The Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board ( abbreviation: SPRING Singapore) was a statutory board under the

Ministry of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

of the

Singapore Government The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which is made up of the president and the Cabinet. Although the president acts in their personal discretion in the exercise ...

. It worked as an agency for enterprise development, and helped enterprises to enhance the competitiveness in Singapore market. It was also the national standards and conformance body. On 1 April 2018, SPRING Singapore was merged with IE Singapore to form

Enterprise Singapore Enterprise Singapore (ESG) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore. It was formed on 1 April 2018 to support Singapore small and medium enterprise (SMEs) development, upgrade capabilities, i ...

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.

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'. 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 Noel Philip Yeo Liat Kok ( Chinese: 杨烈国; born 1946), DUNU (First Class), is the Chairman oEconomic Development Innovations SingaporeAdvanced MedTech HoldingsanAccuron Technologies From April 2007 to March 2018, Yeo was Chairman of Standar ...

, former head of

A*STAR The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore. The agency supports R&D that is aligned to areas of competitive advantage and national needs for Singapore ...

. SPRING Singapore was divided into five departments: *Enterprise Capabilities *Enterprise Promotion *Industry Development *Quality & Standards *Corporate Development

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.

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.

References