On 11 October 2007, SMU, Nanyang Polytechnic and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts launched a new Joint Incubation Programme to promote young entrepreneurs in the Interactive Digital Media (IDM) sector. The IDM Joint Incubation Programme marks the first time in Singapore where three tertiary institutions are collaborating to groom student entrepreneurs who have business ideas with the potential to succeed in this high-growth sector. The programme will provide incubation space, mentorship and financial support to promising student start-up projects, leveraging the Media Development Authority’s Microfunding Scheme to provide a total of S$1.5 million to fund at least 30 projects over three years.

SMU will extend its four-year-old Business Innovations Generator–a university incubation laboratory and seed funding initiative–to the IDM Joint Incubation Programme, providing free incubation space on its campus for the student start-ups. The University will also leverage its strengths in management, finance, marketing and information systems to support the business development aspect of the student start-ups. NYP will contribute its expertise in animation, games, visual effects, interactive media and motion graphics, while NAFA will bring its design competencies and interactive design methodologies to the collaboration. The student entrepreneurs will also benefit from guidance and consultation from a pool of business coaches and industry advisers who have volunteered their time and resources. Quarterly networking sessions will be organised to bring together prospective student entrepreneurs from SMU, NYP and NAFA as a platform to explore opportunities for entering into business partnerships.

SMU is the first local university to serve as an experimental test bed for the Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning (RAHS) system, a suite of software tools that help analysts anticipate and detect emerging strategic trends and issues, including those in the National Security domain. Since October 2007, a group of 30 SMU undergraduates from the Lee Kong Chian School of Business has been using the RAHS technology as part of their “Introduction to Agri-Commodity Trading” course, which combines classroom teaching, computer simulations and site visits for a contextualised understanding of the fast-growing trading sector. The course is part of the International Trading Track, a specialisation offered by the International Trading Institute@SMU as part of the Bachelor of Business Management degree programme for finance majors.

The RAHS Outreach Initiative (ROI) in SMU–the first-ever collaboration between the National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) and a local tertiary institution–provides a new dimension to the students’ analysis of agri-commodity trading, enabling them to develop models to better understand the interplay of various trading risks and risk mitigants across the spectrum of trading activities. RAHS specialists from NSCS serve as mentors, providing supervision and consultation to ensure the students are able to optimise the wide-ranging capabilities of the RAHS system. Students not only gain hands-on exposure to the latest technology, they also get the chance to demonstrate their abilities, with the potential for internship opportunities through NSCS. In turn, NSCS gains valuable user feedback that will help fine-tune the RAHS applications.