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Welcome to the seventh issue of our e-newsletter.
Here, we hope to share with you the latest information about our
Growing Enterprises With Technology Upgrade (GET-Up) initiative. It aims
to help you make the most of the advisory and financial assistance
schemes that we have tailored for local enterprises in the manufacturing
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Local SMEs should have something to smile about. SPRING
Singapore
has recently announced several new financial assistance schemes as
well as changes over existing ones.
First off is a second round of $300 million
over five years set aside for the second tranche of the Loan
Insurance Scheme (LIS). LIS is a unique loan programme
for SMEs under which the Participating Financial Institutions will
have the flexibility of packaging attractive loan facilities for
SMEs based on their risk profiles. A portion of the loans
will be insured against default risks by a private credit risk
insurer. The Government will co-share the insurance premiums
with the SMEs. This will encourage participating financial
institutions to grant loans to more SMEs.
LIS started in September 2002 and $25 million
was disbursed to SMEs during the first run. The second tranche was
launched in August this year and $300 million of funds over the
next five years will be set aside for LIS 2.
SMEs will also be able to avail themselves of
funds in the capital markets as an added avenue for raising funds.
The Government will embark on a SME loan securitization project
that aims to facilitate $300 million of loans for SMEs. It
is a process whereby SME assets are pooled together and packaged
as securities for sale to investors. This pooling and
diversification effect in the portfolio of SME loans helps to
mitigate risk and presents a potentially attractive new asset
class for capital market investors. This programme will be
launched in January 2005.
In addition to obtaining funds, SMEs need to
upgrade their capabilities in order to raise their productivity
and compete successfully. Since 1982, the Government's Local
Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme has supported SMEs'
upgrading projects. More than $500 million of grants have been
disbursed since LETAS' inception. While LETAS has been
well-received, it is unable to address the entire range of
capabilities building needs of SMEs. SPRING will move away from
this one-size-fits-all approach to providing more customised
assistance to SMEs depending on their maturity and needs. There
will be three-tiers of assistance: broad-based, focused and
enhanced.
Not all SMEs require full-fledged consultancy
services. Some SMEs, especially the start-ups and smaller
enterprises, only need some professional advice to help them deal
with basic issues such as financial management or business
planning. For this group of SMEs, broad-based assistance will be
provided by the Enterprise Development Centres, which SPRING will
jointly establish with key industry associations and chambers of
commerce. The Centres will provide walk-in diagnostic and advisory
services to help SMEs with their day-to-day business issues and
basic upgrading needs.
More mature SMEs may have more complex
upgrading needs that require the engagement of external
consultants. Focused assistance will be provided to this group
through co-funding of projects. To qualify for funding, these
projects must deliver significant and tangible benefits for the
SMEs, such as IT implementation and certification of quality
management system.
For
rapidly-growing SMEs, their capability development needs are more
complex and extensive and SPRING will provide enhanced assistance
to these enterprises through co-funding of projects. This funding
will cover more areas than under focused assistance.
For more information about the financial
assistance offered by SPRING
Singapore
, please visit www.spring.gov.sg
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 For
a small company like X-Bio Pte Ltd, attracting researchers with the
appropriate know-how to join the company is a challenge.
But with A*STAR’s T-Up scheme, X-Bio conscripted
the talents of two researchers from the Institute for Infocomm Research
(I²R) and is now ready to push its low-power fingerprint lock prototype
to its next phase.
A spin-off from the former NTU Centre for Signal
Processing (CSP), X-Bio specialises in developing commercial solutions
and products. Its competitive edge is that it brings with it the
award-winning fingerprint verification technology developed at CSP. In
2000, CSP beat 24 other organisations to clinch gold at the first
International Fingerprint Verification Competition.
Victor Chia, director and co-founder of X-Bio, said
that his company had two projects - the development of a low-power
fingerprint module that can be integrated into a battery operated
fingerprint authentication device and a secure fingerprint
authentication system for remote online banking. But he needed help with
some of the know-how.
"Small companies may not have all the requisite
know-how to fulfill the business idea. One way was to approach the RIs
for consultation but the fees were very high and often the RIs got a
share of the intellectual property (IP)," said Chia. On the other hand,
he said, it was difficult for a small company to attract talented
researchers to work with them.
