Singapore is growing as an innovative business hub with the entry of Bosch, Boston Dynamics, and Delta Electronics

The upcoming Punggol Digital District (PDD) project will feature four global firms, as well as SIT’s new campus. As for Bosch, the German company has established its regional HQ and innovation hub, Grow, here.

On Wednesday (28 July 2021), Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong announced that four global companies have confirmed that they will be located in the Punggol Digital District (PDD) once it’s built. They are Boston Dynamics, Delta Electronics International (Singapore), Group-IB, and Wanxiang.

At the hybrid event, the Punggol Digital District (PDD): Connecting Smartness 2021, Minister Gan explained that PDD is one of Singapore’s confirmed projects to build a Smart Nation.

“Three years ago, Singapore unveiled the masterplan for the Punggol Digital District (PDD) as the choice location for technology players. It would provide them a vibrant and collaborative ecosystem. Companies can plug into PDD, and gain convenient access to industry partners, academic expertise, as well as industry-ready talent,” Minister Gan said.

As such, Minister Gan fully welcomes the entry of the four firms, and looks forward to them leveraging PDD’s business-and-digital ecosystem.

“Each of these companies bring with them different expertise to the mix, including robotics and engineering, electronics and automation, cybersecurity and blockchain technology,” the Minister added.

Beyond being a business park, PDD will be housing Singapore Institute of Technology’s (SIT) new campus, which “will benefit from a full-fledged applied learning environment with more than 10,000 SIT students.”

This is because, for one, Boston Dynamics will be partnering local startup dConstruct Technologies and SIT on learning and applied research of robotics systems.

“Using Boston Dynamic’s “Spot” robot and dConstruct’s software programming tool, SIT students will be able to develop robotic solutions for improved campus experiences,” Minister Gan added.

Other than benefitting tertiary education students, Minister Gan noted that PDD will also help locals in their employment hunt.

“As PDD continues to grow, we expect over 2,000 tech-related jobs to be created at the PDD, ranging from fraud hunters, data analysts and solution engineers, to AI and blockchain developers.

“The PDD will create good job opportunities for Singaporeans, including those living and studying in the Punggol district,” he said.

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In a similar vein, the Economic Development Board (EDB) Singapore has announced that Bosch has established its regional headquarters and innovation hub, Grow, here – which aims to launch at least five new ventures by 2023 from Singapore, each with the potential to scale as new businesses for the German company.

“Singapore’s Grow hub is unique for us strategically - not only is Singapore home to Bosch’s regional office, it is also one of the world’s most prominent innovation powerhouses reflected in the robust local start-up scene,” Karsten Roenner, Global Head, Grow.

“We continue to see strong government support on innovation, coupled with an organic network of founders, investors and mentors that continues to bring about positive and sustainable change in the region, making Singapore an ideal testbed for Grow.”

Martin Hayes, President of Bosch, Southeast Asia continued: “Innovation is deeply embedded in Bosch’s DNA. The launch of Grow hub in Singapore and our collaboration with EDB aims to achieve one goal: to establish a powerful regional network for start-ups to collaborate with the best to solve the needs and challenges of tomorrow.”

Cementing Hayes’ statement is Singapore start-up AquaEasy, which specialises on shrimp farming technology, and is able to utilise Bosch’s competencies in sensor development and AI, to further boost its own technology, go-to-market support, and business development.

Image / Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)

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