@Poh Kam WONG

University as driver for open innovation & international collaboration in national innovation system: The case of National

University of Singapore (NUS)

Professor Wong Poh Kam

NUS Business School & Director,

NUS Entrepreneurship Centre

@Poh Kam WONG

Imperative for Open Innovation and International R&D Collaboration

• In a world of widely distributed knowledge, companies cannot afford to rely entirely on their own R&D, but are increasingly tapping on external sources of knowledge through R&D collaboration, buying or licensing processes or inventions from others, and licensing invention to external parties

• Likewise, regional/national innovation systems need to be increasingly open as innovation activities become increasingly globalized & regional clusters become differentiated into tiered nodes in the global innovation network

• This is particularly critical for newly industrialized economies (NIEs), which need to make sure that they develop one or more of their key innovation clusters into higher-tiered nodes in the global innovation networks, or risk being marginalized

@Poh Kam WONG

University as Driver for Open Innovation in National/Regional Innovation System

• The open nature of the university model for knowledge production & exchange

– Open Culture of Scientific Commons vs. Proprietary IP system for technology commercialization in private firms

– High flow of talents (students but increasingly professors as well) in university model vs. moderate churn in firms

– Spatial proximity of, & porosity of boundary between, diverse disciplinary fields, facilitate cross-disciplinary research

• Increasing adoption of “Third Mission”

– Adapting the traditional university model to incorporate a technology commercialization role in addition to the traditional roles of teaching & research

@Poh Kam WONG

University as Driver for Open Innovation in National/Regional Innovation System• Increasing globalization of knowledge production & exchange

network

– “Small world” nature of most local R&D innovation clusters despite globalization, hence the need for nodes with international ties to bridge local innovation clusters

– Open model of university, with both dense local ties and extensive inter-regional/international ties, is well suited to play this connectivity hub role

• How well university can play this Open Innovation Driver Role in regional innovation system depends on it’s ability to:

– Integrate its open science model with the technology commercialization role

– Integrate itself into the global knowledge production & exchange network

@Poh Kam WONG

University as Driver for Open Innovation in National/Regional Innovation System

• Integration of open science model with technology commercialization role

– Incorporation of technology commercialization role as an integral part of the university’s mission, but without sacrificing the push for excellence in basic science

– Linking Basic R&D with Translational R&D, & Strategic focus on the “Pasteur Quadrant” (Use-inspired basic research)

– Increasing importance of IP commercialization, while maintaining culture of open science

– While R&D collaboration with, & licensing of technology to, industry represents the key mechanism for open innovation by university, in the context of NIEs where existing high tech industry is weak, commercialization through spin-offs may be even more important

@Poh Kam WONG

University as Driver for Open Innovation in National/Regional Innovation System

• Integration of university into the global knowledge production & exchange network

– Openness to foreign talents at all levels (professors, researchers, students, industry collaborators)

– Downstream” open innovation role: University as anchor to attract foreign MNCs to establish R&D operations in the local economy, and as facilitator of industry R&D collaboration

– “Upstream” open innovation role: University as facilitator for International R&D collaboration networks and consortia involving foreign universities & research institutes

– International experience & networks for students and academics– Adoption of global benchmark and international best-practice in

faculty promotion and tenure (P&T) and R&D management

@Poh Kam WONG

University as Driver for Open Innovation in Singapore: The Case of National University of Singapore

• Case Study of the experience of National University of Singapore (NUS) in seeking to become a driver for Open Innovation and International Collaboration in the national innovation system of Singapore

– The national innovation strategy framework of Singapore in recent years

– The changing open innovation role of National University of Singapore (NUS) in Singapore’s NIS

– Lessons and Implications for other NIEs

@Poh Kam WONG

Singapore’s National Policy Framework for Innovation and R&D in the 2000’s

@Poh Kam WONG

The Context: Singapore’s Transition towards a Knowledge Economy

Between 1960 and 2000, Singapore achieved GDP growth rate of 8% p.a., driven by the manufacturing sector and sustained by her development as a major regional business and communications hub for global MNCs

Distinctly new phase of development emerging in the new millenium: Shift towards Knowledge Based Economy incorporating:High tech innovation and manufacturing Knowledge intensive business servicesCreative content production and distribution

