Learning Journey with Nanyang Girls’ High School

In March, the WIPO Singapore Office (WSO) opened its doors for an industry visit by an educational institution – the first of its kind. Fulfilling WIPO’s priorities of fostering awareness of Intellectual Property (IP), this visit served to empower youth and women to innovate and generate growth from their work. Impactful and enjoyable, the session put students’ creativity on full display and piqued their interest in WIPO and UN diplomacy.

17 Secondary School students had the unique opportunity to visit the WSO on 10 March 2023, as part of their Lifeskills Program – which comprised various industry visits to broaden their horizons to career options as well as the world and future of work. This partnership followed WSO’s support with a careers exhibition at NYGH last year.

WSO Director, Ms. Thitapha Wattanapruttipaisan, kicked off the session with a sharing about the WSO and its various activities, highlighting WSO’s value as the only external office serving the entire region of ASEAN. The NYGH students learnt that the purpose of regional engagements (e.g., GIobal Innovation Index 2022 and Women and IP) run by WSO was twofold. It sought to support and spotlight stakeholders, particularly Small-and-Medium Enterprises (SMEs), women and youth. WSO also aimed to empower everyone with greater awareness of IP and to foster IP ecosystems development in order to protect and commercialize their original works and capture values and growth effectively.

The NYGH students were also treated to personal sharings by Ms. Thitapha and Dr. Juneho Jang. Excited by how open and candid they were about their time in school, alongside a variety of side hustles – the students quickly overcame formality and were able to learn about innovation, IP, and a career in diplomacy, when put in relatable contexts.

In the sharing process, it became clear to all that innovation and creativity can occur and be found anywhere, regardless of whether the pursuits are in business or aerospace engineering. Young people and workers and managers to be just had to keep an open mind and explore the opportunities available to them. Taking notes furiously, the students clung onto every word shared and posed thoughtful questions.

Participants were then invited to join a project-based exercise where they could pick what careers would interest them the most – particularly creative professions and fields. The students tried their hand at being Tik Tok creators, start-up entrepreneurs, musicians, a vegan fried chicken business with a trade secret recipe, and even at running a fresh online news publication. Their tasks were to create an innovative business/product and plan out how they would capitalize on the value of IP to start-up, grow or scale internationally.

All in all, the main takeaways included greater awareness of IP and an enhanced understanding of how far creative and innovative works can be protected and commercialized with corresponding rights (PCT & Madrid Systems) – with some students even shrewdly citing that the process could possibly enable them to capitalize on loopholes to generate more revenue under the digital normal. Refreshingly, students also shared that the ideas from the exercise were actually making them consider starting these related businesses, and that they could all collaborate on merchandise deals and social media campaigns.

Beyond a clear and creative spirit, the students truly carried themselves well and left the WSO team feel optimistic for the future of IP and diplomacy in the region. Knowing that a technical subject like IP can still be made more experiential and interesting for youth – WIPO/WSO looks forward to engaging more young creators and innovators in the years to come, thus empowering them with the knowledge, space and tools to tap into their own market, grow, and find success.