What does a 118-year-old university have to learn from start-ups? A lot.
Unburdened by size, legacy and bureaucracy, start-ups frequently display the agility and market responsiveness not always seen in larger institutions. They also often serve as the source of the technologies that are upending industries, challenging paradigms, and pioneering new standards.
To help inspire the administration at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to embrace a more innovative mindset, while also finding solutions to the University’s pain points, the NUS Tech Sandbox was piloted in mid-2022 by Mr Clarence Ti, NUS Deputy President (Administration). The initiative is meant to drive a culture of agility and creativity within the University, encouraging staff exposure to external ideas and helping position NUS as an early adopter of disruptive technology.
“How do you help companies be more innovative? The best organisations to learn from are either criminal in nature or start-ups,” mused Mr Ti. “Start-ups frame questions differently and knowing how to answer the right questions is half the battle.”
In many ways, NUS’ focus on start-up innovation is not new: NUS Enterprise, the University’s entrepreneurial arm, has nurtured an entire generation of entrepreneurs through initiatives such as the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme and BLOCK71. But while much of its focus has been on helping companies grow beyond campus, NUS Tech Sandbox aims to bring the benefits inward through a formal pathway, leveraging start-up technology to boost NUS’ own innovative capacity.
The initiative has two main aims: one, source and engage start-ups in areas relevant to NUS needs, and two, streamline the procurement and onboarding process for start-up technologies through the collaboration of the Central Procurement Office (CPO), the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), and NUS Information Technology (NUS IT). The NUS Agility Office (AO) serves as overall project manager of the NUS Tech Sandbox, helping participating offices to interface with companies, scope, as well as facilitate approvals for technology trials.
The Office of Human Resources (OHR) has led the way as the first department to be part of the NUS Tech Sandbox. The choice is a strategic one: given the essential role that staff play in the University’s long-term success, having a digitalised human resources function, able to recruit and nurture quality talent, is of vital importance to NUS. The unit also has recent experience in working with start-ups. Last year, OHR introduced the AI-powered NUS Talented platform to provide customised training recommendations to staff to close their skills gaps. The department has also collaborated with Health and Wellbeing, Office of the President, to launch a local start-up invention – Intellect, a mobile application that provide self-guided mental health programs and tools as well as on-demand counselling services for staff. Both units are also planning to pilot another solution to help employees monitor their stress levels.
Through the NUS Tech Sandbox, OHR has looked at technologies from 25 companies in various areas such as employee engagement and talent acquisition among others. “The NUS Tech Sandbox has provided us with a pulse as to how talent management technology is changing, as well as a means of identifying our own potential blind spots,” states Dr Janson Yap, Chief People Officer of NUS. “As a leading university in Asia, it’s important to be on the lookout for the tools that will not only make our work more productive and efficient but deliver increased value to our employees and organisation.”
Imaginarium speakers: Mr Ryan Ang (Centre for Future-ready Graduates) and Mr Winston Wee (NUS Business School).
At the programme’s most recent event, representatives from the NUS Centre for Future-Ready Graduates (CFG) and the NUS Business School were present to discuss how collaborations with start-ups are transforming their work, from automated resume feedback to the use of video interview technology. Consulting firm Mercer also delivered a well-received talk on global talent trends, touching upon the evolution of employee listening from engagement to experience, as well as the importance of being able to connect employee voice data with broader organisational sources for informed decision-making.
To provide visibility of the programme, a microsite to source NUS challenge statements and start-up submissions has also been created and will be launched soon, with the intent to further serve as a depository for the success stories generated by the programme.
“We’re just getting started with Tech Sandbox,” states Mr Ti. “Human Resources was a pilot, but we are inviting all administrative functions to participate in this programme. Our hope is that by providing a platform to bring together University needs and start-up solutions, we can not only create quantifiable impact in terms of the hours saved to our work but move the needle on developing a more agile NUS culture.”
Do you have your own OE Story to tell? We are inviting submissions of OE efforts across NUS! Please click on this link to find out more about the contribution guidelines and to submit your story.