Commenting recently on the TIP's progress so far, and the reasons for the establishment of the initiative, Deputy Chief Executive of development agency SPRING Singapore, Tan Kai Hoe explained that:

"As the SME development agency, SPRING encourages enterprises to leverage on technology and innovation to grow and differentiate themselves from the competition. Hence, we launched the Technology Innovation Programme in 2006 to help SMEs adopt technology innovation as a competitive strategy."

"At that time, we found that technology adoption was low among SMEs. This was because many did not know what technologies were available. Even if they knew what technologies they needed, they could not afford to acquire or develop their own. They did not have the resources or expertise."

"So we started by providing funding support to catalyse technology projects and seconded researchers to help the SMEs build up their in-house expertise. The results were encouraging."

Support provided under the TIP falls broadly into the following tranches:

• Catalysing technology projects via the provision of grants to SMEs to allow them to begin to employ new technology, or to build upon and improve their existing products and processes. A SGD5,000 voucher can be applied for, which is then redeemable for technology services and advice at any of SPRING’s 19 knowledge partners at the polytechnics and research institutes.
• Seeding technology start-ups, and assisting them in the development and commercialisation of their ideas, by providing early-stage funding for proof-of-concept and proof-of-value technology projects.
• Helping SMEs to develop their technology expertise by facilitating the secondment of local and overseas experts to SMEs to help them build up their in-house technology capabilities. According to SPRING, during the first five years of the programme,150 experts from A*STAR research institutes and the industry have been seconded to 120 SMEs.
• Developing the technology infrastructure in Singapore, via the establishment of five Centres of Innovation (COI) at research institutes and polytechnics. These COIs cover a wide spectrum of technology expertise in the food, marine and offshore, environment, water and precision engineering industries, and are designed to provide SMEs with access to technical equipment, facilities, and expertise, all in one location.

In his concluding remarks at the recent briefing on the next five years of the TIP, the SPRING Deputy Chief Executive stated that:

"We are happy that the TIP has achieved good results and brought significant benefits to our SMEs. The new tranche will allow us to extend and expand our efforts and accelerate technology innovation among SMEs to help them become more productive and competitive."