MTI’s first Innovation Festival held at Sentosa on 7 March 2003 was a huge success. Over 750 staff from the 10 MTI agencies came together to learn, network and honour outstanding innovation efforts.

“The festival was really to brand and promote innovation and to send a signal that we mean business. At the same time, it was fun and enjoyable,” said Chief Executive SPRING Singapore and MTI’s Chief Innovation Officer, Mr Lee Suan Hiang.

It was no wonder that the atmosphere was casual, everyone was in good spirits, and the programme was a good mix of the formal and informal, of work and play.

To inspire the MTI family to cultivate an enterprising spirit, 16 private companies were invited to showcase their innovative products, which included security surveillance solutions, contactless smart cards and laser projection systems.

The grand event was also a fitting occasion to present the inaugural MTI Innovation Awards (for stories on two winners, see stories Good news for entrepreneurs! and Smart solution for sharing knowledge). The name of the ministry-wide club for innovation activists was also launched during the festival.

Innovation activists’ club
I³ (pronounced as I cube, which stands for “Igniting Innovative Ideas”) is the name of MTI’s club for activists. It provides opportunities for them to come together to learn, share and leverage on each other, so that the synergy created will enable MTI to achieve more than what the agencies can achieve individually. It also serves to encourage innovation evangelists to share their passion with their colleagues.

Other MTI-wide initiatives

The staff realised that innovation can be fun and enjoyable.

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Launched in 2001, the Innovation Forum aims to develop a pervasive innovation mindset throughout the MTI family. The members comprise the Chief Innovation Officers of the 10 agencies. One of their major initiatives was the Innovation Festival.

MTI also set up the Chief Executive Officers’ (CEO) Forum. This provides a platform for them to discuss innovation issues and serves to ensure that management gives priority to innovation.

Another key initiative is the Singapore Innovation Class (I-Class) programme, which is administered by SPRING Singapore. The programme helps organisations to assess their innovation capabilities, so that they can then adopt the necessary measures for improvement. It is planned for MTI agencies to embark on the I-Class programme. More information on the I-Class programme can be obtained from the SPRING Singapore website.