So Chia was extremely pleased when he managed to
get two researchers from I²R to be seconded to his company for two
years. With the T-Up scheme, Chia now has the best of both worlds – the
brains to complete his project without fear of losing his IP rights. In
addition, product development costs are very high. Almost 60% of that
cost, Chia added, comes from manpower. So it is a triple boon that the
T-Up programme subsidises a huge part of the researchers’ salary.
And X-Bio is already seeing quick results from the
researchers. With researcher Ooi Mun Siang’s help, X-Bio was able to
develop a lower power battery operated fingerprint authentication device
for law enforcement that could match a fingerprint image within the
device or send the image by wireless communications to a backend
computer server for matching. The module can also be used as home access
device. Ooi managed to shorten the fingerprint verification time taken
ten fold from the original 17 seconds to within 1 second.. Another
researcher Alan Lim is also helping X-Bio to convert an algorithm on an
Internet-based fingerprint verification system into standard Application
Program Interface (API). When completed, X-Bio can then license the API
to software developers who can then write software to enable secure
authentication for online applications like Internet-banking. Chia is
now ready to bring the fingerprint lock to the next stage – development
of a finished product prototype and then from there to the marketplace.
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It used to take an entire laboratory and two whole days to extract
DNA from a test-tube of blood. Not anymore. The Institute of
Microelectronics (IME) and the National University of Singapore (NUS)
has jointly developed a portable  DNA extraction system that fits into a
standard briefcase, makes use of high-tech microchips, takes only two
hours to complete the extraction process and requires just a single drop
of blood. More importantly, there is no loss in the quality of the DNA
sample extracted.
The heart of this new breakthrough DNA extraction kit is in the use
of special microchips called BioMEMS (Bio Micro-Electro Mechanical
Systems). The traditional method of DNA extraction was to manually put
the blood through a series of chemical processes using various reagents
to firstly separate out white blood cells, then break open the white
blood cells and extract DNA by removing other unwanted materials. This
process was time consuming and required the use of some bulky laboratory
equipment like a centrifuge machine. With IME’s microchip, the entire
process is now integrated and simplified - the entire process now takes
place in the microchip itself. The integration makes the lab process
rather ‘hands-off’ which is critical because the incidence of human
error is thus minimized. The portable DNA extraction system saves time,
uses less blood, and is a lot more cost-effective.
The microchip is made from silicon, much like the computer chips that
are so abundant today. Making use of the standard silicon chips means
that the mass-production manufacturing process for the making of
computer chips can be leveraged. However, instead of having transistors
and other electrical components, this special microchip contains a
complex network of miniaturized pipes and chambers where the minute
amount of blood flows in at one end, undergoes the  extraction process
and DNA comes out at the other end. Unlike the computer chips, this
special microchip is disposable. It requires a pump system that controls
the flow of reagents that interacts with the blood to extract the DNA,
as well as a portable computer to execute the extraction process. All of
these fit into a briefcase, making it easy for the DNA extraction system
to be carried around. A fresh microchip needs to be used for each
extraction to prevent cross-contamination between blood samples.
While there are a lot of research into the detection of DNA for
certain diseases, there is a lot less focus in the laborious extraction
techniques. The portable DNA extraction system is one of the few in the
market and the technology has been licensed to SiMEMS Pte Ltd, a local
venture company, for commercialization.
“We are very pleased and we derive a strong sense of
accomplishment when the results of our R&D efforts create strong
commercial values and help to nurture companies such as local
start-up for chip design and manufacture,” noted Dr
Tan Khen Sang
, Executive Director of IME.
To further advance the technology into RNA extraction, IME also
formed a new consortium with the National University of Singapore and
three local bio-tech companies in July 2004. IME is looking
forward to more collaborations with local and international industry
partners to promote the development and use of silicon based BioMEMS.
For more information, pls contact
Mr Saxon Liew, Research Engineer
DID : 6770 5919
Email : SeanLiw@ime.a-star.edu.sg
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Setting up a chemical engineering lab can be a costly and difficult
affair, but now there is an easier and more cost-effective alternative
which small and medium companies can take advantage of. The
Institute
of
Chemical
and  Engineering Sciences (ICES) has opened up four of its 25 labs for
use by industry on a rental basis. ICES is the newest research institute
under A*STAR and it specializes in chemistry and chemical engineering
research.
