Singapore, 6 March 2014 – Local SMEs that collaborate with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) will now be able to enjoy first mover advantage when adopting technologies from Singapore’s lead research agency. A*STAR officially launched the Headstart programme today to encourage more local SMEs to leverage on emerging technologies to gain a competitive market advantage.
Over the past five years, more than 700 SMEs have undertaken close to 2,200 projects with A*STAR. These businesses that tapped on A*STAR technology found that they needed more time to develop the technology in order to reap the commercial benefits. In response to their feedback and a suggestion from the Singapore Business Federation’s SME Committee (SMEC), A*STAR introduced Headstart to grant royalty-free and exclusive intellectual property (IP) licenses for the first 18 months to local SMEs that collaborate with A*STAR.[1] The exclusive use of the IP can be further extended at business-friendly terms through Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL), A*STAR’s technology transfer arm.
Announced during the Committee of Supply Debate 2014, Headstart will complement existing A*STAR schemes that provide SMEs greater accessibility to practical and affordable technology. The programme aims to encourage more SMEs to adopt existing technology, and to participate in research and development to create their own novel products and solutions.
Mr Philip Lim, Chief Executive Officer of ETPL, said, “The number of A*STAR technology licenses going to our SMEs have tripled in the past five years, and we are encouraged to help our SMEs be more competitive in the global marketplace. The terms of the Headstart programme were specifically tailored for our SMEs in mind, to empower them to launch the development of new products and services. In the drive for productivity improvements and quality growth, R&D and innovation are key differentiators for our SMEs. We are confident that this initiative will spur more and deeper public-private partnerships.”
Since September 2013, Headstart has received keen interest from local enterprises, with more expected to do so in 2014. These businesses are in areas such as electronics, infocomms and precision engineering. One such company is Psiber Data, which designs and manufactures handheld and portable test and measurement devices in the communication infrastructure industry. In order to reduce the time taken for data centres to perform maintenance work on optical fibre cables, the company signed an RCA with A*STAR to leverage on the expertise of researchers from the Data Storage Institute (DSI) to develop a product which is able to identify the connectivity of optical fibre cables, as well as the start and termination of the fibre. The tester is also able to provide value-added features such as optical fibre channel link map characterizations, which are currently not available commercially. Such features allow the company to perform more comprehensive checks to reduce server downtimes for customers.
Mr Arvind Patel, Director, Engineering of Psiber Data said, “Most SMEs like us need more time to transform technology from R&D into actual products and services. Headstart has allowed us to focus on developing value added features to market and gain traction to increase our competitive advantage.”
Local SMEs have engaged in an increasing number of technology licenses and RCAs with A*STAR, due to SME outreach platforms such as the Growing Enterprises through Technology Upgrade (GET-Up), and the Technology Adoption Programme (TAP). TAP was the most recent programme to be introduced in July 2013. Close to 200 companies from industries such as aerospace, food manufacturing, marine, retail and precision engineering have adopted technologies in areas such as visual imaging, RFID and the “Internet of Things”.
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For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Amanda Lee
Manager, Corporate Communications
for ETPL, A*STAR
DID: +(65) 6478 8443
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Email: amanda_lee@etpl.sg
Mr. Lee Jian Hui
Senior Officer, Corporate Communications
A*STAR
DID: +(65) 6419 6575
Mobile: +(65) 90228235
Email: leejih@scei.a-star.edu.sg