbler in developing new ideas, while large enterprises have the resources and market channels. Hence, beyond in-house development of new products and services, large enterprises are also setting up corporate venture funds and incubators to partner and invest in promising startups. 

ST Engineering Open Lab

7. As Vincent has elaborated, the ST Engineering Open Lab is a good example of how companies can leverage open innovation, and partner with startups to co-innovate and co-develop new technologies and solutions.  

8. By providing startups with funding support, co-working spaces, engineering expertise and business networks to design, build and test products and solutions, the Open Lab will play a key part in enhancing the growth and vibrancy of Singapore’s startup ecosystem. 

9. This Open Lab will also enable the company’s engineers to take their promising new ideas to market. As part of ST Engineering’s efforts to foster a culture of bottom-up innovation and “intrapreneurship” within the company, employees will be given the space as well as support to develop and commercialise their ideas. I encourage more companies to build such a culture of entrepreneurship within the organisation, which will motivate our people to develop the mindset and skills to pursue innovation. 

The Government is committed to supporting our companies, including our large local enterprises (LLEs), in their innovation efforts.  

10. The Government is committed to supporting our companies in their innovation journey. The Economic Development Board (EDB) has played a key role in supporting the establishment of this Open Lab, and will continue working with our large local enterprises or “LLEs” to capture growth opportunities through new corporate innovation models. 

11. With the recently announced merger of SPRING and IE to form Enterprise Singapore, our LLEs, SMEs and startups can look forward to better support in developing comprehensive corporate strategies. Enterprise Singapore will complement EDB in driving collaborations between MNCs, LLEs, SMEs and startups, to innovate and enhance the competitiveness of our companies. 

12. Under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 (RIE 2020) plan, the Government will also support closer public-private partnerships, so that companies can tap on the diverse capabilities of our research institutes and universities to develop and commercialise new solutions. The formation of a Global Innovation Alliance (GIA), which was recommended by the CFE, will also help our local companies connect with partners, technologies and ideas in major innovation hubs around the world.  

13. These efforts are complemented by our Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs), where we will continue to support the transformation of our industries through innovation and technology adoption, as well as skills upgrading, productivity improvements and internationalisation.  

Conclusion

14. Let me conclude by congratulating ST Engineering again on this significant milestone. I am confident that as our companies continue to innovate and create new value, we will be able to strengthen Singapore’s competitiveness in the future global economy.  

15. I wish the ST Engineering team every success in your journey ahead. Thank you.

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