The pursuit of creativity

Developments in education will be key to helping Singapore generate continual innovationDr R TheyvendranPBM, MDIS Secretary-GeneralDESPITE the current global financial instability and economic crisis in Europe and other countries, innovation in business and industry is alive and ticking well.新蒲崗迷你倉 The recent Global Innovation Index 2013 found that research and development (R&D) spending is surpassing 2008 levels in most countries.A salient trend is that the group of dynamic middle- and low-income countries - including China, Costa Rica, India, and Senegal - are outpacing their peers in R&D, but they have yet to break into the top of the Global Innovation Index 2013 leader board.While many new players still face daunting challenges, the findings in the Global Innovation Index 2013 - published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) - offer exciting examples of innovation success, including those from some of the poorest countries. This provides grounds for optimism about the future of global innovation and economic recovery.So being wealthy alone does not bring about innovation success.Singapore has grown to become well-heeled - beating traditional leaders such as Hong Kong, with a record of 91,000 high net worth individuals earning a total of US$439 billion against Hong Kong's 89,000 with US$408 billion in 2011.According to the latest figures from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the value of assets under management in Singapore had jumped by 22 per cent last year to a record S$1.63 trillion, from S$1.34 trillion a year previously. In June 2013, global consultancy PwC predicted that Singapore could even dislodge Switzerland - the world's top wealth management centre, as early as 2015.But the nation slid 5 points from its 3rd position to 8th position in the latest Global Innovation Index. So how can Singapore improve its creative and innovative outputs? Let us take a quick look at other contributing factors and how education can hasten the pursuit of creativity and innovation.R&DR&D is one of the drivers of innovation dynamics. How has Singapore fared in terms of R&D? From 2007 to 2012, R&D expenditure in Singapore jumped more than 17 per cent from S$6.3 billion to S$7.4 billion.The public sector (including government-funded Higher Institutes of Education), which accounted for less than 40 per cent of all R&D expenditure, enjoyed an increase of about 30 per cent compared to 2007. The private sector is still the main engine for R&D, accounting for more than 60 per cent of R&D spent from 2007 to 2011.R&D expenditure in the higher institutes of education has also shot up from S$603 million to S$968 million from 2007 to 2010.However, while the R&D spent in absolute numbers has surged, R&D spent as a percentage of GDP has declined - from 2.7 per cent to 2.3 per cent from 2008 to 2011.So, to encourage and stimulate more inventions and discoveries, more of our wealth can be redistributed to driving R&D - especially the public sector. This is of paramount importance in the higher institutes of learning and public research institutes. Institutes of higher learning should be given more support and funding to spur R&D growth and other creative channels.PatentsAnother measurement of creative or innovative output is the number of patents regmini storagestered and awarded. While R&D expenditure has increased in Singapore, the number of patents awarded here has fallen - from 953 in 2007 to 855 in 2011.It is important for Singapore to grow its patent portfolio to position itself as an innovative country or a knowledge-based economy.One of the best ways to push ahead in innovation and patent development is via education. Public awareness of patents should be increased from a young age when students are taught to engage in creative thinking and to respect and value intellectual property development. Indeed, schools should be exhorted to design and invent new solutions to tackle global challenges. Grants for patents can be extended to schools and education institutions to make them hotbeds of inventive activities.DesignDesign (another creative barometer) - especially industrial design - has enjoyed an uptrend. According to the WIPO, Singapore has made 2130 Industrial Design Intellectual Property (IP) filings in 2011, compared to 1,754 in 2007. This is a positive sign. The setting up of educational institutes to focus on design such as the Singapore University of Technology and Design and the Singapore Institute of Technology will further boost Singapore's credentials in design globally.Talent developmentAccording to A-Star's R&D Survey 2012, the number of Singaporean and Permanent Resident (PR) research scientists and engineers remained mainly unchanged at 21,655 in 2010 and 21,702 in 2011. In contrast, the number of non-PR foreign research engineers and scientists grew 17.2 per cent from 6,641 in 2010 to 7,780 in 2011. There is therefore a need for Singapore's education institutes to produce more local talent to drive our R&D efforts. More incentives should be given to a wider range of education institutions - including privately-run schools of higher learning - to nurture this talent pool. Hence, Singapore should do more to develop its own people instead of importing R&D talents to stimulate its creative or innovative output.Culture of empowerment/plurality & entrepreneurshipSchools should foster a culture of curiosity and encourage the diversity of ideas and ways of doing things. Innovation is all about new ideas and having the ability to form critical judgments. However, the current education system of a one-size-fits-all curriculum does not encourage that.To encourage innovation, schools should give more leeway for students to explore different approaches in learning. Greater effort should be made to promote entrepreneurship. Schools should take an active role in instilling the concepts and understanding of entrepreneurship in their students to increase innovation output and come up with marketable ideas to tackle global problems and raise living standards. Entrepreneurial fervour is a valuable asset that will create new knowledge and wealth.Last but not least, there needs to be a culture of empowerment and plurality if Singapore wants to succeed in sharpening its innovative teeth to put that extra shine and sparkle in economic development. More has to be done to embrace changes in our socio-cultural and education landscape to ensure that innovation output is built from the ground up. It is not surprising that the most innovative countries today are also among those that are ranked the highest in the Global Democracy Index.self storage