S&T Trends

Mission-Oriented Innovation Polices in Singapore: Research, Innovation and Enterprise Planning and National Innovation Challenges

Sarah Cheah, Stephen Phua

Abstract

Countries worldwide seeking innovation-driven economic growth face the increasing complexity and uncertainty 

of grand societal challenges. The new generation of mission-oriented innovation policy (MOIP) is led by societal 

challenges to spearhead transformative system change. Despite the centrality of existing innovation system structures 

to transformative system change and mission-oriented innovation, there has been limited attention to their role. This 

article contributes to the agenda by investigating how existing innovation system structures should be reconfigured by 

MOIP to produce relevant outcome, and how stakeholder commitment can be shaped by the legitimacy of MOIP. It 

also examines how the tension between new and existing innovation pathways should be managed. Using the triple 

helix and problem-solution perspectives, we studied the cases of Singapore’s research, innovation and enterprise plans, 

as well as its national innovation challenge programmes during the 2010-2020 period. Our findings demonstrate the 

critical role of institutional legitimacy in reconfiguring existing actors for successful mission outcome. Our analysis 

shows the importance of social legitimacy among the expanded helix structures of government, university, industry 

and civil society to increase stakeholder commitment. To manage the tension between different innovation pathways, 

Singapore policymakers adopted a portfolio approach to pursue novelty in solutions to accomplish the mission. 

Keywords