Mirrored by a shift in the primary focus of the national innovation system:Creation of IP-based knowledge and commercialization of innovationDevelopment of entrepreneurial mindsets and capabilitiesBecoming an integral node in the global innovation network

@Poh Kam WONG

Emerging Institutional Framework for S&T Policy in Singapore as of 2008

EDB – Economic Development BoardASTAR – Agency for Science, Technology & ResearchSPRING – Standards, Productivity and Innovation BoardIDA – Infocomm Development AuthorityDTG – Defence Technology GroupDSO – Defence Science OrganisationDSTA – Defence Science & Technology AdministrationRIEC - Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council

Ad Hoc Committees:Ministerial Committee on R&D Policy (2004-2006)Economic Review Committee (ERC)(2002-03) T21 Committee (1999-2003) Committee on Competitiveness (1997-98)

Economic Planning Committee (1985-86, 1989-91)

Cabinet

Ministry of Defence

DTGDSTA

Ministry of Trade& Industry (MTI)

Public research institutes/

centres (PRI/Cs) (13)

IDA

Ministry of Communications &

Information Technology

Other Ministries

Bio-Medical Research Council

(BMRC)

EDB SPRINGASTAR

Science & Engineering Research

Council

DSO

Ministry of Education

HigherEducation

Division

Universities(3)

Polytechnics(5)

Academic Research

Fund

RIEC

National Research

Foundation

Source: Wong & Singh (2008)

@Poh Kam WONG

Increasing Emphasis on R&D and Innovation• A high-level Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC), chaired by the

Prime Minister, was established in 2006 to provide strategic direction & coordination of policies to promote R&D and innovation

• A new National Research Foundation (NRF) was established in early 2006 to provide secretariat support to RIEC, and to co-ordinate research of different agencies to implement the following five strategic thrusts :

– Intensify national R&D spending to achieve 3% of GDP by 2010;

– Identify and invest in strategic areas of R&D;

– Fund a balance of basic and applied research within strategic areas;

– Provide resources and support to encourage private sector R&D;

– Strengthen linkages between public and private sector R&D.

• NRF was allocated S$5 billion National Research Fund between 2006 and 2010 to fund new research & innovation initiatives to complement those already undertaken by the existing Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR), which oversees the 12 major public research institutes (PRIs) in Singapore. The primary focus of NRF funding will go towards strengthening the R&D and innovative capabilities of Singapore’s universities

@Poh Kam WONG

A*STAR’s R&D Focus

Source: A*STAR website, http://www.a-star.edu.sg/a_star/2-About-A-STAR

Biomedical PRIs•Institute of Molecular & Cell Biology•Genome Institute of Singapore•Bioinformatics Institute•Institute of Bioengineering & Nanotechnology•Bioprocessing Technology Institute•Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences•Institute of Medical Biology

Science & Engineering PRIs•Data Storage Institute•Institute for Chemical & Engineering Sciences•Institute of High Performance Computing•Institute of Microelectronics•Institute of Materials Research & Engineering

@Poh Kam WONG

NRF Strategy for Promoting new R&D Capabilities to complement A*STAR

Source: NRF (2006). “ National Research Foundation set up to provide national framework for strategic R&D efforts”, NRF Media release, 3 January 2006, http://www.nrf.gov.sg/NRF/uploadedFiles/News_and_Events/3Jan06_EDB.pdf

@Poh Kam WONG

The Changing Open Innovation Role of National University of Singapore (NUS) in Singapore’s national innovation system

@Poh Kam WONG

Changing Role of NUS in Singapore’s shift towards a knowledge-based economy

Until the late 1990s, NUS, as the oldest and leading university in Singapore, has emphasized the traditional twin academic missions of providing excellent education to the nation’s population, and contributing to the creation of new knowledge through engagement in R&D activities geared primarily towards scientific publications

NUS has continued to pursue excellence in these twin academic missions and has indeed made significant achievements by the mid-2000s, as evidenced by various international ranking…

But the university’s role in the 21st century has taken on additional dimensions in response to the changing need of the Singaporean economy…

