DSI was established in April 1997 through the expansion of the Magnetics Technology Centre (MTC), founded in June 1992 by the Agency for Science, Technology & Research, or A*STAR (then known as the National Science & Technology Board) and the National University of Singapore (NUS).
DSI's purpose was to undertake R&D in magnetics technology for hard disk drives (HDDs).
Over the years, DSI collaborated with companies such as Seagate, Connor, DEC, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard and Western Digital.
On 1 June 2018, A*STAR announced its decision to redeploy[1] DSI's renowned capabilities across the organisation in alignment with national research and innovation strategies, and that DSI would no longer function as an independent research unit in A*STAR.
The organisation cited the impact of global trends on the data storage industry, resulting in consolidation and much of production happening outside Singapore.