New Exploit Technologies CEO Philip Lim speaks up. Read Part I here.
What are the biggest technologies to focus on?
With some 800 to 1,000 patents within A*Star to tap on, new Exploit Technologies CEO Philip Lim would be hard-pressed to name a few.
Still, gamely, he does point out a couple, during an interview.
One area is nano-imprinting lithography (NIL), a manufacturing process that is set to bring many benefits to making electronics that control, say, the liquid from an inkjet printer, or even for biomolecular sorting devices in the emerging bio-sciences equipment market.
Another area is ultrawideband (UWB) technology, a radio technology that promises to transfer audio and video over the air with speeds that are more common on wired connections.
With it, hi-fi equipment would one day do away with messy cables used to connect them together.
Taking over from long-time A*Star stalwart Boon Swan Foo, Philip says his main task is to group together complimentary expertise in the hottest fields, so as to come up with more products that can go to market fast.
He also intends to incentivise people to play as a team. By combining knowledge of market requirements, as well as the expertise that A*Star has, Exploit can help map out emerging and potentially viable areas which Singapore can focus on, he says.
For example, with UWB, the expertise of two A*Star institutes - the Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R) for its UWB design, and the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) for its expertise in manufacturing electronics - can easily be combined.
He notes: "One has the hardware (IME), the other has the software (I²R); put them together and you got UWB!"
"We want to be more outcome-focused and customer-focused in the way we do things," he says, referring to a more streamlined approach to getting technologies out from the lab bench to retail shelves.
But he is not a number-cruncher, he explains. "We see ourselves as facilitators... KPIs, while tangible, have their limits."
The dollar value of licenses made possible with Exploit, he notes, does not count the multiplier effect of the entire value chain of a technology. For example, technology behind a simple, low-cost keypad can be used in a much more expensive handphone, and has more value than its mere licensing fee.
"If we can generate 'economic outcomes', like sustainable innovation and more jobs for Singapore,then we've done our jobs," says Philip, of Exploit.
He adds: "If we do more here, companies will like being based here. Instead of moving to cheaper manufacturing bases, they will want to stay in Singapore to keep in touch with the latest technologies."
"For $1 in licensing, we may be creating thousands of dollars in economic value if jobs are kept here."
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Jeff Lindsay
Posted on 11-Mar-10
Excellent comments. I hope you don't mind if I quoted you with attribution (and congratulations) on the InnovationFatigue.com blog. Best wishes to Philip and Exploit Tech in taking tech transfer and commercialization to the next level!
