Innovation not about high-tech gadgetry but about solving everyday problems

SINGAPORE (June 26): When Christel Goh could not find a good solution to boost the failing memory of her elderly grandmother, she decided to come up with her own. Armed with a tablet, stylus and photographs of objects her grandmother could relate to — a pair of red clogs, a tiffin carrier, a wooden spinning top — Goh created a memory matching card game for older people. She raised about US$2,000 ($2,780) through crowdfunding and launched her project this month with 100 sets of the cards, with plans to produce more. “It was difficult for us to find localised content, and there could be many others like us who would find it useful,” she says.

Goh has no formal art or design training and, for the project, she had consulted with friends and dementia support group members. The cards are decidedly low-tech, she acknowledges, “compared to what you see in the marketplace”. Yet, she firmly believes the experience has been an exercise in innovation. “Technology is just a platform. The core should be to focus on changing and helping how people live,” she says. “Innovation shouldn’t just be about the latest technology, but the crux of it should be to solve problems in today’s world.”

Scan the headlines today, however, and it would appear that innovation has become tied to other measures instead. Some $19 billion in government funds has been earmarked for science and technology development over five years, in a bid to develop Singapore as a hub for innovation. MNCs are building innovation hubs around the world to funnel investments. And everyone from banks to insurers is interested in funding start-ups that will help them find their next big idea.

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