Govt will set up Design Promotion Unit for one-stop help

TO help local companies better adopt design to grow their businesses, a Design Promotion Unit will be set up within the government to provide one-stop assistance, as well as a Business Centre within the National Design Centre (NDC), for companies to tap a common pool of business services.

Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications & Information, made the announcement on March 10, at the launch of Design 2025 and the opening of Singapore Design Week 2016 at NDC.

Design 2025 is a masterplan that will take design in Singapore to the next level of development.

The setting up of the Design Promotion Unit and the Business Centre are two of the 15 recommendations put forth by the Design Masterplan Committee (DMC) under Design 2025.

In 2015, Dr Yaacob convened the DMC to study how the ministry could take the next leap towards the goal of being a global city of design.

Earlier blueprints were government-led, and identified art, design and media as new growth areas.

This new masterplan was developed by a committee comprising leaders from different communities in the design industry.

DMC is headed by Beh Swan Gin, chairman of Economic Development Board (EDB), and includes industry players such as fashion designer Priscilla Shunmugam, creative director Chris Lee and Wee Teng Wen, co-founder of The Lo and Behold Group.

The DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) - set up to help develop the nation's design sector - noted that currently, 86 per cent of design firms are micro small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which lack the resources to internationalise.

There is also a need for a more coordinated approach in government support, and most businesses and government agencies still do not fully appreciate the value of using design.

The Design Promotion Unit aims to bring together the efforts and resources of relevant economic agencies, including Spring Singapore, EDB and DSg.

This will enable the government to provide a more comprehensive range of assistance to businesses from SMEs to Singapore-based multinational corporations (MNCs) that intend to scale up their use of design for growth.

The Business Centre will help firms expand locally and overseas by providing shared services such as public relations, human resources, intellectual property management and accounting.

The 15 recommendations are categorised into five strategic trusts, the first of which is to infuse design into the national skillset.

This means nurturing design sensibilities starting from as young as pre-school so that the next generation workforce will have the mindset and skillset necessary for the future economy.

The second thrust is to expand the role of design in businesses and government.

This will serve to strengthen the design capabilities of businesses and government, so that they can better respond to the rapidly changing operating environment, both locally and globally.

The third thrust is to strengthen the competitiveness of design firms, so that local design firms can grow and expand internationally.

To do this, there are recommendations to address the inadequate opportunities for scalability, as well as by encouraging experimentation to stay ahead of the curve.

The fourth thrust is to bring design into the community. This will help the community better appreciate good design, the process of people-centred design, and how design can be useful for improving our everyday life and in shaping our national identity.

The fifth thrust is to develop the Singapore Design brand. The objective is to expand the global mindshare of Singapore as a design thought leader and to rally the local design community to achieve great international influence and impact.

Dr Yaacob said that some of the recommendations put forth in Design 2025 build on the progress that the design sector has made and "which we will move decisively on, in line with our national priorities", adding: "Others have a longer horizon, and we will need to further study and consult our stakeholders in implementing them."

When successfully implemented by 2025, Singapore will be known as an economy with companies and a workforce that create value through innovation. Residents will have more opportunities to participate in the development of the landscape in which they live, learn, work and play.

Recommendations for Design 2025

The Design Masterplan Committee has released 15 recommendations in its Design 2025 Master Plan. Here are some of them:

1. Cultivate creativity and design sensibilities from pre-school to secondary levels by developing and launching an integrated curriculum of enrichment programmes.

2. Develop a pipeline of multi-disciplinary, industry-ready designers and recognise promising Singaporean talents in the Institutes of Technical Education, polytechnics and universities.

3. Increase the knowledge and practice of design thinking in public servants for better policy-making and delivery of public services.

4. Form physical and digital clustering of related design practitioners, craftsmen, suppliers and support service providers to foster collaboration and generate synergies.

5. Enable citizens to co-create better daily living experiences through design and equip them with the knowhow.

6. Build SG-Mark into a regional standard for well-designed products and services.

taysc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 11, 2016.
Get The Business Times for more stories.