Dr
Keith Carpenter
, Executive Director of ICES, said that the companies can reduce their
initial capital expenditure substantially by making use of ICES’ lab
facilities instead of building their own. ICES’ labs are built to
professional safety standards and equipped with cutting-edge equipment
as well as high-tech IT systems that can process large amounts of lab
data . Companies that use the lab facilities can also take advantage of
access to ICES’ highly-regarded capabilities in the characterization
and analysis of chemical substances..
Officially opened in 2002, ICES’s areas of competency are primarily
in organic chemistry, catalysis and chemical engineering science. It
conducts R&D for many leading pharmaceutical, petrochemical and bulk
chemicals companies, particularly those with processing and 
manufacturing facilities based in or near to
Singapore
. For example, , ICES has been developing catalysts that enable
the conversion of alternative raw materials into chemical intermediates
for petrochemicals and polymers , ICES has also been developing better,
cheaper and more environmental friendly methods to manufacture active
ingredients for pharmaceutical products; as well as improved techniques
to deliver them in more active forms to the patient..
The creation of ICES is in line with the
Singapore
government’s efforts to transform the country’s traditional
manufacturing base to higher value activities like R&D. There is
potential for pharmaceutical companies to develop more R&D in
 Singapore
supported by the research institutes, to compliment and enhance their
existing manufacturing capabilities. “Traditionally the big
pharma companies focused much of their R&D on drug
discovery targeted at blockbuster products,” said Dr Carpenter,
“But in recent years the situation has changed. Increased competition,
more stringent environmental regulations and fewer new active
ingredients coming through from discovery mean that they now need to
focus on more cost-effective manufacturing processes and better product
development to remain competitive.
And this is where
Singapore
has the opportunity to be an R&D partner through ICES”, he added.
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If you are in the maritime industry, there are about $200 million
worth of funds that are available from the Maritime and Port Authority
of Singapore (MPA) to help you upgrade your IT, develop innovative
technology and IT applications, embark on maritime R&D projects and
even train your staff. Mr Toh Ah Cheong, Director, Technology
Division at MPA said that over the past few years MPA has launched
several funds that can assist the maritime industry including SMEs in
bringing their businesses to the next level. Here are three of
them:
(1) Maritime
Enterprise
IT Development Programme (MERIT)
Launched in October 2003, the MERIT programme encourages maritime SME
companies to capitalise on IT in modernizing and upgrading operations by
co-funding their IT adoption and upgrading projects. To support
this programme, a fund of $20 million to be used over five years has
been established. As at August 2004, $1.3 million has been
committed to fund over 32 projects.
(2) Maritime Innovation & Technology Fund (MINT)
In September 2003, the MINT fund was launched to firstly encourage the
port and maritime sector to develop innovative technology solutions so
as to meet global challenges such as port efficiency, maritime safety
and security, environmental protection as well as manpower and training
related issues, and secondly to encourage maritime R&D in the
tertiary and research institutions. MPA has set aside $100 million over
10 years to support this fund.
Mr Toh said that within the MINT fund, there are several schemes, one
of which is the Test-bedding, Research & Innovation Development of
New Maritime Technologies (TRIDENT) that can help to co-fund companies
and research institutes to test-bed new maritime technologies that they
have developed. This is useful because TRIDENT can be used to complement
test-bedding of maritime-related innovations developed with funding
schemes of other government agencies like A*STAR and EDB, that supports
the initial research of new technologies. In addition, TRIDENT also
supports R&D projects.
One example of a successful applicant is a local company called THISS
Technology, which is developing a long-range satellite communications
system that can be placed on board ships. These ships can then
communicate with the port and shore authorities over long distances,
submit clearance forms and applications and allow the port authority to
identify the ships using satellite. THISS applied for funding from EDB
for the initial research of their new technology and subsequently
test-bedded their product using the TRIDENT fund.
(3) Maritime Cluster Fund
The Maritime Cluster Fund (MCF) was launched in 2002. This $50
million fund was set-up primarily to help upgrade the expertise of local
employees of maritime companies in high value-added services in the
shipping, port and marine and offshore sectors and also to develop local
training infrastructure and capabilities in these areas. .
The various assistance schemes provided under the MPA help to
ensure that
Singapore
retains its competitive edge as a hub port and international maritime
centre in the global economy.
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