Singapore as Innovation Nation

I'm sitting up in the nose of a Singapore Airlines 747 on the loonnngggggg flight back to San Francisco.. I've just been there for three days to kick off one of my various "involvements" this year — as a so-called Senior Visiting Fellow of Singapore's Civil Service College.

I said yes because I was interested in getting an intimate view of what is generally considered to be the engine of Singapore's relentless progress — namely, its government. I wanted another data point in my quest to understand the dynamics of innovation stewardship at a national level.

Government is generally credited with leading Singapore's transformation. When I first visited back in the1960's, the country seemed nothing more than a developing country fishing village — one with no territory to speak of, and no natural resources other than people. Today Singapore is rich, sleek and sophisticated — a country of 4.5 million people with a global airline, a world-class life sciences research center, a whopping bank balance...and a national innovation strategy.

Singapore is interesting precisely because the public sector leads; in fact one could argue that the bulk of the innovation and entrepreneurship in the country resides in the public sector. A country with a brand identity for education — thinking schools, learning nation — Singapore's brand identity for its public sector could easily be — creative government. (Or at least creativity-oriented government.)

This kind of thinking is typically greeted with skepticism in other parts of the world. A typical view of government holds it to be synonymous with bureaucracy. One senior US government official recent defined bureaucracy for me as the ability to maintain continuity in the face of idiocy. And many I meet on the road these days are skeptical of government's role in fostering innovation at a national level.

But Singapore provides existent proof of the importance of government — at least for one nation — in driving an innovation agenda. And it is a fascinating example of how innovation stewardship can work. For example, the Prime Minister of Singapore has a degree in mathematics and chairs the National Science and Innovation Council, which in turn oversees the National Research Foundation that is funding Singapore's big plays: digital media, life sciences and water/environmental technology. The majority of the cabinet has advanced training in science or technical fields such as medicine. So no problem here in terms of understanding the importance of science and technology, or of investing in innovation. But Singapore is also investing in the fields of design and management as well in actively developing a sweet spot where all of these disciplines converge to generate...innovation.

Singapore looks at national innovation through the lens of management, so one is not surprised to learn that there is a cross-functional government committee concerned with fostering creative industries that operates in parallel with a team looking at how to make Singapore appetizing for the global creative class. Sometimes things look somewhat overmanaged. One entry in the Civil Service College catalogue is a course on humor as a management technique.

As innovation becomes increasingly outsourced, Singapore will be one of the most important suppliers of innovation services. They are investing in the right ingredients — financial incentives, world-class laboratories, talent-friendly ambiance, education institutions and much more. Perhaps most importantly they have a theory of national innovation that they are eagerly putting into practice. Actions speak louder than words. And along the way, perhaps, they will develop even more of a sense of humor.

Comments

[swift goat pet for truth]

Well, in the USA we elect officials because they would be great to have a beer with!

HA! Take that Singapore!

[Podewumun]

LOL!!! How true, how true.

[Purple Girl]

That was what Our nation began as- bu thas now been sold out from underneath Us to the Profiteers- who hate innovation and the Free Market.
It's time to scrape the Shit off our Democracy adn Free Market and let th evision our founding Fathers actually come to fruition.
the Scam started almost 80 yrs ago when Corps were bailed out of the Depression but our citizens were still standing in Soup lines.End the Racketteerin gof the 'Federal Reserve' and the pick pocketing of the IRS . They hav eno intentions of Returning our countrry to US so we must Seize it back!
FIRE THE 'FEDERAL RESERVE' AND RETURN THE IRS TO THEIR JOB AS COLLECTORS OF PROFITS (not wages). Time to put the INC's back were they belong....WE built ya and we'll tear you down!

[TakeSake]

How many know the common historical link between Singapore and the US?

The US was not alone on December 7, 1941. Amongst others, Singapore was also the target of an empire on that day.

The experience of being the target of an empire changes countries. The experience of being the target of an unprovoked attack changes the people.

An empire requires material and wealth beyond what can be produced in the home country. This requires that it fulfill the basic definition of an empire: other lands and countries provide that which the home country cannot. This process is unsustainable. The empire becomes a shell with no internal support.

Rome found that out. Japan found that out. America is learning it's lesson right now.

[iratior]

Mr. Kao paints a very rosy picture of Singapore. Not everyone agrees. Although I had to search the internet fairly hard to find something negative, here it is:

http://hrw.org/englishwr2k8/docs/2008/01/31/singap17616.htm

The last time I wrote something critical of SIngapore on the internet, the message board I wrote it at quite mysteriously went down for a few hours. It will be interesting to see what happens in this case.

[ShawnMichel]

Can't wait for more of the scummy Republinazi trolls to show up, Mr. Kao. But this is a fine piece nevertheless. Singapore leads in math and science worldwide--for a reason. The US of A, land of the greed, home of the crave, is now 25th.

The death of an empire. And it's ours.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

"You must remember they have very little crime due to draconian laws that punish people with major sanctions.. such as death for a host of minor infractions.. They also have more of a subsistence economy where there have and very few (if any) people on the public dole.. No parasites living from government handouts to buy DEMOCRATIC/SOCIALIST votes like we have"

Hey didn't you read the article ? Most of those 'innovations' come from the government, which basically means you are looking at essentially a 'socialist' economy anyway, far more so thn ours.

Typical conservative notion of 'freedom'. Government backs up the corporations and leaves the citizens to fend for themselves in a police state. Sounds like republican heaven!

+

[FogBelter]

Singapore is a unique case, and it is difficult to transplant her degree of success anywhere else.

Singapore, at 79 square miles, is a City State ... for perspective San Francisco is 49 square miles. In a small Nation it is easier to make changes that are faster and seem more brilliant on the part of the Government, because corrections of course can be seen in a far shorter time constraint than a larger country.

Don't get me wrong, I respect their success, but I don't think any Nation of tens or even hundreds of millions of people could benefit from their model.

[cktirumalai]

There can be little doubt that the original impetus for the transformation of Singapore came from the the will, the planning, and the vision of a single individual.: Lee Kuan Yew. It is not surprising that since his stepping down from office, at least formally, the Government continues to be the main engine of innovation. History will no doubt provide its verdict or a series of verdicts on both these developments.

[mamacat]

In a broader sense, good government is a great boon to an economy. The flip side of that is that an incompetent, corrupt government may be good for a few priviliged companies and individuals, but such a government is very bad for the larger economy.
Are you listening Republicans?

[Dunnage]

Obviously, not nearly enough Military spending.

[LeftRight]

but.....but.....but....that's SOCIALISM!!!!!! That's EVIL!

[ranchomerced]

You must remember they have very little crime due to draconian laws that punish people with major sanctions.. such as death for a host of minor infractions.. They also have more of a subsistence economy where there have and very few (if any) people on the public dole.. No parasites living from government handouts to buy DEMOCRATIC/SOCIALIST votes like we have. Those that produce the wealth are not compelled by govenment to pay confiscatory wages and benifits as we are by the feds and local governments... In many ways they are a MORE FREE COUNTRY than we are...

[wheaties]

Who produces the wealth?? What...the Bear Sterns bankers??? the Wall Street thugs that are running America right now. Oh, I suppose it's the corporations that "produce" all of the wealth. Your a typical rethug with your simplistic fascist phrases about producing wealth and confiscatory taxes-what crap! You've had your 30 years and your neo-con economic revolution has failed.

[LeftRight]

Yup, that's why I was being sarcastic!