@Poh Kam WONG

Indicator FY 2006/7

Faculty members 1,944

Research staff 1,464

Undergraduate students enrolled 22,689

Graduate students enrolled 6,616

Total research funding S$185.9 mil

Total no. of research projects funded 17591

Journal publications in SCI/SSCI (CY 2007) 3,192

Patents filed 150 1

Patents granted 40 1

Cumulative US patents granted (CY1990-2006) 206

Cumulative journal publications (Jan 1997 - Oct 2007) 2 27,083

Summary Profile of National University of Singapore (NUS) (FY 2006/7)

1 Figure for FY20052 Thomson ISI-indexed journal articles onlySource: NUS Annual Research Report 2005-2006, National University of Singapore; NUS Annual Report 2007, National University of Singapore; Database of the USPTO

Established 1905; Largest and oldest of 3 public universitiesBroadest scope of courses and disciplines

@Poh Kam WONG

2004 ranking

2005 ranking

2006 ranking

2007 ranking

Overall 18 22 19 33 Biomedicine 25 15 9 12 Science 35 34 22 25 Technology 9 9 8 10 Social Sciences 10 13 11 20 Arts and Humanities 17 56 22 21

Ranking of NUS in the World University Rankings by the Times Higher Education Supplement, 2004-07

Source: Knowledge Enterprise Online, various issues, downloaded from http://newshub.nus.edu.sg/; The Times Higher Education Supplement (various years)

Ranked 33rd in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement of top 200 universities in the World (4th-highest in Asia)

@Poh Kam WONG

New Roles of NUS in the Context of Singapore’s Shift towards Knowledge EconomyContribute to the Creation of New Knowledge-based Industries To support knowledge-based economic growth through the

creation of industrially-relevant knowledge/innovation and their commercialization, and to attract global MNCs in new emerging industries

Attraction of Foreign Talents Go beyond Education for the small local population to compete for global talents by attracting top students and faculty from overseas, as done by top universities in USA

Fostering Entrepreneurial MindsetIn the past, high economic growth has provided NUS graduates with good career prospects as salaried employees, particularly in MNC subsidiaries and governmentIn the future knowledge economy, stable job opportunities no longer guaranteed, need to inculcate spirit of enterprise

19

@Poh Kam WONG

"NUS aspires to stand among the entrepreneurial universities. This is in line with our vision to become a global knowledge enterprise. We have taken steps to inject an entrepreneurial dimension. We have established NUS Enterprise: A FREE ENTERPRISE ZONE, where innovation and entrepreneurship are freed from traditional rules…"

Towards an Entrepreneurial University

-- Prof Shih Choon Fong, State of University Address 2002, 13 August 2002

@Poh Kam WONG

New Vision of NUS in the 21st Century: Becoming a Global Knowledge Enterprise

To become a globally-oriented university, open to and competing for students and faculty globally, and benchmarking practice and performance against global leaders

To make NUS a knowledge hub for Industry and Enterprise

To inject an entrepreneurial dimension to NUS education and research

To be a key node in the global innovation network

@Poh Kam WONG

Shift Towards Entrepreneurial University Model

Major changes initiated by the new president in early 2000 to shift NUS towards the entrepreneurial university model

• Incorporation of Enterprise as a “Third mission” in addition to the traditional missions of teaching and research• Creation of a new Organizational Division – NUS Enterprise

Broad mission to inject more entrepreneurial dimension to NUS education and researchAppointed as first CEO an engineering school professor who had founded a spin-off to commercialize his inventionsSecond CEO a veteran venture capitalist with prior academic research & start-up experience

• Instituted major new focus on Internationalization and Industry Collaboration in Research, while emphasizing achieving research excellence

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Enterprise’s Vision of NUS in Singapore’s

High Tech Economy

Venture capital /angel investors& other venture businesses

attracted to work with University

High tech ventures created orfacilitated by the

University

World-class R&D investments attracted to

collaborate withUniversity

Top talents (researchers, students)attracted to work & study

in University

Talented graduates withentrepreneurial mindsets

NUS as a Global KnowledgeEnterprise

Source: Wong Poh Kam (forthcoming)

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Enterprise: Major InitiativesReforming university policies on technology commercialization

Reorganized the Industry and Technology Relations Office (INTRO) to make it more inventor friendly. Subsequently re-named and re-organize Industry Liaison Office (ILO) to emphasize its dual role of industry collaboration as well as IP management and commercialization

Expanding the Entrepreneurship Centre with educational, research, outreach and venture support functions

