Though much of the world has had a singular focus on the coronavirus pandemic this year, key lessons have been learnt about how to tackle other challenges, especially climate change. Sustainability and the efficient use of resources are hinged upon technology and innovation. But it is only through collaboration and mutually beneficial partnerships that this can be achieved.
Where tech and design meet
The inaugural Design Think-Tank Challenge is a platform for industry giants and design consultancies to collaborate and develop innovative solutions.
Long before the zero-waste movement gained popularity, retailers had already begun focusing on various ways to minimise consumer waste, from providing incentives for returning packaging to adopting innovative designs like paper packaging that can be eaten or re-purposed.
TechInnovation 2020 saw start-ups, polytechnics and universities presenting new technologies and ideas across crowdpitching sessions on four unique themes.
Innovating amid disruption
In crisis there is opportunity, particularly for innovators. Check out 10 interesting Tech Offers found on IPI’s Innovation Marketplace in 2020.
2020 was a year unlike any other. But amid the disruption, opportunities abounded. Pharmaceutical and biotech firms raced to invent vaccines, with the most successful ones minting new billionaires. Elsewhere, innovators were at work in areas ranging from materials and chemicals to health and personal care, busy harnessing opportunities brought about by the pandemic.
How IPI fosters innovation through partnerships
IPI’s refreshed identity reflects its proactive role in empowering enterprises to thrive through innovation, according to IPI CEO Wong Lup Wai.
New and improved technologies for the beauty, healthcare and wearable tech industries.
As the largest and fast-growing organ of the human body, our skin is more than a mechanical barrier that protects our bodies from the rest of the world. It allows us to sense our environment, regulate our body temperature, and—with the help of technology—give us a window into our health.
Zooming into the emerging AI technologies for a post-COVID world.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitialisation, particularly the adoption of artificial intelligence. Here are three Tech Offers riding the wave.
A blind woman is walking along a street, slowly approaching an obstacle ahead. As she gets closer, the device hanging from her neck emit a high-pulse click, which reflects off the object.
Trained in human echolocation, the returning echo activates a visual processing area in her brain, providing her with information such as the shape, material and distance, which she then uses to build a 3D image of the object in her mind. A wooden bench, she concludes, before she continues on her stroll.
From access to grants, state-of-the-art technology and co-innovation opportunities, the IoT Innovation Challenge 2018 co-organised by IPI, Enterprise Singapore and the Centre of Innovation for Electronics & IoT has helped four Singapore start-ups fast-track their goals. We speak to them to find out how the competition has transformed their businesses.
SpaceAge Labs
Deepak Pitta
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
The key to securing long-term food security is investing in innovative technologies like alternative proteins, said experts at IPI’s AgriFood Innovation Webinar.
When countries around the world went into lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19, it revealed vulnerabilities in many of the processes we take for granted in everyday life. The food system—dependent on a complex web of supply chains spanning the globe—was particularly hard hit, as consumers flocked to supermarkets to stock up and unharvested food crops languished in abandoned fields.