The city-state of Singapore has achieved rapid economic development in the past by positioning itself as an efficient business hub in Asia. To remain competitive in the global knowledge economy, however, Singapore needs to move beyond efficiency by developing a strong “innovative” edge as well. This study examines the challenges that Singapore faces in this process.

Overall, while the survey confirms Singapore’s continuing competitive strength in efficiency infrastructure, it also finds a favourable perception of Singapore as an innovative city. Indeed, many of the industry actors indicated that an efficient business infrastructure is a pre-requisite for their locating their innovative activities in Singapore, suggesting that the relationship between innovation and efficiency is complementary rather than substitutional.

While the study found that intellectual property (IP) and its protection are widely recognized by actors in all three sectors, interesting differences exist. In particular, intellectual property protection appears to be of greater concern to the high-tech, research-and-development-intensive manufacturing sector and the creative contents sector than to the KIBS sector.

Another interesting difference is that while competition in high-tech innovation tends to be global, competition in creative content tends to have a stronger local or regional dimension. Public policy in East Asia has traditionally emphasized the development of technological innovation capabilities in the manufacturing sector.

In light of the study findings, public policy makers may need to be more sensitive to the nuanced differences in policies needed to promote the new creative content industries and the associated supporting KIBS.

National University of Singapore - Department of Business Policy
Poh Kam Wong

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01/04/2005

Poh Kam Wong, Yuen Ping Ho and Annette Singh

research

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment

Research & innovation, Urban economy