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.

Leading transformation can be challenging; here are four ways to guide your organisation’s journey towards open innovation.

Keeping up with the consumers
With almost four decades of open innovation under their belt, Containers Printers has successfully enhanced their products through collaboration with contacts in and outside of Singapore.

IPI to give Sustainability a boost through new Innovation Challenge

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.

Every aspect of daily life inevitably leaves an impact on the environment: heating or cooling our indoor spaces, throwing out the trash or running the dishwasher all consume energy. But what if the built environment itself—with the help of smarter design—could help mitigate your negative impact on the planet? This is the dream of green buildings.