Like what the video mentioned; “To innovate or to die” (National Geographic, 2018), it captures the essences of what Singapore is today. With Singapore being the smallest country in Asia, we have limited land and recourses. To continue to survive and live in Singapore, we need to innovate and come up with unique ideas that can benefit the people living here. Without innovation, Singapore might not be what it is today: A city of the future (National Geographic, 2018). 

It matters as, specifically technology and engineering, as those two disciplines are what is going to lead us into a very advanced and highly technological society.

For example, being a software developer/engineer. Their task is to create a framework and apps that can run on everyday technology such as computers, phones, and other devices. They are “encompassing new and exciting sectors like healthcare, space exploration, and autonomous vehicles” (Silman, 2020). Which means that a software engineer is very much needed in every industry. 

Another example is that isn’t too far from home is the Tuas desalination plant. The whole purpose of the plant is to remove the chlorines from the sea water to make it into drinking water. “The Tuas desalination is a modern marvel of precision engineering” (National Geographic, 2018). To further show that these marvels are worth the effort, the Tuas desalination plant “is a mere 100 meter by 300 meters” footprint. Compared to other plants around the world, this desalination plant produces the least amount of carbon footprint. (National Geographic, 2018). This shows that when engineering is used correctly with the right purpose, it might benefit everyone and make life a lot more convenient. 

 

The whole purpose of
design thinking is to “come up with meaningful ideas that solve real problems for
a particular group of people” (Sprouts, 2017). Knowing that the whole purpose
is to help someone with a particular issue, you can use the design thinking
skill to “explore an alternatives, creating options that had not existed before”
(Van Genderen, 2014). This focuses on the user a lot and will encourage people
to come out with more innovative solutions. By applying the Design Thinking theory
into practice, “Suddenly the world’s problems are simple and manageable with Design
Thinking” (Van Genderen, 2014).

Sources used:

National Geographic.
(November 24, 2018). City of the Future: Singapore – Full Episode I            National Geographic. Retrieved from                                                                           
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi6r3hZe5Tg&feature=emb_logo

Silman, Jamie.
(February 18, 2020). The 14 Best Engineering Jobs For The Future [For                2020 And Beyond]. Entechts.
Retrieved from    https://www.entechts.com/blog/2019/02/the-14-best-engineering-jobs-for-the-future- for-2020-and-beyond                                                              

Sprouts.
(October 23, 2017). The Design Thinking Process. Retrieved from                                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0VX-aU_T8

Van
Genderen, Sean. (April 4, 2014). What is Design Thinking? Retrieved from                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7sEoEvT8l8

It is very important as Singapore is a small country with limited resources. We need innovations to solve problems as well as to improve the current situation. Innovations are required in many aspects such as technology, sociology and economics. This is a strategy to sustain the country’s growth because it increases productivity, competitiveness, profitability as well as gain new relationships. Because of it, Singapore has successfully turned from third world to first. One good example is the introduction of HDB flats. Not only the people get housing, it also stimulated the economy such that Singapore has become one of the most successful country. Thus, innovation is very important to Singapore.

Innovation matters a lot in Singapore Aerospace Industry as it helps to solve challenges to reach greater heights. It is constantly being brought into Aerospace Engineering for different purposes such as increasing work productivity, safety and quality etc. Singapore’s Aerospace Engineering industry has been making significant developments to keep the country up to date and the future of the industry in Singapore is looking bright. One of the recent innovation was the Airbus’s Skyways project which helps to delivery parcel in NUS campus. 

Article on the Airbus’s Skyways project :

https://www.edb.gov.sg/en/news-and-events/insights/innovation/the-future-is-taking-off-three-exciting-aerospace-innovations-from-singapore.html 

Design thinking is broken into 5 stages: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.  It helps one to be more innovative because it allows us to better understand the problem that we want to solve first. It then allows us to generate different ideas, create prototypes and test which idea is the best solution. Thus, design thinking helps one to be more innovative due to the well organized stages.

One such innovation is 2FA (2 factor authentication) where users need to verify they are in possession of their device and know their password. This protects users even if they choose an easy password. This requires design thinking as you first have to understand (empathise) that users do not like remembering long passwords and then solve this problem by adding another layer of security to protect those with shorter, less secure passwords.
Design thinking helps to focus on the challenge to overcome and provides a framework to generate solutions with a target audience in mind.

Source:
National Geographic, 2018,
https://youtu.be/xi6r3hZe5Tg

Singapore is a country that lacks natural resources such as land, water or oil. We are unable to depend on those to grow our economy. Thus, we need to use resources, which is the people, to grow our economy and progress. To do so, Singapore’s people need to be able to come up with creative and effective solutions that come from innovating. Singapore would also need to constantly come up with new solutions to problems it might face (eg: aging population, too high population density) which come from constant innovating.

