Environmental Scan 2017 | Page 163

Environmental Scan 2017: Human Capital Issues within the Medical Devices Sector Benchmarked Countries Description within the medical technology arena and improve the innovation ecosystem in South Korea. o Annually 15 students are selected for the 3-year program between these universities. vii) Singapore  GE Fast Trak Center in Songdo o GE has invested in a Fast Trak Center to support the growth of South Korea’s rapidly expanding biopharmaceutical industry. The goal of the fast track center is to provide hands on practical training, technology evaluation, manufacturing support and consultancy services to help companies identify the latest strategies and technologies for upstream and downstream bioprocessing. o Specifically designed to help biopharmaceutical manufacturers increase their process productivity, reduce cost and enable them to bring their product to market faster  Other Initiatives o The government through a number of universities has also commissioned Master’s degree programs to provide quality talent for the medical device industry. There are also a number of short term industry training programs to cater to the needs of the industry. Overview  Singapore is a leading medical technology hub in Asia Pacific and is home to more than 20 global players who uses Singapore as a hub to produce medical devices for the regional and global markets. o Many large medical device companies use Singapore as their regional headquarters. Some of these companies include Baxter International, Becton Dickinson, BIOTRONIK, Hoya surgical Optics, Life Technologies, and Medtronic  The Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed) is also based out of Singapore. APACMed focuses on developing partnership among various 163