Assessing A*STAR’s Industrial Value-add to Local Enterprises
Ministry of Trade and IndustrySpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Ms He Ting Ru’s inquiry into the indicators used to assess ASTAR’s value-add to local enterprises and the extent of technology commercialisation by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong responded that performance is measured through project collaborations, secondments under the Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) programme, and the creation of deep-tech spin-offs. Over the past five years, ASTAR has undertaken more than 2,400 projects with 925 local firms and seconded 300 research scientists, resulting in significant revenue and employment growth for participating companies. Additionally, more than 70 deep-tech startups were launched and 230 local SMEs and startups licensed 302 A*STAR-originated technologies during this period to drive their transformation. The Ministry continues to support local enterprises by providing access to shared prototyping facilities and specialised technical expertise to lower upfront investment costs and enhance industrial capabilities.
Transcript
107 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) beyond patents, publications and licensing revenue, what KPIs does the Ministry use to assess A*STAR's industrial value-add to local enterprises, especially SMEs; and (b) how many SMEs have commercialised A*STAR-originated technology in the past five years.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR's) value-add to local enterprises is assessed through indicators, such as the number of projects that A*STAR undertakes with local enterprises; the number of research scientists and engineers (RSEs) seconded to local enterprises under the Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) programme; and the number of A*STAR spin-offs.
These indicators reflect three key ways that A*STAR supports local enterprises.
First, providing access to research capabilities, intellectual property and technologies. This includes access to shared prototyping and pilot-scale production facilities, such as the National Semiconductor Translation and Innovation Centre and Innovation Factory@Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, that would otherwise require substantial upfront investments by the companies. A*STAR aims to set up more of such facilities moving forward. Over the past five years, A*STAR has undertaken more than 2,400 projects with 925 local enterprises.
Second, transferring knowledge and talent to drive transformation. Through the T-Up programme, A*STAR has seconded more than 300 RSEs to 177 local enterprises over the past five years, equipping them with technical expertise that they may not be able to build in-house. Our evaluation studies show that enterprises participating in T-Up saw 44% higher revenue and 22% higher total employment than non-participating firms on average within three years of starting the T-Up project.
Third, nurturing deep-tech startups from lab to market. A*STAR technologies have spun off more than 70 new companies over the past five years. Notable examples of companies that are launched on the back of an intellectual property or technology from A*STAR include Mirxes and MetaOptics, which have successfully scaled internationally.
230 local small and medium enterprises and startups have licensed 302 A*STAR-originated technologies over the past five years.