At the inaugural Future Economy Conference and Exhibition (FECE) 2017 organised by the Singapore Business Federation, Dr Sze Tiam Lin, Senior Director of IPI presented how enterprises can stay relevant and develop a competitive edge through IP and open innovation. As Singapore transitions to become a knowledge-based economy, he explained the importance of Intellectual Property (IP) and IP strategy to support business needs in R&D investments and when collaborating with external organisations to co-innovate. He further described how IPI works with Singapore enterprises to facilitate technology partnerships to bring new and innovative products and services to the market.

In a subsequent panel discussion on “Redefining Success Through Innovation”, Dr Sze addressed how SMEs despite facing time and finance constraints, can leverage open innovation to grow their businesses and encouraged them to do so. Three other panellists, Mr Jonathon Neal, Chief Executive Office of Expedia Asia, Mr Michael Leong, CEO of SESTO Robotics and Co-Founder of HOPE Technik and Mr Chew Ker Yee, Managing VP of Wangi Industrial participated in a lively and upbeat session moderated by Ms Audrey Yap, Managing Partner of Yusarn Audrey LLP.

FECE 2017 was held from 1 to 2 November 2017 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre. The event’s focus on Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) aimed to provide greater clarity on how companies can become future-ready by transforming and strengthening their capabilities.