From Traders to Innovators


Book Description

Today, more than ever, the state of a country's science and technology is a critical factor for economic competitiveness and long-term growth. This book traces the development of science and technology policies and initiatives in Singapore since 1965. Developed as a trading entrepot by the British, science and technology were never strongly emphasized, right up to the 1970s. However, the need to stay ahead of economic competitiveness motivated the Singapore Government to initiate its national science and technology policy from the 1980s-moving Singapore from a low-skilled, low-technology economy to a high-skilled, high-technology one. Today, the drive for Singapore to become a hotbed for technological start-ups and R&D activities, supported by strong government funding and cutting-edge facilities, seems promising. Are the aspirations of nurturing a Silicon Valley-type culture in Singapore achievable? Are pragmatic, risk-averse Singaporeans ready for the mindset change? Can a nation of traders and service-brokers become a nation of technological innovators and entrepreneurs? This book attempts to provide the answers.




The Knockoff Economy


Book Description

Driven by a counterintuitive thesis that has been highlighted in both The New Yorker and The New York Times¸ The Knockoff Economy is an engrossing and highly entertaining tour through the economic sectors where piracy both rules and invigorates.




Technology and Entrepôt Colonialism in Singapore, 1819-1940


Book Description

How did imported technology contribute to the development of the colony of Singapore? Who were the main agents of change in this process? Was there extensive transfer and diffusion of Western science and technology into the port-city? How did the people respond to change? Examining areas such as shipping, port development, telegraphs and wireless, urban water supply and sewage disposal, economic botany, electrification, food production and retailing, science and technical education, and health, this book documents the role of technology and, to a smaller extent, science, in the transformation of colonial Singapore before 1940. In doing so, this book hopes to provide a new dimension to the historiography of Singapore from a "science, technology and society" perspective.




They Made America


Book Description

An illustrated history of American innovators -- some well known, some unknown, and all fascinating -- by the author of the bestselling The American Century.




The Innovator's Hypothesis


Book Description

Achieving faster, better, cheaper, and more creative innovation outcomes with the 5x5 framework: 5 people, 5 days, 5 experiments, $5,000, and 5 weeks What is the best way for a company to innovate? Advice recommending “innovation vacations” and the luxury of failure may be wonderful for organizations with time to spend and money to waste. The Innovator’s Hypothesis addresses the innovation priorities of companies that live in the real world of limits. Michael Schrage advocates a cultural and strategic shift: small teams, collaboratively—and competitively—crafting business experiments that make top management sit up and take notice. He introduces the 5x5 framework: giving diverse teams of five people up to five days to come up with portfolios of five business experiments costing no more than $5,000 each and taking no longer than five weeks to run. Successful 5x5s, Schrage shows, make people more effective innovators, and more effective innovators mean more effective innovations.




Trade Finance


Book Description

Trade Finance provides a much-needed re-examination of the relevant legal principles and a study of the challenges posed to current legal structures by technological changes, financial innovation, and international regulation. Arising out of the papers presented at the symposium, Trade Finance for the 21st Century, this collection brings together the perspectives of scholars and practitioners from around the globe focusing on core themes, such as reform and the future role of the UCP, the impact of technology on letters of credit and other forms of trade finance, and the rise of alternative forms of financing. The book covers three key fields of trade finance, starting with the challenges to traditional trade financing by means of documentary credit. These include issues related to contractual enforceability, the use of "soft clauses", the doctrine of strict compliance, the fraud exception, the role of the correspondent bank, performance bonds, and conflict of laws problems. The second main area covered by the work is the technological issues and opportunities in trade finance, including electronic bills of exchange, blockchain, and electronically transferable records. The final part of the work considers alternative and complementary trade finance mechanisms such as open account trading, supply-chain financing, the bank payment obligation, and countertrade.




Innovation Economics


Book Description

This important book delivers a critical wake-up call: a fierce global race for innovation advantage is under way, and while other nations are making support for technology and innovation a central tenet of their economic strategies and policies, America lacks a robust innovation policy. What does this portend? Robert Atkinson and Stephen Ezell, widely respected economic thinkers, report on profound new forces that are shaping the global economy—forces that favor nations with innovation-based economies and innovation policies. Unless the United States enacts public policies to reflect this reality, Americans face the relatively lower standards of living associated with a noncompetitive national economy.The authors explore how a weak innovation economy not only contributed to the Great Recession but is delaying America's recovery from it and how innovation in the United States compares with that in other developed and developing nations. Atkinson and Ezell then lay out a detailed, pragmatic road map for America to regain its global innovation advantage by 2020, as well as maximize the global supply of innovation and promote sustainable globalization.







Accelerating Global Supply Chains with IT-Innovation


Book Description

One of the major challenges for European governments is to solve the dilemma of increasing the security and reducing fraud in international trade, while at the same time reducing the administrative burden for commercial as well as public administration organisations. To address these conflicting demands, the ITAIDE project has developed a large set of innovative IT-related tools and methods that enable companies to be better in control of their business operations. These tools and methods have been integrated in the ITAIDE Information Infrastructure (I3) framework. By using the I3 framework, companies are better positioned to apply for the Trusted Trader status, and enjoy trade facilitation benefits such as simplified customs procedures and fewer inspections of their goods. Hence, the I3 framework can contribute to making global supply chains faster, cheaper, and more secure. The I3 framework has been tested and validated in five real-life Living Labs, spanning four different sectors of industry, and conducted in five different EU countries. National Tax & Customs organizations from various European countries have actively participated in the Living Labs. The United Nations CEFACT group, experts from the World Customs Organization and representatives of key industry associations have also provided valuable feedback and ideas for the Living Labs and the project in general. www.itaide.org




Innovation through Knowledge Transfer 2010


Book Description

This volume represents the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Innovation through Knowledge Transfer, InnovationKT’2010, organised jointly by KES International and the Institute of Knowledge Transfer, and taking place in Coventry, UK on 7&8 December 2010. Featuring world-class invited speakers and contributions from a range of backgrounds and countries, the conference provided an excellent opportunity to disseminate, share and discuss the impact of university-business interaction through knowledge transfer in all its forms. There were two main motivations in initiating the Innovation through Knowledge Transfer series. The first aim was to provide the chance for publication on a subject where few opportunities exist already. The second motivation was to foster the development of a community from the diverse range of individuals practicing knowledge transfer. It is becoming clear that the delegates of the conference are drawn from a diverse community of practice. InnovationKT’2010 has succeeded in bringing together contributions from both the academic and practitioner sections of the knowledge transfer community. The programme contained seven invited keynote talks, 40 oral presentations grouped into eight sessions, and one interactive workshop. The proceedings contain 29 chapters drawn from this material. There were 91 registered delegates drawn from 10 countries of the world. The field of knowledge transfer is still immature, but these proceedings demonstrate that InnovationKT conference is making a significant contribution to its academic development.