Public Lecture: Open Innovation and Public-Private Partnerships

Abstract:

Around the world, developed economies have recognised that R&D and Innovation are imperative for competitiveness, especially in light of global trends such as urbanization, ubiquitous digitization, ageing and resource scarcity. This talk will discuss the role and importance of R&D and innovation for Singapore's economic transformation and growth. It will discuss A*STAR's role in Singapore's innovation system, as the primary mission-oriented government agency tasked with advancing innovation-based growth. The talk will emphasise the importance of Open Innovation in today’s age, and elaborate on the different modalities of public-private partnerships that A*STAR engages in, targeting outcomes such as good jobs.

About the Speaker:

Professor Raj Thampuran was appointed Managing Director of A*STAR in July 2012. He joined A*STAR in 2000 as Head of the Technology Planning Unit. In that portfolio he was involved in the planning and establishment of the framework for Research Councils. From 2002, he held portfolios as Deputy Director of the Electronics, Engineering and Chemicals clusters at various periods. In these capacities, he helped plan, manage and support the capability development efforts of public sector performers in areas identified for technological growth. Concurrently, he managed extramural programmes, developing initiatives and various schemes to support R&D that involves the universities and other institutions of higher learning. Many these schemes continue to support the R&D efforts of the universities today.

He rose to the position of Director in 2004 and was involved in policy and planning matters for the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC), and the formation of the graduate affairs department looking after the scholarship initiatives for the Council.

In 2006, he was concurrently appointed as Executive Director of the Institute of High Performance Computing, a research organisation of over 200 staff and one of 14 Research Institutes supported by A*STAR, where he spearheaded its R&D portfolio and industry development efforts until June 2010. He was also appointed as Director of Planning and Policy Department of A*STAR in 2008 to help spearhead the efforts to develop the science and technology research blueprint for the Science and Technology 2015 Plan. In this capacity, he was deeply involved in interactions with policy makers and Ministry officials to establish A*STAR’s contributions to the National R&D Framework. He was co-opted to be in the secretariat team of the Economic Strategies Committee, established in 2009, where he helped to develop the findings and recommendations of the panel on Knowledge Capital.

In April 2010, he was appointed as Deputy Executive Director of SERC which was followed, in October 2010, by appointment as Executive Director. In July 2012, he was concurrently appointed as Managing Director of A*STAR.

He studied in Singapore, UK and the USA, and is a Mechanical Engineer by training with a PhD in Materials Science. He did his postdoctoral work in modelling and simulation and attended the Advanced Management Programme in INSEAD (Fontainebleau). He was a recipient of the National Academic Award in 1998 and the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 2007. He has been appointed as an Adjunct Professor by the Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) in April 2013, and an Adjunct Professor in the Dean’s Office, Faculty of Engineering at the National University of Singapore since December 2013.

Registration: via the HKU Event Management System

This public lecture is hosted by the Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)'s office with the support of the Knowledge Exchange Office and the Technology Transfer Office.