TECH NEEDS

With the acceleration of e-commerce and digital technologies post-pandemic, there is a need for closer integration of the physical shopping experience with online digital journey for a seamless omnichannel experience. As part of the company's drive to attract new and existing customers of a younger age group, a multinational corporation operating in the duty-free retail sector is seeking a technology partner to co-create memorable shopping experiences and enhance customer engagement with the help of immersive technologies, with a focus on, but not limited to Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The technology seeker’s core strength is in the design of attractive physical airport duty-free retail environments for the global market, and their core product categories are Liquor & Tobacco, Perfumes & Cosmetics and Confectionery. Therefore, it is crucial for potential technology partners to consider a customer’s shopping journey within a travel retail environment (with associated constraints on shopping time, travel retail exclusives etc.) when conceptualizing and developing an immersive engagement experience. The technology seeker aims to eventually implement and roll out the project to several airports in the Asia Pacific region.

Research has shown that gamification, i.e., adding game elements/mechanics into a traditional non-game environment would motivate employees and in turn drive greater performance and productivity. Game mechanics make the goals clearer and employee performance more transparent. Gamification would allow employees to receive immediate feedback, and benchmark their performance against their peers.  Given the above benefits, the technology seeker, who is a multinational company providing energy and automation solutions for efficiency and sustainability, intends to start a Proof-of-Concept (POC) project at one of its distribution centers - partnering with a technology owner to design and develop a gamification software application that introduces the following into existing warehouse inbound and outbound tasks: Game mechanics: rules and rewards (e.g. points, levels, missions, leaderboards, badges, and progress) Game dynamics: which illicit a set of emotions, behaviors, and desires resulting from the aforementioned game mechanics (e.g. competition through leaderboards, collaboration through completing team missions, sense of community, desire to earn and collect unique badges, and surprises by unlocking new missions) Additionally, the following are also desirable: Option for an employee to mask his/her identity (e.g. employee-defined username) Operational workflow error checking if the application is also used for task execution Analytics dashboard for an administrator to analyse the performance  Option for an administrator to turn on or off individual game elements

The technology seeker is an established personal care company that is looking to replace the nonbiodegradable ingredients in their sunscreen products (e.g. acrylates). Consumers and regulatory bodies are concerned about the environmental impact of sunscreens, particularly on marine ecosystems. In response to this, personal care companies are developing “reef-friendly”, non-toxic products, formulated with ingredients that are readily biodegradable and often bio-sourced. The client is looking for personal care ingredient suppliers as part of their program of new product development. They have a broad portfolio of brands and products and offer routes to market for companies developing sustainable ingredients. The client prefers a supply agreement. They may also offer their in-house R&D services and help with manufacturing scale-up and regulatory support for the ideal partner.

Packaging materials play an important role in daily warehouse operations and the logistics industry to protect and transport vast amounts of products from different locations. Such packaging have to be designed to be sturdy, durable, withstand external loadings under various conditions and time periods as well as being reusable for economic reasons. As part of the company’s initiative to move towards green solutions, a Singapore-based packaging manufacturer is seeking sustainable composite materials as an alternative to wood for use in packaging solutions. Besides packaging, another possible use-case for the material may be for use as planks or floorboards at construction sites. The proposed composite material should be highly durable (strength and durability should be comparable to wood), cost-effective and be able to be easily manufacturable (e.g., extrusion, molding). The technology seeker is interested to collaborate with technology owners who: have access to relevant sustainable low-cost material sources as wood replacement are able to co-develop a suitable composite material from these sustainable low-cost material sources, with the desired functionalities for use in packaging applications e.g., able to withstand external loadings under various conditions are able to support the manufacturing of the material into usable products (e.g., packaging, planks)

