Singapore Artificial Intelligence
The Singapore government is committed to deploying A.I. to support positive social and economic impact and cement Singapore’s status as a global artificial intelligence hub. Much effort has been put into A.I. here, including:
- Setting aside SGD500 million (US$362 million) for five years to back the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy(2019) plus an additional S$180 million (US$130 million) in 2021.
- Through the A.I. Makerspace, making A.I. models and tools publicly accessible for organizations to experiment with A.I. solutions in hubs. These systems provide Singapore companies with accessible platforms to train and fine-tune A.I. products for development.
- Established a National A.I. office that brings together Singapore-based research institutions, A.I. start-ups, and companies developing A.I. products to carry out use-inspired research, grow knowledge, create tools, and develop A.I. talent.
- Created Model A.I. Governance Framework (2019 & 2020) to help companies deploy A.I. responsibly and A.I. Verify(2022), an A.I. governance testing framework and toolkit which provides a benchmark by which companies can verify their A.I. systems’ performance with internationally recognized ethical principles. Available as a minimum viable product (MVP), the program is voluntary and self-regulatory.
- Created an advisory council focused on the ethical use of A.I. and data to advise the Singapore government on any ethical and governance issues related to A.I.
Additionally they:
- Created an eco-system encouraging start-ups and streamlined patent timelines under the Accelerated Initiative for Artificial Intelligence program (A12).
- Boosted the use of technology translation labs that increase product-to-market speeds.
- Developed the Smart Nation Sensor platform, i.e., a network of sensors and IoT devices across Singapore.
- Created training and programs for A.I. professionals, including partnerships with private companies, allocating more resources to the Singapore Digital Scholarship and its Ph.D. program, and Tech@SG program to recruit highly-skill foreign talent.
- Embarked on seven national A.I. projects covering transport and logistics, smart cities and estates, healthcare, education, border and security, finance, and government.
Investments in A.I. here include:
Finance: Improving customer experience, fraud detection, personalized banking, reducing costs; encouraging fairness, ethics, accountability, and transparency; assessing a company’s financial and environmental risks.
Healthcare: Improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, enhance the quality of care, medical image analysis, diagnosis, and treatment recommendations, manage chronic diseases, drug discovery, and personalized medicine.
Manufacturing: Improve efficiency, productivity, quality, predictive maintenance, quality control, supply chain optimization, and process automation.
Transportation: Traffic management, intelligent freight planning, predictive maintenance of vehicles and infrastructure, and autonomous vehicles.
Retail: Enhance customer experience, personalized recommendations, inventory management, and supply chain optimization.
Education: Automated marking for assignments, A.I.-enabled learning companion, access student’s learning in real-time, and adjust their learning pathways accordingly.
Government: National Language processing for more user-friendly public interfaces; border clearance operations using explainable A.I., addressing resident feedback on municipal issues to relevant agencies.
U.S. Data/A.I. companies with the potential to be digital champions and are interested in leveraging Singapore’s global business hub may consider signing up to become an Accredited company (also called “Greenlane”) or being put under the Sparks program. Companies on these programs can scale through enterprise-lead demand and accelerate sales through quicker Proof-of-Concept and procurement with the Singapore Government.
For additional information about Singapore’s A.I. sector, please contact Commercial Specialist Amelia Yeo.