Introduced significant entrepreneurship education programs --Technopreneurship Minor Programs, Overseas College Program (NOC) and iLEAD -- to inculcate entrepreneurial mindset among NUS students Established Venture Support (NVS) program including incubator, seed funds, mentorship & investor-networking

@Poh Kam WONG

Strategic Focus of Major Open Innovation Initiatives at NUS in recent years •Innovation Collaboration with Industry

– focus on major technological clusters being strategically promoted by the Singapore government (e.g. environmental & water technologies, biomedical sciences, interactive digital media)– focus on key global MNCs as collaboration partners

•Innovation Collaboration with Foreign Universities– focus on selected areas of research excellence– focus on strategic partnership with leading universities that have significant technology commercialization & industry collaboration track records

• Shift towards Greater International & Industry Collaboration go hand-in-hand with shift towards NUS Enterprise Model, which provides the link to technology commercialization

@Poh Kam WONG

Impact of Shift towards the Entrepreneurial University Model

Shift still in early stage; assessment of impact is preliminary

Changes in NUS between the mid 1990s and the mid 2000sModerate quantity expansion in traditional dimensions, with substantial quality improvement

Education and research output

Significant change in new dimensionsForeign talent attraction (foreign students, researchers,

faculty)Entrepreneurship promotion (spin-offs and start-ups)Technology Commercialisation (invention disclosures,

patents, licenses, R&D collaboration with industry)International Collaboration (upstream and downstream

collaborations)

@Poh Kam WONG

Indicator AY1996/7 FY 2006/7

Teaching staff 1414 1,944

of which % foreign 39.0% 51.9%1

Research staff 843 1,464

of which % foreign 70.1% 78.6%1

Undergraduate students enrolled 17,960 22,689

Graduate students enrolled 4,478 6,616

Graduate students as % of total student enrolment 20.0% 22.6%

Percentage of foreign students studying at NUS 13% 2 33.7%

Total research funding Na S$185.9 mil

Total no. of research projects funded 1,751 1759 3

Journal publications in SCI/SSCI 1,307 4 3,192 5

Patents filed 13 150 3

Patents granted 4 40 3

Cumulative patents granted by USPTO 21 6 206 7

Profile of Changes in NUS, Before and After Shift

to Entrepreneurial University Model

1 Percentage for FY2004 2 Percentage of total student intake for 1997/8 3 Figure for FY20054 CY1996 5 CY2007 6 CY1990-1997 7 CY1990-2006Source: NUS Annual Research Report (various years), National University of Singapore; NUS Annual Report; Database of the USPTO; IPOS; ISI Web of Science; NUS Office of Research

@Poh Kam WONG

As at end June 1997 As at end June 2005 Faculty members Research staff Faculty members Research staff No. % No. % No. % No. % Singapore 862 61.0 252 29.9 849 48.1 232 21.3 Malaysia 181 12.8 125 14.8 191 10.8 98 9.0 India 56 4.0 93 11.0 99 5.6 112 10.3 China 63 4.5 271 32.2 121 6.9 461 42.4 Other Asian countries 76 5.4 31 3.7 151 8.6 78 7.2 US/Canada 75 5.3 28 3.3 138 7.8 23 2.1 Other countries 101 7.1 43 5.1 216 12.2 83 7.6 Total 1,414 100 843 100 1,765 100 1,087 100

Attraction of Foreign Talent: NUS Faculty Members and Research Staff by Nationality as at End June 1997 vs End June 2005

Sources: NUS Annual Report, various years

Increase in proportion of foreign talent among NUS faculty and teaching staff between 1997 and 2005

@Poh Kam WONG

Financial Year Patent Applications Patents Granted Total no. of

patents Average annual no. of patents

Total no. of patents

Average annual no. of patents

1997-99 230 76.7 39 13.0 2000-02 304 101.3 72 24.0 2003-05 435 145.0 119 39.7

Technology Commercialisation:Number of Patents Filed by and Granted to NUS,

FY1997-2005

Source: NUS Research Report (various years)Note: Figures include patents filed in multiple countries

The annual rate of patent applications and patent grants has increased since 2000…

