Catalysing innovation and digital transformation in combating the Covid-19 pandemic: Whole-of government collaborations in ICT, R&D, and business digitization in Singapore

IMPACT

This article illustrates how collaborative partnerships between the public and private sectors played a critical role in developing and deploying innovative practices in Singapore to manage the Covid-19 crisis. The study provides some important lessons for the international community to reduce the impact of emergencies by leveraging collaborative partnerships for innovation.

ABSTRACT

Collaborative partnerships between the public and private sectors played a critical role in developing and deploying innovative practices to overcome Covid-19 in Singapore. The extant literature has not paid adequate attention to the determinants for managing collaborative partnerships in the emergency context. Using the case of digital transformation and ICT deployment in Singapore, the authors show how and why rapid reactions and responses to pandemics and other emergencies can be achieved through public–private partnerships for collaborative innovation.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaboration
• Covid-19
• innovation
• pandemic
• research & development
• Singapore

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to respondents who were interviewed and provided insights but preferred to be kept anonymous.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).