NUS Entrepreneurship Centre Towards an Entrepreneurial University Model: The Approach of National University of Singapore

Transcription

1 Towards an Entrepreneurial University Model: The Approach of National University of Singapore Poh-Kam Wong Assoc. Prof., Business School & Director, Entrepreneurship Centre National University of Singapore

2 The Context: Singapore s Transition towards a Knowledge Economy Between 1960 and 2000, Singapore achieved GDP growth rate of 8% p.a., driven by the manufacturing sector and sustained by development as major regional business and transportation hub Distinctly new phase of development emerging in the new millenium: Shift towards Knowledge Based Economy incorporating: High tech manufacturing Knowledge intensive business services Creative content production and distribution Mirrored by a shift in the primary focus of the national innovation system: Creation and commercialization of knowledge protected by IP Development of entrepreneurial mindsets and capabilities

3 Stylized Stages of Singapore s Economic Development and National Innovation System Changes Economic Development 1960s-1970s 1970s-1980s 1980s-late1990s From Late-1990s Beginning of DFI- Transition to NIE Transition from Transition to Driven, Export led NIE to Developed Knowledge-based Industrialization Economy Economy National Innovation System Primary focus on developing Operative Capability to man Production Primary focus on developing Adaptive Capability to support Process Technological Deepening Primary focus on developing Innovative Capability to support applied R&D Primary focus on developing Intellectual Capital Creation and Commercialization/ Entrepreneurial Capability to support Knowledgebased economic growth

4 R&D Indicators, Singapore vs Selected Economies Grouping Country Year R&D/GDP (%) Researchers per 10,000 Labour Force Target for R&D/GDP (%) Year Target OECD OECD Ave rage Japan G-5 Germany % U.S.A U.K a % Franc e % Finland % Switzerland % Sweden % Israel Na Industrialized Ireland % Small Netherlands % Countries Denmark % Norway % Australia New Zealand Korea % Asian NIEs Taiwan % Hong Kong na China % India b Singapore Singapore Singapore c % a 2001 figure b figure for 1998 c RSEs per 10,000 labour force Source : OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard, OECD Main Science & Technology Indicators 2006

5 International Comparisons of Patenting Output Benchmark Countries All Patents Utility Patents Singapore Large OECD USA France Germany United Kingdom Japan East Asian NIEs South Korea Taiwan Hong Kong Small European Economies Ireland Israel Finland Netherlands Sweden Switzerland ASEAN NIEs Malaysia Thailand Emerging Economies China India Source: Wong & Ho (2006), computed from Database of USPTO (various years) and NUS database of US Patents Nationality of patent defined by residency of first inventor

6 Benchmarking Patenting Intensity per 10,000 Population Benchmark Countries Singapore Large OECD USA France Germany Japan United Kingdom East Asian NIEs South Korea Taiwan Hong Kong Small European Economies Ireland Israel Finland Netherlands Sweden Switzerland ASEAN NIEs Malaysia Thailand Emerging Economies China India All Patents per 10,000 Population E E E E E E E E-03 Utility Patents per 10,000 Population E E E E E E E E-03 Source: Wong & Ho (2006), computed from Database of USPTO (various years) and NUS database of US Patents Population figures from International Data Base (IDB) of US Census Bureau s International Programs Center Nationality of patent defined by residency of first inventor

7 Entrepreneurial University Model in Transition towards Knowledge Based Economy Etzkowitz et al. (2002): World-wide Shift of University from traditional roles of education provider and knowledge creators to incorporate additional role of Commercialization of knowledge Contribution to development of private enterprises and regional economy Greater Imperative to shift to entrepreneurial model in the context of Newly Industrialized Economies NIEs from Asia? Less autonomy from Government: Universities in NIEs are traditionally public institutions, highly regulated by Ministry of Education, with muted competition & market responsiveness, and less pressure to interact with industry. However, public policy makers are increasingly expecting them to contribute to economic development Lack of readiness of Industry: Private enterprises have low demand and ability to commercialize university knowledge

