Digital tech, food security among key areas to get more R&D funding

SINGAPORE — Following a mid-term review of its five-year science and technology plan, Singapore will pump in more money to boost research and development (R&D) efforts in three key areas, namely digital technologies, cell therapy manufacturing and food security.

These additional investments will build on the "good progress" made under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 (RIE2020) plan — a S$19 billion initiative launched in early-2016 — said the National Research Foundation (NRF) in a press release on Wednesday (March 27).

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the elements of research, innovation and enterprise are critical to Singapore's development.

Since embarking on the RIEC journey in 2006 to deepen the nation's science and technology capabilities along the whole value chain, progress has been made.

This includes international recognition and significant breakthroughs for local scientists, as well as foreign companies such as Dyson setting up their advanced product development facilities here.

R&D efforts have also resulted in practical and useful products, including autonomous vehicles, he added.

"We must and we will continue to invest in science, technology and innovation in a balanced, sustained and sustainable manner. (This is) in order to keep Singapore competitive and relevant globally, and seed exciting new opportunities for our future economy," the prime minister said.

INVESTING IN FUTURE GROWTH

On the mid-term review of the RIE2020, Mr Lee, who chairs the RIEC, added: "We have affirmed that we are on track, but we are sharpening our focus and making fine-tuning adjustments to our plans."

To ensure that Singapore keeps pace with the digital revolution, the Government will invest an additional S$500 million under the RIE2020 plan to strengthen digital technologies and automation expertise here.

Of that amount, S$200 million will go to boosting the nation’s supercomputing capability and network speed and quality, as announced by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat earlier this month.

The National Robotics Programme is set to receive about S$41 million to deploy more robotics technology, while the remaining funds will help to expand existing programmes like AI Singapore and foster new capabilities in digital trust, the social science of digital technologies, and computational law.

Another area earmarked for more investments is cell therapy – a form of therapy in which intact living cells are injected into a patient to help fight cancer, or enable the restoration of tissue or organ function.

The industry has seen accelerated growth in recent years on the back of related product launches, presenting high-value opportunities for the local biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector, according to the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

“When you look at the future, it’s beyond what we currently manufacture today. Small molecules, biologics and cell therapy will be part of the future and we want to anchor those investments here in Singapore,” said Dr Benjamin Seet, executive director at A*STAR’s biomedical research council.

By ploughing in S$80 million, Singapore hopes to address existing hurdles in the making of cell therapies. These include developing a commercially scalable platform and improved technology to assess the quality of cells manufactured.

In line with the newly announced target of producing 30 per cent of the nation’s nutritional needs by 2030, some S$144 million will also be allocated from the RIE2020 plan for R&D work in sustainable urban food production, future food, as well as food safety science and innovation.

To complement this, two Centres of Innovation focusing on aquaculture and energy will be set up in Temasek Polytechnic and the Nanyang Technological University by June and April, respectively.

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“In science and technology, there’s always a lag so it’s important for us to do continuous stock-take,” said NRF chief executive Low Teck Seng.

“Because our ambition is not only to build up science and tech knowledge, but to also use it to grow our economy and build solutions to address some of our national challenges.”

While the RIE2020 plan has made good progress thus far, more can be done. For instance, there is still the need to nudge more companies, both big and small, to try to incorporate R&D into their operations, said Prof Low.

This was also brought up by the prime minister during the press conference.

Singapore currently spends about 1 per cent of its gross domestic product on RIE efforts. The private sector, on the other hand, spends between 1.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent.

“It’s not quite what we had hoped because our aim is Government 1 and private sector 2,” he said. Though he was quick to add that in terms of dollar amount, RIE investment from the private sector has increased alongside growth in the economy.

“But I think we need to do more. It is an area that we need to find partnership between the public and private sector."

Elaborating on what NRF can do in this area, Prof Low said: “The industry is not spending rapidly enough so we will need to keep pushing our tech consortia idea and others to see to get them more involved. In terms of tech deployment and diffusion, can we be more effective? I think we can.” CHANNEL NEWSASIA

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