The extent of IP licensing to industry has also increased since 2000

@Poh Kam WONG

No. Company Country Cumulative

Total as at end 2006

1 Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. Singapore 785 2 Hewlett-Packard Company US 216 3 Seagate Technology, LLC United States 215 4 National University of Singapore Singapore 206 5 Micron Technology, Inc. United States 136 6 Motorola, Inc. United States 105 7 Texas Instruments United States 100 8 Institute of Microelectronics Singapore 94 9 ST Assembly Test Services Pte Ltd. Singapore 81

10 Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, Limited Japan 76 11 Koninklijke Philips Electronics., N.V. Netherlands 61 12 STMicroelectronics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. France/Italy 57 12 Agency of Science, Technology & Research Singapore 57 14 Tritech Microelectronics, Ltd.* Singapore 56 15 Creative Technology, Ltd. Singapore 55 16 Advanced Mircro Devices, Inc. US 52 17 Thomson France 44 18 ASM Technology Singapore Pte. Ltd Netherlands 41 19 Infineon Technologies Aktiengesellschaft Germany 43 20 Molex Inc United States 38

Top 20 Organizations with Singapore Patents1, Cumulative to 2006

1Patents where at least one inventor is a Singaporean. Includes patents which are jointly assigned.** A company called Tri-tech Microelectronics was granted a total of 56 patents before filing for bankruptcy and entering liquidation in 1999.Source: Database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (various years)

NUS has become 4th-largest holder of US patents granted to Singapore-based inventors, up from 7th in 1995

@Poh Kam WONG

Comparisons of NUS vs. Selected Leading Universities – Patents granted by USPTO

Name of Institution

Cumulative 1976 to 2005 2005

# of patents

Rank among world’s

universities

# of patents

# of licensing

University of California 5615 1 310 265

MIT 2825 2 133 93

University of Illinois 545 10 65 63

Stanford University 1541 4 100 109

University of Pennsylvania 718 14 37 37

University of Southern California 413 31 35 35

Georgia Tech 510 22 43 43

Oxford University 98 97 9 34

Cambridge University 35 127 4 41

Imperial College 97 98 7 n.a.

National Univ. of Singapore 182 67 26 40

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS’ Open Innovation Activities have increased over time

 1976-1989

1990-1994

1995-1999

2000-2007

NUS-invented USPTO patents 0 7 33 195

Share of NUS in total Singapore patents (%) 0 2.8 4.3 4.1

Share of NUS in total citations to Singapore patents (%)

0 2.8 2.7 4.9

% co-owned with other organisations

NUS NA 0 9.1 29.7

Singapore1 3.7 12.0 8.0 3.9

of which % co-owned with foreign assignees

NUS NA 0 3.0 2.1

Singapore2 2.9 1.6 3.4 2.2

% co-invented with non Singapore residents

NUS NA 0 6.1 28.7

Singapore 41.5 40.2 41.3 44.8

Source: Computed from USPTO database

1 All Singapore-invented patents with more than one assignee2 All Singapore-invented patents with more than one assignee, at least one of which is foreign

@Poh Kam WONG

Total no. of spin-offs

Average no. of spin-offs

1980-99 11 0.55 2000-02 15 5 2003-06 18 4.5 Total 44

Academic Entrepreneurship: Number of NUS Spin-offs, 1980-2006

Source: NUS ILO and NUS Venture Support

NUS’ change in policy to encouraging technology commercialization through spin-off and start-up formation after 2000 has facilitated an increased rate of spin-off formation

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Publications and Citations 1996 vs 2006

1996 2006 NUS journal publications 1,307 3,367 Citations to these publications within 2 years of publication

3,128 11,8971

Faculty 1414 1820 Publications/faculty 0.9 1.9 Citations/faculty 2.2 6.51 NUS average citations per article 2.4 3.5 Singapore average citations per article 2.0 3.21

Note: Includes SCI- and SSCI-indexed articles only1 Using citation data up to 7 August 2008Source: Thomson ISI Web of Science

The new emphasis on Technology Commercialization has NOT been at the expense of pursuit of Research Excellence:

• NUS’ annual journal article output increased almost 3-fold between 1996 and 2006

• Research quantity (publications per faculty member) and quality (citations received per faculty member and per paper) has also increased over this time

• NUS journal articles tend to be more highly cited than the average Singapore journal article

@Poh Kam WONG

Examples of Recent NUS Initiatives to promote International & Industry Collaboration in Innovation