8 Entrepreneurial University Model in the Context of Singapore: New Roles of Universities In the Singapore context, the local university system faces greater urgency to take on other economic roles: Contribute to the Creation of New Knowledge-based Industries To support new indigenous industry development as a balance against dependencies on foreign global MNCs Attraction of Foreign Talents Small local population high Compete for global talents by attracting top students and faculty, as done by top universities in USA Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindset In the past, high economic growth, good career prospects as salaried employees, particularly in MNC subsidiaries and government Higher-educated population have relatively low entrepreneurial propensity But in the knowledge economy, stable job opportunities not guaranteed

9 Overview of National University of Singapore (NUS) Established 1905; Largest and oldest of 3 public universities; only Comprehensive Research-Intensive University in Singapore Basic Indicator for FY04-05 Tenurable and other teaching staff 1 1,765 Research staff 1 1,087 Undergraduate students enrolled 2 21,761 Graduate students enrolled 3 6,461 Total research funding S$165.2 mil of which % industrial sponsored research 4 12% Total no. of research projects funded 1,841 Research publications 5 6,470 of which % articles in refereed journals 42%

10 Role of NUS in Singapore s Knowledge Creation Until 1991, public R&D concentrated in higher education sector (particularly in NUS) and small number of government agencies More recently, R&D funding in NUS has grown rapidly: Doubled between 1997 and 2002 Accounted for over one third of R&D spending in higher education sector In 2003, NUS R&D budget accounted for 5% of R&D spending in Singapore NUS makes significant contribution to Singapore s R&D manpower NUS research staff accounted for over 25% of RSEs in higher education sector, close to 6% of national RSE manpower Including teaching faculty in Science, Engineering and Medicine, NUS accounts for almost half of RSEs in higher education, over 10% of national RSE manpower

11 Recognition of Research Capabilities and Educational Standards at NUS Ranked 5 th in Asiaweek s list of Asia s Best Universities 2000 Ranked 18 th and 22 nd in the 2004 & 2005 Times Higher Education Supplement Ranking of top 2000 universities in the World 2004 ranking 2005 ranking Overall Biomedicine Science Engineering and IT 9 9 Social Sciences Arts and Humanities Source: Knowledge Enterprise Online, various issues, downloaded from The Times Higher Education Supplement (various years)

12 Shift Towards Entrepreneurial University Model Until the end of 1990s, NUS follows traditional British university model of teaching as primary mission, research as secondary function Major impetus for change in late 1990s: Economic slowdowns precipitated by Asian Financial crisis Growing recognition by policy makers of the need to increase entrepreneurial dynamism of economy Appointment of a new Vice Chancellor with new visions Harvard trained, research leadership role at a leading US university and corporate experience at a major US corporation

13 Primary Roles of University in Singapore...the three primary roles which a world-class university should play in a modern economy and society: i. delivering quality undergraduate education; ii. developing graduate education and research; and iii. fostering entrepreneurship and industry involvement. Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, Deputy Prime Minister And Minister For Defence, Official Opening Of NUS Prince George s Park Residences, 12 August 2002

14 New Vision of NUS as a Global Knowledge Enterprise New Vice Chancellor adopted Towards a Global Knowledge Enterprise as the new vision for NUS Aim to become a globally competitive education hub through the pursuit of excellence in education, research and services Adoption of globally competitive governance and practices to stay competitive in global marketplace for faculty, students and resources

15 Towards an Entrepreneurial University "NUS aspires to stand among the entrepreneurial universities. This is in line with our vision to become a global knowledge enterprise. We have taken steps to inject an entrepreneurial dimension. We have established NUS Enterprise: A FREE ENTERPRISE ZONE, where innovation and entrepreneurship are freed from traditional rules " -- Prof Shih Choon Fong, State of University Address 2002, 13 August 2002

16 Creation of a new Organizational Unit -- NUS Enterprise Establishment of NUS Enterprise as a new Division in the University that groups together existing units as well as hosts the creation of new units relevant to the enterprise mission Appointment as CEO an engineering school professor who was among the first faculty to have founded a spinoff to commercialize his inventions Started with a broad mission to inject more entrepreneurial dimension to NUS education and research, later refined to embrace more specific missions ( An agent of change, promoting the spirit of innovation & enterprise within the NUS community, and generating value from university resources )

17 NUS Organizational Chart Enterprise Cluster Academic Cluster Corporate Cluster Source: NUS staff intranet,

18 Challenges Mindset Change Employee mentality of students Administration needs to be flexible Roadblocks need to be removed Venture Support System Hardware and Software support Funding up to the receipt of significant external funding Need to accept high proportion of failure