Water is a key resource used in industrial manufacturing activities which generates large amounts of toxic wastewater. These wastewaters will pose a threat to the environment if not properly treated before discharging  into the water bodies. Effluents from chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and textiles with extreme pHs and solvents are difficult to treat and there is a need to adopt novel technologies to address this challenge. Based in Singapore, the technology seeker is a medium sized enterprise operating in the environmental sector. Given the above opportunity, the technology seeker intends to partner with a technology owner to co-develop a membrane material such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) can be used for membrane processes such as membrane bioreactor (MBR), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and membrane distillation (MD). Preferably the proposed technology should be in hollow fiber form factor. The technology owner is expected to provide a suitable pH and solvent resistant membrane technology, technical expertise support, and transfer of essential know-how to the technology seeker for a pilot and eventual full-scale production in Singapore. Depending on the collaborators’ preference and further negotiations, the modes of partnership that could be considered include R&D collaboration, technology licensing and IP acquisition. The technology seeker prefers technology owners with presence and available technical professionals in Singapore to support this pilot project. Overseas-based technology owners would be considered as well in a case-by-case basis.

Pest and disease and climate change pose a major threat to future cocoa production. Up to 40% of the annual global cocoa harvest is lost to pest and disease and climate change will exacerbate losses by exposing trees to more frequent climate extremes and new pests and diseases. These losses mean not only a loss of revenue from lower yields but wasted inputs such as irrigation, fertiliser and labour. Traditional methods of monitoring crops in terms of both health and yield rely on manual labour. In the case of cocoa, in-season monitoring of yield is based on regular, manual counting of pods at different stages of maturity. Similarly, field scouting is used to monitor pests and disease. These methods are not only costly but also prone to human error. Crop health monitoring and pod counting solutions that enable continuous, real-time, in-season tracking could allow for more accurate monitoring and measurement with fewer labour resources.  Digital collection of data would also enable long-term records to be developed to better understand yield challenges to cocoa in a changing climate.     

As well as creating new well-being snacks, we also focus on improving the nutrition and ingredients of the global brands and local jewels already in our broad portfolio. In essence, this is about reducing or removing what people don’t want and adding more of what they do. Snacking has always had a role in people’s lives, but that role is expanding and evolving as they become busier than ever (at home or on the go), as the definition of snacking continues to expand, and as people become more conscious of the overall well-being of self and planet. Moreover, people increasingly want to feel good about the snacks they eat – knowing that they not only taste delicious but also mindful of the implications to mind, body, and planet. We want to help consumers easily enjoy the right snacks throughout their day and inspire them to snack mindfully so they can savor and feel good about each and every snack. As a part of this effort, we are always looking for ingredient solutions that consumers expect, understand and are familiar with; that are authentic, natural and minimally processed; and are free from additives or preservatives.

Good agricultural practices form part of the armoury against pests and diseases which reduce yield losses by promoting healthy crop growth and improved tolerance of stress including attack from pest and diseases. For example, optimising the soil microbiome has been shown to increase the nitrogen fixing capability of microbes found in the root system of some crop species. There are also other natural approaches currently available that can successfully control diseases and pests. For example, endophytic Trichoderma martiale strain ALF 247 is used to control black-pod rot in cocoa, although in many cases further development is required to provide economically viable methods for biocontrol at scale. Another example of a natural approach that has been successfully brought to market is the production of peanuts with a reduced level of aflatoxin through the application of a competitive strain of A. flavus. This strain is not capable of making the aflatoxin and out-competes the toxin-producing strains naturally present, thereby lowering levels to 3% of what it would otherwise be in shelled, edible-grade peanuts. In many cases, it is thought that this natural pesticide has sufficient efficacy but with the added advantage of much lower levels of detrimental side effects compared to the standard synthetic chemicals. Chemical fertilisers, particularly nitrogen, are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions both in the production phase and on-farm. To sustainably increase yield, there is a need to improve efficiencies of nutrient use, reduce losses and ideally identify low carbon nutrient sources. The company is seeking sustainable methods that can reduce the amount of agrochemicals being used, and/or its environmental impact.

The company is looking for clean label, plant-based ingredients with authentic credentials on taste, texture and appearance (for example - fruit and vegetables, grains and seeds legumes, beans, roots, super fruits). They believed that plant-based ingredient has huge opportunities to be unlocked from nature’s pure, goodness that can give pleasureable taste and maximum health value.  We are interested in Ingredients that are plant-based or plant-derived, or sustainable and/ or are upcycled & have a positive impact on the environment Technologies that help preserve the wholesome, natural benefits of these ingredients