Environmental & Water Technologies

Biomedical Initiatives

Interactive Digital Media Initiatives

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Open Innovation Initiatives – Environmental & Water Technologies• GE-NUS partnership on Water & Process Technologies

– MOU signed in September 2006, GE Water to invest SGD 130 million over 10 years to establish a Global R&D Centre on Water & Process Technologies hosted at NUS School of Engineering

– Focus on Water Quality and Water Scarcity, aligned with Singapore’s Global Hydrohub vision

• Singapore-Delft Water Alliance (SDWA)– Research collaboration launched in February 2007 between NUS, Delft Hydraulics

(Netherlands) and the Public Utilities Board (PUB)

– Funding of SGD 64 million over 3 years, with support from the Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) of the NRF

– Hosted at NUS School of Engineering, aims to advance S&T in water sector through demand-driven research, post-graduate and professional education and specialised consultancy services.; Operations were kick-started with four research programs, involving 70 researchers from NUS, Delft University of Technology and Delft Hydraulics

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Open Innovation Initiatives – Environmental & Water Technologies (cont’d)

• NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI)– Established in early 2007, with university funding of SGD 12 million over 3 years

– Adopts a research cluster approach, accommodating cross-disciplinary research areas and faculty-focused research units in 3 focus Areas: (i) Air, land & water systems; (ii) Human & environmental health; (iii) Energy systems

• Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS)– Established in February 2008 by NUS in partnership with the Clean Energy

Program Office (CEPO), with expected investment of SGD130 million over 5 yr

– Aims to be a world-class solar R&D centre positioned optimally between university science and industry, and to groom pool of solar energy specialists

– Focus on 3 key research areas: (i) silicon-based solar cells; (ii) novel photovoltaic (PV) devices and materials; (iii) “Solar and Energy-efficient Buildings”

– Emphasis on active collaborate on research and education programs with outstanding scientists and research centres to build homegrown capabilities, starting with 25 researchers and expected to growth to 90 researchers in 5 years. Additionally, expect to produce up to 50 PhD and 20 Masters students in 5 years

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Open Innovation Initiatives – Biomedical Sciences• NUS-Duke Graduate Medical School Singapore (GMS)

– Established in 2005 as Singapore’s second medical school– Research-intensive curriculum based on Duke University model of medical education: developing clinician-

scientists who will engage in translational research– Located next to national health specialty centres and Singapore General Hospital

• NUS-A*STAR-USCD tripartite partnership on Biomedical Science– Announced in March 2006, NUS, A*STAR and University of California, San Diego will collaborate on 6

research projects in the areas of host-pathogen interactions, cancer, stem cell biology and developmental biology

– A*STAR and NUS provide total SGD 2 million over 2-3 years, to support preliminary work ahead of joint

grant applications to funding agencies in US and Singapore • Singapore Gastric Cancer Consortium (SGCC) – Improving Outcomes for Our Patients

project– Collaboration of researchers from NUS, NUH and the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCSS)– Project was awarded SGD 25 million from the National Medical Research council under its Translational

Clinical Research Flagship Program– NUS module focuses on improving early detection to enable diagnosis

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Open Innovation Initiatives – Biomedical Sciences (cont’d)

• NUS-RAND collaboration: NUS Centre for Health Services Research– Centre formed in August 2006 as collaboration between NUS Yong Soo Lin School of

Medicine and the RAND Corporation, in partnership with Ministry of Health, Singapore Health Services and the National Healthcare Group

– Aims to promote academic expertise in health services research and to be a national resource for research and education programs through which quality, credible data are generated to assist decision making by healthcare providers and policy makers

• NUS Cancer Research Centre of Excellence – Announced in March 2008 by NRF and the Ministry of Education (MOE)– Offers opportunity for team of eminent international faculty to work with NUS faculty

on cancer research– NRF and MOE will support the Cancer RCE with SGD 172 million over 7 years– Expects to train 100 graduate students and 70 postdoctoral fellows– Specialty programs will include Cancer Stem Cell Programme, Cancer Biology

Programme, Genomic Oncology Programme and Experimental Therapeutics Programme

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NUS Open Innovation Initiatives – Biomedical Sciences (cont’d)