19 NUS Enterprise s Response: Key Initiatives Reform university policies on technology commercialization and industry linkages Reorganized the Industry and Technology Relations Office (INTRO) to make it more inventor friendly and to emphasize service to faculty - more recently renamed as Industry Liaison Office (ILO) Expansion of Entrepreneurship Educational Program for all students in NUS Creation of NUS Entrepreneurship Centre to initiate a new Technopreneurship Minor Program for all NUS undergraduates, which increased the enrolment of students in entrepreneurship courses from <300 before 2000 to >1400 in AY2005/06 Introduce the Overseas College Program (NOC) to offer an immersion approach to international entrepreneurship education Development of extensive entrepreneurship development program outside the traditional classroom for the NUS and Singapore entrepreneurial community Annual national and international business plan competition (StartUp@Singapore, global StartUp@Singapore) Networking links with the high tech venture community in Singapore Establishment of Venture Support (NVS) Program to provide assistance for NUS community to engage in new venture activities (incubator, spin-off seed funds) Initiate Research on Entrepreneurship and Innovation

20 Integrating Globalism & Entrepreneurship: The NUS Overseas College initiative Aim is to send up to 250 NUS undergraduate students per year to five high tech entrepreneurial hubs in the world Learning by immersion Model Work as interns in high-tech start-ups for one year Take entrepreneurship-related courses in partner universities Return to NUS to complete their final semester/year Infuse entrepreneurial, global mindset Influence future career choices towards entrepreneurial and innovative settings Establish social networks with overseas entrepreneurial communities Serve as catalyst for mindset change among peers within campus First NOC established in Silicon Valley in 2001, followed by Philadelphia in 2002, Shanghai in 2004, Stockholm in 2005, and Bangalore in 200

21 Bridging the Start-Up Gap: The NUS Venture Support (NVS) Program Aim is to nurture spin-offs that seek to commercialize NUS Intellectual Property as well as other start-up companies involving NUS students, staff, alumni until they receive significant external funding Incubator facilities on campus to incubate up to 80 companies Seed Funding NVS Seed Fund (S$5 million) and Student Enterprise Seed Fund, with co-funding from Singapore Government Mentoring Network of experienced entrepreneurs and venture investors to provide mentoring to NUS spin-offs

22 NUS Venture Support Fund World s first sub-100 micron Integrated machining tool Mozat Mobile solutions Complex constraint scheduling Solutions NASA Mars Mission Web content creation and Management tools Cadi Scientific Remote biosensing Chiral Sciences & Technologies Safer drugs Next Generation

23 Impact of Shift towards the Entrepreneurial University Model Shift still in early stage; assessment of impact is necessarily preliminary in nature Changes in NUS between the 1990s and the mid 2000s Moderate expansion in traditional dimensions Education and research output Significant change in new dimensions Foreign talent attraction (foreign students, researchers, faculty) Technology Commercialisation (invention disclosures, patents, licenses) Entrepreneurship promotion (spin-offs and start-ups) Entrepreneurship Education (particularly of technical students)

24 Summary Profile of Changes in NUS, Before and After Shift to Entrepreneurial University Model Indicator AY1996/7 FY 2004/5 Teaching staff ,765 of which % foreign 39.0% 51.9% Research staff 843 1,087 of which % foreign 70.1% 78.6% Undergraduate students enrolled 17,960 21,761 Graduate students enrolled 4,478 6,461 Graduate students as % of total student enrolment 20.0% 22.9% Percentage of foreign students studying at NUS 13% % Total research funding 2 na S$165.2 mil of which % industrial sponsored research 3 na 12% Total no. of research projects funded 2 1, ,841 Research publications 4, ,470 5 of which % articles in refereed journals 34.7% 42% Patents filed Patents granted 4 51 Cumulative patents granted by USPTO and IPOS Percentage of total student intake for 1997/8 2 Figure for FY2003/4 3Includes foundations and individuals 4 CY CY20026 CY CY Source: NUS Annual Research Report (various years), National University of Singapore; NUS Annual Report; Database of the USPTO; IPOS

