EARLY CHILDHOOD INNOVATION SANDBOX
Overview
The Early Childhood Innovation Sandbox (Sandbox) supports preschool operators in testing and developing innovative solutions that enhance operator and educator productivity while improving service quality for children and families. The initiative aims to foster a culture of innovation within the sector and scale successful solutions for broader adoption across the sector.
Sandbox Categories
- Category A: Proposals with clear solutioning or where vendors have been identified
- Category B: Proposals with defined problem statements, without clear solutioning or vendors identified. Problem statements will be published on the Infocomm Media Development Authority's (IMDA) Open Innovation Platform (OIP), inviting vendors to propose and develop pilot solutions in response to the problem
- Category C: Proposals assessed to be better supported by other available grants will be triaged accordingly to relevant grant agencies
Funding Guidelines
Eligibility
Applicants must be ECDA-licensed preschool operators/centres registered and operating in Singapore
Funding Terms
- All eligible costs will be supported, subject to internal funding caps
- Funding provided on a claims basis across 3 milestones: project commencement, mid-point mark and post-project upon submission of final report
- Project duration maximum up to 1 year
- Final report to be submitted by Jan 2028
Eligible Expenses
Research and development costs, vendor fees for prototype development, technology and software development, pilot implementation costs and training for usage of solution (if applicable)
Evaluation
- Proposals are evaluated by an independent Evaluation Panel
- Shortlisted proposals may be invited for further presentation, as required
- Proposals may be triaged to other grant agencies with ECDA support (where relevant)
Evaluation Criteria
How to Apply
Supporting Documents
