Transformative Innovations, Cities of Tomorrow
Jul 23, 2019
The Urban Sustainability R&D Congress, organised by the Ministry of National Development (MND) with 16 other government agencies, will be held on 23 - 24 July 2019 at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre. Guest of Honour for the Opening Ceremony Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance announced several key initiatives in support of R&D efforts at the Congress today. The initiatives include:
- Updates on the Cities of Tomorrow R&D Programme
Close to $70 million[1] of investments in R&D will be made under the Cities of Tomorrow R&D Programme (CoT) over the next two years. CoT was launched in 2017 to build a highly liveable, sustainable and resilient city of the future through integrated development of R&D in four key verticals, namely, a) Advanced Construction, b) Resilient Infrastructure, c) New Spaces, and d) Greater Sustainability, and two key horizontals, namely a) Urban Environment Analytics and b) Complexity Science for Urban Solutions. More details on the Cities of Tomorrow R&D Programme are provided in Annex A.
- Set-up of the Built Environment Technology Alliance (BCA and NRF)
The Built Environment Technology Alliance (BETA) is a collaborative initiative to encourage and support the development and adoption of technology solutions to boost the capability of firms in the Built Environment (BE) sector. BETA will catalyse research and innovation (R&I) efforts in the Built Environment (BE) industry, acting as the focal point for like-minded industry stakeholders to collaborate to drive R&I, tap the knowledge of domain experts, and translate knowledge to economic value. Refer to Annex B for more details.
- HDB Memorandum of Understanding with Evonik
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Housing & Development Board (HDB) and Evonik (SEA) Pte. Ltd. (Evonik) was signed to explore solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change and enhance concrete manufacturing processes for productivity and sustainability. [Refer to HDB’s press release for more details.]
- HDB Research Collaboration Agreement with V-Key
A Research Collaboration Agreement (RCA) between HDB and V-Key Pte Ltd under HDB’s Cool Ideas Enterprise programme was signed to look into developing an open and secure ecosystem in HDB’s smart-enabled flats that enables the use of a variety of smart appliances across brands. [Refer to HDB’s press release for more details.]
Some 1000 participants from government agencies, research institutes and private companies are expected to attend the two-day Congress.
Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards 2019
Minister Lawrence Wong also presented the Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards to five outstanding projects that have contributed towards MND’s vision of making Singapore “An Endearing Home, A Distinctive Global City”. The winners of the Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards are:
a) Distinguished Awards
• Smart Hub by HDB
• Project Wolbachia – Singapore by NEA
b) Merit Awards
• Self-Regulating Integrated Electricity-Cooling Networks (IE-CN) by EMA
• Integrated Environmental Modeller (IEM) by A*STAR
• Biophilic Town Framework by HDB in collaboration with NUS, NParks & URA
More details on the Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards and winning projects are provided in Annex C. For more information on the Urban Sustainability R&D Congress, please visit https://www.mnd.gov.sg/urbansustainability/.