25 Number of invention disclosures, patents filed by and granted to NUS, FY Financial Year (a) No. of invention disclosures (b) Patent Applications (c) Patents Granted 1997 NA Source: NUS Research Report ; NUS Annual Report 2005 Note: Figures include patents filed in multiple countries

26 Top 10 Organizations in Singapore with US Patents invented in Singapore, Company No. of patents No. of patents Rank Rank Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Hewlett-Packard Company National University of Singapore Seagate Technology Motorola Inc Texas Instruments Institute of Microelectronics Micron Technology Inc ST Assembly Test Services Tri-tech Microelectronics ** Patents where at least one inventor is a Singaporean. Includes patents which are jointly assigned. ** A company called Tri-tech Microelectronics was granted a total of 56 patents before filing for bankruptcy and entering liquidation in Source: Database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (various years)

27 NUS Licensing Agreements, Year of license No. % Total Note: Excludes 10 licenses for which data on year of signing is missing 1 Data is for financial year

28 Number of NUS Spin-offs and Start-ups, Spin-offs Start-ups TOTAL Total Note: spin-offs refer to new companies formed by NUS faculty members/researchers to commercialize NUS intellectual property, while start-ups refer to companies formed by NUS faculty/researchers that do not involve IP owned by NUS Source: NUS INTRO and NUS Venture Support

29 Comparisons of NUS vs leading universities, 2003 Name of Institution Spin-offs Invention disclosures Patents Licences R&D Expenditures (US$) % industry sponsored Academic Staff University of California ,623,300, MIT ,354, ,620 University of Illinois ,088, Stanford University ,895, ,767 University of Pennsylvania ,700, ,238 Oxford University ,702, ,463 (FTE) Cambridge University ,732, ,620 (FTE) University of South California ,100, ,100 (FTE) Georgia Tech ,379, Imperial College 365,095, ,982 (FTE) NUS ,813, ,232 For Cambridge University: Figures are for FY 2004, Academic Staff figures from FY 2001 For Oxford University: Figures are for FY 2003, except for Academic Staff figures from 2001 For Imperial College: Figures are for FY 2001 Sources: AUTM Survey, NSF Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, NUS Research Report 2003, University websites

30 Factors for Success in Implementing an Entrepreneurial University Model based on the Experience of NUS Leadership from the Top Organizational Innovation & Long-Term Resource Commitment Recruit the Right Champions to Lead the Change Benchmark and Adopt Global & Industrially Relevant Best Practices Demonstrate Results in Focused Areas to Get Wider Buy-in from the Larger University Community Constantly Evolve to Respond to Changing Environments (especially Corporatization of NUS)

31 Adoption of Global & Industry Best Practice: Some Examples Significant and active involvement of industry practitioners as adjunct professors in the entrepreneurship educational program and as mentors for NUS spin-offs Involvement of a leading venture capitalist in Silicon Valley to advise NUS spin-offs on how to enter US market and attract VC funding Recruitment of a venture capitalist in Singapore with global investment experience to take over as CEO of NUS Enterprise to guide its next stage of growth Benchmarking NUS IP management and licensing practice to those of leading North American universities

32 New Mission of NUS Enterprise An agent of change, promoting the spirit of innovation & enterprise within the NUS community, and generating value from university resources. Through: Experiential Education Industry Development Venture Creation

33 New NUS Enterprise Goals 1. University of choice for entrepreneuriallyminded students in Singapore & the region 2. Enriching the pool of faculty with innovative and entrepreneurial mindset 3. University of choice for industry-relevant R&D collaboration in Asia by leading global high-tech firms 4. Recognized leader in entrepreneurial promotion in University education, technology commercialization and venture creation

34 New ETP Organisation Chart ETP CEO Office Strategy and Business Development. Corporate Services NUS Overseas Colleges NUS Industry Liaison Office NUS Entrepreneurship Centre NUS Extension NUS Press Finance, HR, Admin& IT, Legal, Public Relations NUS Silicon Valley Life Sciences Venture Support Secretariat - Holdings & Pte NUS Bio Valley Chemical; Energy; Environment Outreach Program NUS Shanghai Electronics; ICT; Media Entrepreneurship Education* NUS Stockholm Precision Engineer; Light Industry; Others Research NUS Bangalore Consultancy Projects