Local firms get more opportunities to co-innovate with partners abroad as Singapore joins Eureka network
SINGAPORE – Local companies will be getting more opportunities to collaborate with foreign partners on innovation projects.
This comes as Singapore officially joined the Eureka network – an intergovernmental network that supports international cooperation in research and development – as an associate country on Tuesday (May 18).
The agreement was signed by Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong and Austrian minister for digital and economic affairs Margarete Schrambock at the virtual Global Innovation Summit 2021.
This agreement will see Enterprise Singapore (ESG) supporting the facilitation and funding of joint innovation projects between firms from Singapore and Eureka member countries, and exploring further partnerships within the network.
Over 45 countries across Europe, North America, Africa and Asia are part of the network.
Singapore’s association with the network will mean greater access to other markets for local firms, through initiatives such as Eureka Clusters – long-term and strategically significant thematic calls initiated by European industries.
Prior to joining the network officially, ESG worked with Eureka on three co-innovation calls, through which more than 40 Singapore firms worked on joint innovation projects with overseas enterprises from more than 20 countries.
Local energy start-up EverComm was among the firms that benefited from the second Eureka Globalstars-Singapore call last year, partnering British tech firm Ionate to develop a platform to optimise equipment performance.
It now seeks to capture opportunities in Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand with its new capabilities.
Last year’s Eureka Clusters artificial intelligence project call saw two projects involving local firms getting selected for funding support.
Enterprise Singapore’s director of global innovation network Jonathan Lim said: “Even amid the challenging conditions of a Covid-19 environment, Singapore companies actively participated in these co-innovation calls. This shows their keen interest to engage in research and innovation to develop stronger offerings, as well as their desire to capture new overseas opportunities.”
Eureka member countries are also welcome to work with Singapore and leverage the Republic as a launchpad to access growth opportunities in South-east Asia, he added.
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