SIIRD approves five R&D projects worth US$6.1m from Singapore and Israel
ConvergenceAsia staff
27/11/2008

Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SIIRD) has announced a total research investment of US$6.1 million (about S$9.3 million) by five newly-approved R&D projects jointly undertaken by companies in Singapore and Israel.

Established in 1997, SIIRD is a co-operation between the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) in Israel to promote, facilitate and support joint industrial R&D projects, between Singapore-based companies and Israeli high-tech companies, which would lead to successful commercialisation. SIIRD’s support includes funding of up to 50 per cent of the eligible R&D costs of joint R&D projects.

The joint project between local company 1-2-1 View Media and its Israeli R&D partner Outform is among five successful applications for the latest round of R&D funding by SIIRD.

1-2-1 View Media and Outform are developing two new ranges of products that allow pedestrians to actively interact with digital signs. The i-Display Intelligent offering, which detects certain attributes of individual viewers – such as age, gender and ethnicity – and displays relevant advertisements based on such characteristics, allows advertisers to display contents that viewers will find useful and meaningful, enriching the entertainment and information value. Another creation, the i-Display Brand Management, which passively records viewer data to determine the impact of pedestrian traffic and audience demographics on outdoor advertisements, allows detailed analysis on the impact of the marketing campaigns, for retailers to promote their products more effectively.

Besides 1-2-1 View Media and Outform, the other beneficiary companies are (Singapore companies listed first):

- Aztech Systems and Celeno Communications - The companies are jointly developing a device that allows home users to wirelessly transmit – or stream – high-definition multimedia content between different interconnected entertainment appliances such as computers or television sets.

- Voiceroute and Xorcom - These companies are working on a redundancy solution for open source Internet Protocol (IP) telecommunication infrastructures.

- InfoWave and Micronet - Both companies are collaborating on a bundled fleet management solution for transportation and logistics companies to perform tasks like communicating remotely with their drivers, tracking their vehicles’ movements.

- SIF Technologies and Green Vision Systems - These companies are working on new-generation laboratory machines that use cutting-edge imaging technology to automatically sample and analyse microscopic particles.

Earmarked for commercial rollout between 2009 and 2010, these five projects aim to achieve cumulative revenues of US$260 million (about S$395 million) over their first three years of commercialisation.

Additionally, the beneficiary companies have employed 68 research scientists and engineers from Singapore and Israel to work on their respective projects.

Chan Eng Chye, General Manager for SIIRD, said SIIRD aims to provide another avenue for innovation-driven Singapore companies to seek R&D funding despite the ongoing credit crunch and financial crisis. "Partnering with Israeli companies allow Singapore companies to tap on the high quality and level of Israel's industrial research base to expand their own technological capabilities and product portfolio.”

To date, SIIRD has approved 79 R&D projects with a total research investment of US$82.3 million (about S$125 million), and has facilitated the employment of approximately 1,220 researchers in beneficiary companies from the two countries.

Additionally, SIIRD facilitated about 100 discussions related to R&D collaborations between companies in Singapore and Israel last year. 

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