Enterprise meets technology: More than 300 enabling innovations showcased at TechInnovation

SINGAPORE, 20 September 2016 – TechInnovation’s fifth edition opened at Resorts World Convention Centre in Sentosa today. The annual two-day technology marketplace is Singapore’s premier technology brokerage event that brings together international and local technology providers and seekers to explore technology and business collaboration opportunities through open innovation.

Hosted by IPI Singapore, it is also an anchor event of the inaugural Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH). The opening address was delivered by Guest-of-Honour, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Chairman of the National Research Foundation Singapore.

This year saw over 2,000 delegates from over 30 countries, a 10 percent increase from last year’s event. The international participants come from Australia, China, Russia, Thailand, USA and UK, amongst others. IPI expects to facilitate more than 300 business meetings between delegates, exhibitors and speakers over two days of engaging and intensive crowdsourcing and crowdpitching sessions

“TechInnovation provides a platform for SMEs to gain exposure to our global network of technology providers and raises their industry profile. IPI’s personalised business matching also enables these enterprises to explore collaborations with potential partners. Through TechInnovation, the SMEs can take on innovation projects to expand their businesses,” said Professor Lam Khin Yong, Executive Director of IPI.

One such business matching success is with local nutrition SME, Health Food Matters Pte Ltd, which signed a licensing agreement to produce and market a range of ready-to-eat texture-modified meals using the technology developed by Changi General Hospital (CGH). The technology modifies the food texture and fluid consistency to make swallowing safe for patients and elderly with swallowing difficulties. They were introduced to each other at last year’s TechInnovation by the National Healthcare Innovation Centre (NHIC). The license agreement marks an unique partnership between a public healthcare institution and a SME to further food technology.

More than 300 ready-to-market and emerging technologies were demonstrated by over 120 exhibitors from 17 countries across the themes – Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering, Urban Solutions & Sustainability, Health & Personal Care and Services & Digital Economy. Some of the technology showcased include:

The Robotic Chef is a cooking system designed to be a cost-effective solution to help enterprises in the F&B sector to increase productivity and improve the consistency of food production. Presented by local SME, Kurve Automation, the Robotic Chef is programmable to handle different cuisines, and is suitable for use in food automation in food manufacturing factories or centralised kitchens.

Printable Thin Film Solar Cells is a solution-based method of manufacturing thin film solar cell for applications such as building facades, roof-top power generation and solar farms. It is cost-effective, easily scalable for large area production and can be fabricated on flexible substrates. This is exhibited by NEW CREATE.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic exhibited Novel Cosmetics Products from Mushroom Extracts. The technology prepares the mushroom extracts and formulates the mushroom-based cosmetic products which contain high content of anti-aging and skin-lightening compounds. The cosmetic products combine the nutritional and medicinal values of the mushrooms.

Free space is defined as the area in front of a vehicle (robot), devoid of obstacles that might obstruct movement of the vehicle. Panasonic R&D Centre Singapore presented its novel Free Space Technology for Automotive and Robotics, a method to achieve robust free space estimation for safe and efficient navigation in automotive vehicles on roads as well as mobile robots.

This year at TechInnovation also saw the introduction of a brand new segment on Singapore-Europe Partnership Opportunities. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is the world’s largest business and innovation support network. Singapore enterprises will be able to expand their reach and connect to the EEN partners from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary and Spain.