• Centre for Translational Medicine (CeTM) – Expected to be completed in 2010, CeTM is a state of the art building to be home to

more than 500 researchers and educators from the National University Health System (NUHS), will have 41,000 square metres of teaching, learning, training and research space with ten floors dedicated to research

– Will house translational research programs in cancer, cardiovascular diseases, infections diseases, imaging research and other diseases, as well as NUS’s Cancer Research Centre of Excellence and the Clinical Imaging Research Centre

– Will provide facilities to integrate research, education and clinical care, allowing clinicians and doctors to work closely with researchers, students and scientists

– CeTM will promote active collaborations with researchers from other centres, hospitals and research institutes, to build world-class capabilities for translational research in Singapore

• NUS Clinical Research Collaboration with RIKEN, Japan– Collaboration between doctors and researchers from NUS, NUH and RIKEN (Japan’s

oldest and most established research institution), comenced in 2007, to develop and validate a molecular diagnostic test for personalised therapy for lung cancer patients,

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Open Innovation Initiatives – Interactive Digital Media• NUS Hollywood Lab

– Opened in July 2006 in Los Angeles to foster international R&D collaboration and technology commercialisation for IDM.

– Lab works closely with major Hollywood studios, universities and entertainment companies in North America.

– Focus on R&D collaboration, student exchange and visiting professor programmes, and joint business ventures between Singapore and USA.

• Interactive and Digital Media Institute (IDMI) – Launched in April 2007 with seed funding of SGD 11 million over 3 years, as

Singapore’s first inter-disciplinary research institute in IDM.– Undertakes application-inspired basic research in IDM, trains graduate students from

Singapore and Asia, and transfer intellectual and human capital – Comprises eight laboratories in mixed reality, sociable robotics, games, ambient

intelligence, multimedia sensing, cognitive and social studies, arts & creativity, and multimodal analysis.

– Serves as focal point for IDM research in Singapore, aiming to make Singapore a major global nucleus of new media

– NUS Hollywood Lab serves as an outpost of the IDMI to network with top IDM institutions in the US and facilitate placement of NUS students in internship programs.

@Poh Kam WONG

NUS Open Innovation Initiatives – Interactive Digital Media (cont’d)

• Keio-NUS CUTE Centre (Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments)

– Jointly set up by Keio University and NUS, with joint funding by both universities and the Interactive Digital Media Research and Development Programme Office (IDMPO) hosted by MDA.

– Announced in July 2008, and expected to commence operations before end 2008

– Will involve more than 50 researchers from Japan and Singapore including some of Japan’s top researchers in IDM, who are acknowledged world-leading experts in specialised fields.

– Premised on the emergence of a “creative” and “connected” society, the centre will focus on pervasive content for wearable and body media, reshaping lifestyles around the theme of ‘5 seconds of fun’.

– NUS faculty, researchers and students will have opportunities to spend time in Keio University, one of Japan’s top universities, to build networks and research capability.

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Examples of NUS Internationalization Initiatives to Create Open Innovation Capabilities

The Singapore-MIT Alliance Program

The CREATE program

The RCE Program

The NUS Overseas College (NOC) Program

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Raising Innovative Capacity through International Cooperation: The Singapore-MIT Alliance Program

Established in 1998, the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) is an innovative engineering and life science educational and research collaboration involving the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and MIT, with students recruited globally The program is intended to combine a focus on creativity and entrepreneurship with an intense, hands-on approach to research, leveraging on MIT’s experience in developing industrial collaboration and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship among its students. All students will reside a minimum of one semester at MIT. In Singapore, they will attend “live” MIT classes and take part in research meetings with MIT faculty, staff and students through video-conferencing The success of the first phase of the program, where the degree is granted by NUS solely, to the establishment of a second phase, where the degree is granted jointly by NUS and MIT

@Poh Kam WONG

Building Global R&D Links: The International Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterpise (CREATE) Initiative

Recognizing the importance of building strong linkages with global institutions to enhance Singapore’s connectivity to other centres of research in US and Europe, and accelerate Singapore’s thrusts towards an innovative and entrepreneurial economy, the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) (chaired by the Prime Minister) initiated in 2006 the International Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) Program

The Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre was established in NUS as the first CREATE program. SMART houses joint, inter-disciplinary research between NUS and MIT professors. The first project focuses on infectious diseases & environmental sensing.

