SPRING Singapore explained

Agency Name:SPRING Singapore
Formed: (as Productivity and Standards Board)
(as SPRING Singapore)
Preceding1:National Productivity Board
Preceding2:Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research
Superseding:Enterprise Singapore
Jurisdiction:Government of Singapore
Headquarters:1 Fusionopolis Walk, #01-02 South Tower, Solaris Singapore 138628
Chief1 Name:Philip Yeo
Chief1 Position:Chairman
Chief2 Name:Poon Hong Yuen[1]
Chief2 Position:Chief Executive
Parent Agency:Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore)
Agency Id:T08GB0061D

The Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (abbreviation: SPRING Singapore) was a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Singapore Government. It worked as an agency for enterprise development, and helped enterprises enhance their competitiveness in the Singapore market. It was also the national standards and conformance body.

On April 1, 2018, SPRING Singapore was merged with IE Singapore to form Enterprise Singapore.[2]

History

Formerly known as Productivity and Standards Board (PSB), it was formed from the merger between the National Productivity Board (NPB) and the Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research (SISIR) in April 1996. It helped to bring together the soft skills of productivity handled by NPB and the technical aspects handled by SISIR.

In April 2002, the organization was renamed SPRING Singapore and shifted towards an innovation-driven economy, and its new role in promoting creativity to sustain growth for Singaporeans.[3]

Mission

As the national standards and conformance body, SPRING Singapore 'helped to lower technical barriers to trade, provide quality assurance for products and services and promote industry use of Singapore and international standards'.[4]

SPRING Singapore's mission was "to help Singapore enterprises grow and build trust in Singapore products and services".

Organisation

SPRING Singapore was headed by Philip Yeo, former head of A*STAR.[5]

SPRING Singapore was divided into five departments:[6]

Portfolio

The agency had three areas of focus: productivity and innovation; standards and quality; and Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the domestic sector.[7]

Scholarships

In 2008, SPRING Singapore awarded their first batch of Executive Development Scholarships (EDS) to focused junior college and university students with business and entrepreneurship goals.

The Management Development Scholarship (MDS) was also available to employees of SMEs who wish to pursue their Masters with a university on SPRING Singapore's list. Up to 90% of the course fees was subsidised by SPRING Singapore, with the remaining 10% fully borne by the SME company. This scholarship came with a bond of up to two years with the sponsoring SME company.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SPRING Singapore appoints new CEO. Channel NewsAsia. 8 October 2015.
  2. News: IE and Spring merger timely, given global changes: Iswaran. Heng. Janice. The Business Times. 2018-04-01. en.
  3. Web site: SPRING Singapore (Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board) . 30 March 2011 . Wee, Jane . 29 May 2003 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080503110537/http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_301_2005-02-02.html . 3 May 2008 .
  4. Web site: SPRING – About SPRING Singapore . SPRING Singapore . 14 January 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080108234831/http://www.spring.gov.sg/Content/WebPage.aspx?id=0a84ffd1-6ceb-4cf0-b9e4-b97ccc45b762 . 8 January 2008.
  5. Web site: SPRING- Board of Directors. About Us. SPRING Singapore. 2 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20121004004945/http://www.spring.gov.sg/AboutUs/BOD/Pages/board-directors.aspx. 4 October 2012. dead.
  6. Web site: About Us – Organisational Chart . SPRING Singapore . 14 January 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071205134327/http://www.spring.gov.sg/Content/WebPage.aspx?id=bdc99bdb-3375-4ac4-a81d-3b6afec55140 . 5 December 2007.
  7. Web site: About Us – SPRING Singapore (Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board) . . 14 January 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071218105924/http://app.mti.gov.sg/default.asp?id=376 . 18 December 2007 . dead .