The deeptech war for talents
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What is deeptech? Deeptech gathers under a single terminological umbrella the technologies that are based on scientific breakthroughs and have the potential to be commercialized. It covers the applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, materials, advanced manufacturing, nanotechnology, drones and robotics, photonics and electronics, cleantech, and medtech. In their core, deeptech ventures are R&D intensive and multidisciplinary.
Deeptech is becoming global. Over the last decade, the volume of related financing with cross-border participation has increased seven-fold. But don’t make any mistake. It is only a fine-tuned and balanced mixture of scientific innovation, high talent density and fast-growing industry that makes an ecosystem an attractive location to scale deeptech startups and transform them into successful and sustainable businesses. The Bay Area, Boston and Israel built their reputation of leading deeptech nodes by reuniting those three key pillars.
In this competitive paradigm, high talent density and diversity is paramount. The rhetoric of a global war for talent and the emergence of a new type of global meritocracy have mobilised many governments to change social and economic policies in order to attract and retain top talents. Singapore is no exception. A small country without natural resources, human resources are the competitive advantage in the global marketplace, as the city-state jostles with the rest of the world for a slice of lucrative pie in high-tech and high value-adding service industries.
But instead of being overwhelmed by the tides of globalisation, the Singaporean government has always believed that it can anticipate and turn globalisation to its advantage. The city-state has been continuously responding to the challenges of developing local talents, retaining them and simultaneously welcoming and assimilating foreign professionals. Early on, the country embraced the philosophy of attracting the best students and professors to craft world-class universities. Leveraging local job opportunities, many top global corporations set up their regional headquarters in Singapore, attracted by the general quality of the infrastructures, the solid foundations of the legal system, the country’s openness to international business as well as the cosmopolitan flavor of the city. The Singaporean financial and technology ecosystem is now globally recognized. Foreign talent is not only an economic capital but also a symbolic capital that signifies that the pace of Singapore’s economic engine is a notch above others.
When it comes to deeptech however, many of the best talents have contributed to others’ economies over the last decades, instead of choosing Singapore first-hand. It is a facet of globalisation, enhanced regionalisation and industrial attractiveness that the city-state reflects and addresses. While consumer tech, fintech and software-driven startups still largely dominate the local entrepreneurial landscape, deeptech has been gaining some recent prominence, boosted by elite universities, a strong public stimulus and the efficient ecosystem support of Singaporean governmental agencies.
Singapore is keen on refining a new taxonomy of roles, skills and aptitudes dedicated to deeptech. This valuable approach connects industrial strategy and operating model to people and skill requirements, which can be used to source and develop talent within and outside the country. Successful ecosystems do rely on future-proof approaches to workforce planning for talents. In the case of deeptech, far more than financial investments, knowledge, data, skills, expertise, contacts, and market access are all currencies that link ecosystem players.
Today, deeptech entrepreneurs in Singapore often find themselves in unfamiliar territory, while carving out CXO roles proves to be complex. More high-level C-level executives and seasoned entrepreneurs will be key to have the ecosystem thrive. Bringing a solid experience in deep science prototyping, pre-industrialisation and early industrialisation, those will be responsible for steering new ventures in the right direction, connecting projects with global B2B networks.
Obviously, the construction of business ecosystems is not new, but deeptech ecosystems are nascent and operating in emerging technologies and industries. Deep technologies can affect entire value and supply chains and therefore require a different playbook to analyse the stakeholders’ interdependencies and value creation models. Hard tech startups’ development cycles are rooted in the multi-stakeholder process of transitioning technology from a research lab to the market, differentiating them from digital ventures. As new commercialization models emerge, Singaporean research institutions are reinventing their approaches to technology transfer and existing processes, creating new entry points for entrepreneurs and investors.
The rise of these inspiring deeptech entrepreneurs and the ecosystem around them is one of the more interesting business developments of our time — and like other such developments its impact will be felt far beyond business itself. Obviously, not every society and city will come out ahead in this global competition for deeptech talents. But the ecosystems that do will be those that look forward, and look for ways of creating opportunities, new opportunities, for their populations. Regularly recognized as one of the top global nations in terms of innovation capabilities, Singapore is particularly well equipped to become one of these leading scenes in the years to come. We are proud players and supporters of this emerging ecosystem. We will strive to build the next generation of local deeptech champions.