A second CREATE with European partners is being finalized with ETH (Switzerland)

@Poh Kam WONG

Building Nodes of Global Excellence: The Research Centre of Excellence (RCE) Initiative

Recognizing the need for Singapore to build “peaks of global excellence” in selected fields of knowledge in order for Singapore to become a truly integral node in the global innovation network, the National Research Foundation (NRF) has committed to fund a number of new Research Centre of Excellence (RCE) in Singapore.

NUS has made a successful bid to establish the first RCE in Singapore, the Quantum Information Science and Technology (QIST) Centre, with S$150 million funding from NRF to attract up to 200 scientists from around the world

@Poh Kam WONG

Infusing Entrepreneurial & Global Mindset: The NUS Overseas College initiative

Initiated in 2001, program aims to send 200 NUS undergraduate students per year to five high tech entrepreneurial hubs in the world; 180 in 2008

Experiential Education: “Learning by immersion” Model

Work as interns in high-tech start-ups in host region for one yearTake entrepreneurship courses in partner universities in host regionReturn to NUS to complete their final semester/year

Infuse entrepreneurial, global mindsetInfluence future career choices towards entrepreneurial and innovative pursuitsEstablish social networks with overseas entrepreneurial communities to facilitate future collaborationServe as catalyst for mindset change among their peers in NUS when they return

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NUS College in Silicon Valley, USA(2002)

Study at Stanford & work in the innovation “habitat”

≈NUS College in Bio Valley, USA

(2003)Study at UPenn & work in the US’ pharma

hotbed≈

NUS College in Shanghai, China(2004)

Study at Fudan & work in China’s commercial hub

≈NUS College in Stockholm, Europe

(2005)Study at KTH/SSE & work in

Europe’s No.1 IT hub≈

NUS College in Bangalore, India(2006)

Study at IISc & work in India’s high-tech hub

NUS Overseas Colleges

@Poh Kam WONG

Conclusion: NUS’ role in making Singapore an integral node in the Global Innovation Ecosystem

Singapore has been a major hub in the global business, trading and communications/transportation system in the 20th Century

Singapore is aiming to become a major hub in the global innovation ecosystem in the 21st centuryAttracting global innovators to SingaporeNurturing globally competitive indigenous innovatorsBuilding connectivity to other global innovation hubs

Since the late 1990s, NUS has sought to contribute significantly to this vision of Singapore by pursuing a new Global Enterprise Strategy that embraces an “Open Innovation, Entrepreneurial University” model

@Poh Kam WONG

Lessons for Other NIEs

Universities in NIEs can play a potentially important role in the national innovation system of these economies, by serving as an Open Innovation hub that plugs integrally into the global innovation network

To play this open innovation hub role effectively, universities in NIEs need to incorporate technology commercialization as a third mission, while maintaining its open scientific commons culture and focusing on achieving research excellence

A focus on injecting an entrepreneurial dimension to university education and research needs to go hand-in-hand with the shift towards Open Innovation

@Poh Kam WONG

Selected References

Wong, P.K.(2007), “Commercializing Biomedical Science in a Rapidly Changing “Triple-Helix” Nexus: The experience of the National University of Singapore”, J. of Technology Transfer 32: 367-395 (2007)

Wong, P.K., Y.P. Ho and A. Singh (2007), “Towards an Entrepreneurial University Model to Support Knowledge-Based Economic Development: The Case of the National University of Singapore”, World Development Vol. 35 No. 6 (June 2007): 941-958

Wong, P.K. and Y.P. Ho (2007), “Knowledge Sources of Innovation in a Small Open Economy: The case of Singapore”, Scientometrics Vol. 70, No. 2, Feb. 2007, p. 223-249

Wong, P.K. and A. Singh (2008), “From Technology Adopter to Innovator: The Dynamics of Change in the National System of Innovation in Singapore”, chap. 3 in C. Edquist and L. Hommen (eds.), Small Economy Innovation Systems: Comparing Globalization,Change and Policy in Asia and Europe, Elgar, 2008, p. 71-112

Wong, P.K. (forthcoming), “Towards a “Global Knowledge Enterprise: The Entrepreneurial University Model of National University of Singapore”, in O’Shea, R. and T.J. Allen (eds), Building Technology Transfer within Research Universities: An Entrepreneurial Approach, Cambridge University Press