Every year, we record a TV programme, thanks to our official media partner CNA, with the previous year’s winners of the SICC Awards for Collaborative Innovation. We do this to give more people the opportunity to learn from our winners’ motivations, experiences and successes to encourage more companies to collaborate to innovate. Why? Because collaboration is often the fastest way to innovate, to solve problems, develop new products and services, build new capabilities, achieve growth, improve productivity and sustain success.

Yesterday, we recorded “Collaborate to Innovate: Winning Together” with the winners of last year’s SICC Awards. This programme is scheduled to air on Thursday, 31 March 2022 at 7pm on CNA with repeat broadcasts on the same day at 11pm and on Friday, 1 April at 1pm.

We learned so much from Mr. Gerry Ong, Managing Director, SMT Technology Pte Ltd; Mr. Peter Goh, Vice President, Sunseap Solutions Pte Ltd; Mr. Chua Yuan Shen, CEO, Hocklim Engineering Pte Ltd; and Dr. Chester Drum, Founder, AOK Health Technologies Pte Ltd as they answered questions from Prof. Annie Koh, Professor Emeritus of Finance (Practice), Senior Advisor, Business Families Institute at Singapore Management University who moderated their conversation and the dialogue with the audience.

Key takeaways include the importance of a commercial need to find a collaborator based on an honest and secure assessment of our own capabilities. Open minds and open and honest communication are key to build the trust needed to sustain each collaboration. The important role of champions in each collaborating partner to help resolve roadblocks to ensure the collaboration wins together. Last, but not least, our winners recognized the value of matchmaking agencies like IPI, ESG, IMDA and trade associations and chambers in helping them find the right collaborating partner.

Many thanks to our panellists and moderator for all the shared learning and to our audience for attending. Our thanks, too, to Chamber member SMU which provided the perfect venue at the Auditorium of The School of Law.

Nominations are now open for the 2022 SICC Awards! If you have an inspiring collaboration story we can all learn from, please submit your nomination. We look forward to your participation and to honouring your success!

Knowledge & Venue Partner