One example is the MRT. Singapore needed to come up with an effective transport system, as usual solutions such as buses would not be adequate due to the eventual lack of road space. Fast forward to now, the MRT transports an average of 3.3 million Singaporeans per day and is a very efficient transport system.

In my industry, innovation is plays a major role. Designers are constantly coming up with new ideas to better suit a user’s needs. Design thinking allows designers to be able to emphasise with the user and come up with more effective solutions. Additionally, design thinking ensures that the solution that the designer came up with can be further refined so that the designer can come up with new ways to solve the problem. 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/study-singapores-public-transport-system-one-of-worlds-most-efficient

Innovation is important to a small country like Singapore as we have limited natural resources and our population is growing. It is important that we do not rely so heavily on other surrounding countries for these natural resources we lack. For example, NEWwater, a reclaimed water program that purifies waste water to make it drinkable. The population of people living in a small country like Singapore is increasing and hence it is important to find new ways to accommodate and make Singapore liveable for all.  For example, smart public housing is one way as mentioned in the video. In conclusion innovation could lead to higher productivity levels and also contribute to economic growth 

 2. Why does is it matter to you, and your discipline/ industry? How can design thinking help one to be more innovative? 

Innovation is important in the real estate industry that it is important to find new innovative ways to house the growing population in Singapore. Due to the advancements in technology and the increasing use of social media, some real estate agents have used social media platforms to advertise and sell the property. This would attract the attention of more people and help to sell the house faster. 

You can watch it here : [Singapore Good Class Bungalow] Inside a MASSIVE $63 million relic hunter's GCB

Design thinking is a process to come up with meaningful ideas that solve real problems for a particular group of people with innovative new solutions and it includes 5 steps. Empathize, Define the problem, Ideate, Prototype and Testing. 

Innovation is important to a small country like Singapore as we have limited natural resources and our population is growing. It is important that we do not rely so heavily on other surrounding countries for these natural resources we lack. For example, NEWwater, a reclaimed water program that purifies waste water to make it drinkable. The population of people living in a small country like Singapore is increasing and hence it is important to find new ways to accommodate and make Singapore liveable for all.  For example, smart public housing is one way as mentioned in the video. In conclusion innovation could lead to higher productivity levels and also contribute to economic growth.

2. Why does is it matter to you, and your discipline/ industry? How can design thinking help one to be more innovative? 

Innovation is important in the real estate industry that it is important to find new innovative ways to house the growing population in Singapore. Due to the advancements in technology and the increasing use of social media, some real estate agents have used social media platforms to advertise and sell the property. This would attract the attention of more people and help to sell the house faster. 

You can watch it here : [Singapore Good Class Bungalow] Inside a MASSIVE $63 million relic hunter's GCB

Design thinking is a process to come up with meaningful ideas that solve real problems for a particular group of people with innovative new solutions and it includes 5 steps. Empathize, Define the problem, Ideate, Prototype and Testing. 

 

Innovation has been a key role in boosting the economy of Singapore, due to the small market.

One way, this was achieved was by expanding the research capabilities of the universities and the research institutes of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research or A*Star. This benefitted Singapore vastly as the number of research scientists and engineers has more than doubled between 2000 and 2015 to reach 34,988. In that same period, business spending on research and development grew from $1.866 billion to $5.825 billion. It is also realised that innovation has to be an important priority for Singapore both to make more productive use of resources, and to create new businesses and new products in order to benefit us economically. 

Source of Info: https://www.edb.gov.sg/en/news-and-events/insights/innovation/singapores-long-game-in-innovation.html

 

 

Innovation matters in the aerospace industry as the aerospace industry is a volatile industry, with various problems. Constant innovation is needed in order to address these problems.  An example of how Innovation in Aerospace addressed a problem, is the Volocopter, which underwent tests in 2019. The Volocopter, is an unmanned air taxi, that can transport people from one place to another. The Volocopter solves the problem of higher commuting times due to traffic jams on roads. Another example, is the testing of delivery drones done by F-drones. On April 19,2020, A delivery drone from a local start-up, F-drones successfully delivered 2kgs of vitamins to an offshore vessels. This would alleviate congestion at ports as goods can be transferred onto ships from the port and vice versa. This also reduces unnecessary human contact, which applies to the current pandemic situation which would enable the efficient operations of ports, even with the limitations of a pandemic. 

 

Sources of info:  https://www.asiaone.com/business/volocopter-air-taxi-flies-over-singapores-marina-bay and  https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/singapores-first-drone-delivery-service-takes-flight

 

 

The steps in design thinking are, empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test. Design thinking will not work in an organization that is not open to feedback and does not spend enough time in the real world with customers. Ideation, enables more creative ideas to be produced, instead of ideas from a single person.  Building and testing of prototypes, enable mistakes to be found and tweaks to be refined. 

