Nordic Innovation House Singapore: Newsletter - May 2024
Nordic Innovation House - Singapore
Scaling the best of the Nordics
Features
Singapore held two major events in April: Maritime Week and Ecosperity
Organised by the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the Singapore Maritime Week (SMW) is an annual flagship event, held from April 16-18, that brought together global maritime leaders, and industry enthusiasts from around the world to discuss key issues, latest trends and opportunities facing the industry today and tomorrow. This year’s theme, ‘Actions Meet Ambition’, was a show of our collective desire for actions to push for higher ambition in decarbonisation and digitalisation in the maritime sector.
Furthermore, over three days from 15 - 17 April 2024, the Ecosperity conference focused on discussions on innovative solutions across technology, nature and finance to accelerate a green and just transition: Amidst increasing geopolitical fragmentation, how can we leverage scalable policy levers and solutions to accelerate decarbonisation? Can we protect nature and reverse nature loss synergistically with our climate goals? How do we crowd in capital from different sectors to bridge Asia’s climate financing gaps? ?
Strongholds of the Nordics in the Maritime and Port Sector
The Nordics have always been front-runners in decarbonisation and technological advancement and as Singapore is ready to be a living lab, to trial and upscale technology at the global level, there are multiple opportunities to partner in green transition and transformation on the ground. Below are some highlights from the Nordic countries below:
Sweden’s RISE, Finland’s VTT and Singapore's A*STAR’s IHPC, signed a MOU to launch the Virtual Watch Tower orchestrator, which was presented for the first time at the Singapore Maritime Week 2024. It is built on advanced AI integration to improve maritime transport efficiencies and build more resilient chains while helping to decarbonise the maritime industry's supply chain and logistics.
Highlights from Denmark in April include the visit to Seatrium with a delegation of Danish companies led by the industry association Danish Maritime and the Danish Embassy in Singapore, as well as a co-located event by the Danish Maritime Authority titled "Accelerating the Green Transition of Shipping through Energy Efficiency" and a Danish Maritime Reception and Networking Event.
For Norway, the 2nd edition of the Singapore-Norway Industry Workshop, “Innovations in Green and Sustainable Maritime Solutions” , was held and co-hosted with Singapore Shipping Association (SSA). The event was focused on introducing the new decarbonisation committee of SSA, latest initiatives and developments of maritime decarbonisation by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), and updates on Norway’s developments and achievements in green maritime by Innovation Norway.
Insights
Numerous countries are directing their efforts toward sustainability to mitigate the effects of global warming. Sustainable fashion stands out as a viable avenue to make a significant impact.?
Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom are among the countries spearheading sustainability initiatives within the fashion sector. Singapore, for instance, established the Singapore Fashion Council (SFC) to drive continual growth in the fashion industry, emphasizing Asian craftsmanship, sustainability, innovation, and technology. Their objective is to empower and inspire all fashion brands by fostering accessible resources, robust networks, and sustainability-focused innovations through strategic partnerships (GlobalEDGE).
By 2050, the global population is projected to increase by 27%, reaching 9.8 billion. Simultaneously, the global building floor area is expected to double by 2060, intensifying the environmental, social, and economic impacts linked to the built environment.
Globally, buildings contribute to about 40% of energy and process-related CO2 emissions, utilize 50% of all extracted materials, account for 33% of water consumption, and generate 35% of the total waste. These structures also impose other environmental repercussions, including resource depletion, pollution of air, water, and land, and the loss of biodiversity. Given such substantial implications, it is imperative for the built environment to contribute to the pivotal change required to decarbonize our global economy (World Green Building Council).?
Southeast Asia's Green Economy 2024 Report: Moving the Needle
Southeast Asia is confronted with a reality gap between its net zero ambitions and true progress in its energy and green transition. However, there is a window of opportunity that the region needs to seize today to leverage the green transition for competitive and economic growth. This report will highlight top 13 investable ideas across four sectorial themes: Nature and Agriculture, Power, Transport, and Buildings; and accelerators that can help build ecosystems in the new term and bring green solutions to scale (Ecosperity).
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Opportunities
SLINGSHOT 2024 - Deep tech startup pitching competition
Apply by 1 July, 2024 | Find out more
Embark on your global startup journey at the eighth edition of SLINGSHOT, Asia's premier deep tech startup competition!
Join the SLINGSHOT competition and compete in any one of the five emerging challenge domains to unveil your trailblazing solutions and innovations to key industry leaders and global investors.
Vie for a chance to be part of our SLINGSHOT Top 50 Global Startups to win a sponsored trip to Singapore and immerse in Asia’s leading tech startup community and compete for more than S$1.2 million worth of grant prizes.
Make the pitch of a lifetime to a global audience at SLINGSHOT 2024 Finals, held at the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2024.
BEAMP Cycle 5
Submit Application by 10 May, 2024 | Find out More
The fifth cycle of the Built Environment Accelerate to Market Programme (BEAMP), organised by the Building and Construction Authority, JTC Corporation, and Enterprise Singapore is open for applications!
The recent virtual Info Sessions facilitated insightful discussions about the programme’s challenge statements, laying the groundwork for future collaborations with participating challenge statement owners.?
Missed the Info Sessions? You can still review the discussion from the recordings posted on the challenge website. Learn more at https://beamp.sg/challenge.?
Successful solution providers stand to gain access to funding support and co-innovation opportunities with Built Environment (BE) industry players!
Nordic Innovation House is a connector accelerating high-quality Nordic tech startups, scaleups and growth companies in Singapore. We are the bridge between Nordic and Singapore ecosystem players, including government, corporate, SME, investors and accelerator hubs, to enable more collaborations.
In Singapore, we work with Business Sweden, Innovation Norway, Business Iceland, the Embassy of Finland in Singapore and the Embassy of Denmark in Singapore.?
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