The role of government agencies in the innovation process of Singapore.

• Main Authors: Ong, Jie Lin., Renita Amaris Ponniah., Tay, Li Gek.
• Other Authors: Lang, Josephine Chin Ying
• Format: Final Year Project
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business::General::Government policies
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/10325
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This qualitative research study investigated the workings of two government agencies, Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and The Enterprise Challenge (TEC), and their impact/influence on the innovation scene in Singapore. In particular, it explored the usefulness of their programmes and the various forms of aid they provide their respective participants with. Information was collected from 13 innovators. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 11 of them and email interviews with with the remaining 2. Our findings suggest that the participants benefited especially from the monetary and infrastructural aid that working with these agencies provided them with. However, they also faced several problems especially in terms of getting their innovations commercialized, handling the bureaucracy of the agencies’ systems and obtaining expert advice on issues such as the viability of their innovations and the best route to take to see their innovation process through. Based on the best practices of the National System of Innovation in the United States of America, Finland and South Korea, we put forth several possible solutions to these various problems and discuss potential underlying impediments of Singapore’s innovation drive. This study opens doors for future research to be conducted on the workings and influence of not only on other such agencies but also on the three other ‘players’ in/of Singapore’s innovation drive. Key words: aid; government agencies; innovation scene; Singapore