Source of info: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/business-ministry-life/2016/how-can-design-thinking-help-organizations-become-more-innovative

Innovation is especially important for Singapore as we have limited resources like space, natural resources etc. and it is important for Singapore to constantly innovate to stay ahead of other countries who have more resources than Singapore. Innovation allows Singapore to discover opportunities to enhance products or services to stay ahead of other competitors who have more resources compared to Singapore.

 

Innovation is important in Information Technology as it allows us to make new programs to solve problems. Innovation matters to me in the IT industry as it me to find new or better ways to fulfill customer’s needs to stay ahead of competitors. Design thinking helps me to actively look for problems to solve instead of waiting for the right opportunity. It also helps me by constantly thinking of new ideas to solve a problem instead of sticking to one solution thinking it’s the best.

It is important to Singapore. As a small country with lack of natural resources, we as a nation need to be creative and stand out so that we have something unique to  trade with other countries which will us to grow and have the necessary resources that we need.

 

Why does is it matter to you, and your discipline/ industry? How can design thinking help one to be more innovative? 

Maritime industry plays its role in Singapore’s progress and development, especially for its economy. Maritime trade, businesses and activities are crucial for Singapore’s growth.

In this competitive world, where a lot of countries have their own maritime industry which increases the competition between the countries for trading and businesses therefore is important to be innovative to be unique and others to be willing to trade with us.

I think that the design thinking approach will greatly help us to be more creative and come out with an efficient and new idea, also be a great help for us to solve future problems with the creativity and innovation that we have.

For instance the maritime innovation ecosystem which achieve vibrancy, collaboration and new growth areas. 

 

1.       How is innovation important to a small country like Singapore? 

Innovation is important as it ultimately allows Singapore to become a more independent nation. Since Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world, it does lack natural resources such as limited land and drinking water. This makes Singapore prone to challenges and will result in us seeking assistance from other countries. With innovation, Singapore will be able to design solutions that solve these problems effectively. For example, Singapore has introduced NEWater to counter the limited amount of drinking water in Singapore. NEWater is the process of treating waste water to drinkable fresh water using highly advanced membrane filtration technologies. This reduces the likelihood of Singapore going to other countries for assistance and therefore will become a more independent nation. 

 

2.       Why does is it matter to you, and your discipline/ industry? How can design thinking help one to be more innovative?

Since my module is part of the healthcare industry, innovation is crucial
in treating patients and improving medicine as a whole. This is especially
important now as we are amidst a global pandemic. For example, the medical
technology market in the Asia-pacific is expected to reach S$190 billion, a S$102
billion difference from 2015 alone. Furthermore, design thinking allows someone
to be more innovative as it helps others have a basis for the innovation
process thus being able top have more promising results 

Sources: 
1. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/170m-fifth-newater-plant-launched
2. https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/medical-tech-firms-drawing-more-investment-amid-crisis

Innovation is a crucial in Singapore as Singapore is a small country with no natural resources. Therefore, there is a need for innovation to keep with the times with this rapid change times by solving our own problems. One innovation in Singapore that is stated in the documentary is the agriculture technology, the first world’s vertical commercial farm, that can help to grow vegetables for our human population, which reduces the need to rely on the importation of food from other countries. Even though the land area in Singapore is scarce, Singaporeans are still able to find ways to make local farm produce. This further proves that there is a need for innovation in Singapore.

2. Why does is it matter to you, and your discipline/ industry? How can design thinking help one to be more innovative? 

Innovation is important in Real Estate Business as it can help out in several ways. Innovation can help construction works by lessening the worker’s jobs, such ways includes having Build To Order (BTO) flats that are assembled before stacking up to form a building. This will make life easier for the workers as it is more extremely difficult and tiring to build an individual flat from scratch. Big data can play a huge role in the real estate world as they can help both real estate developers and real estate agents. Big data can help real estate developers know how their properties are performing, additionally, it can help developers to improve for their next project. Big data can also help real estate agents by having contactless service and knowing what the clients want by just one click away. An app called iERA does the job for real estate agents. 

Design thinking can train one’s mind to think of ideas and improve them by making their ideas come true. As time progresses, being innovative will not be a difficult task as you can empathise with the troubles that people face on a daily basis, and at the same time think of a solution to help these people. Although the solutions might not be great, it would be good to jot it down and improve it when you have the time to do so. As such, when one goes through design thinking regularly, you will tend to be much more innovative as according to Gerald Puccio, creativity can be developed. 

Woollard, D. (2019, November 27). 5 Trends in Real Estate Innovation. from https://www.fool.com/millionacres/real-estate-market/real-estate-innovation/