Singapore's $740 million investment plan boosts the country's AI goals

Singapore's $740 million investment plan boosts the country's AI goals

During his budget statement on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that Singapore would spend over one billion Singapore dollars, or around $743 million, over the next five years to advance AI capabilities.

"The National AI Strategy 2.0's secure implementation and the SG$1 billion allotted for AI are further examples of the government's dedication to building a reliable and accountable AI ecosystem," stated Sujit Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ASEAN, at Salesforce. It is evident."

SINGAPORE: Tech professionals said that Singapore's intention to spend over $743 million in artificial intelligence over the next five years may solidify the country's standing as a worldwide center for innovation and business.

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in his budget statement on Friday that Singapore would spend over S$1 billion over the next five years to advance AI capabilities in the nation.

Remarkably, over three-quarters of corporate executives worldwide are ill-prepared for the AI revolution, thinking that time, resources, and people will be their only options, according to the managing partner for Southeast Asia at the multinational management consulting company Kearney. stated Nitin Chandra.

According to Chandra, "this initiative will help ensure that businesses may absorb advantage of new opportunities as well as the opportunities presented by technological advancements."

Singapore will make an effort as part of the investment to guarantee that it has access to cutting-edge processors, "which are very important for AI development as well as deployment," according to Wong.

In order to foster innovation, he said, Singapore would collaborate with top businesses both domestically and internationally to establish AI centers of excellence.

According to Jonathan Dixon, vice president and managing the director of APAC at Cloudflare, a global provider of cloud services, "it will encourage organizations to adopt AI solutions, prioritize AI skills to keep their workforce competitive, while promoting strategic partnerships as well as knowledge sharing across the industry." This will promote holistic innovation.

As per the August publication of LinkedIn's Future of Work study, professionals in Singapore are already embracing AI capabilities at one of the quickest rates globally.

According to Mao Zhen Fu, president of Southeast Asia for US experience management firm Qualtrics, "the a greater emphasis on investing in AI capabilities, talent, as well as industry development will also help Singapore improve its position as a business and innovation hub." "Interesting and significant."

One of the first nations to release an AI strategy in 2019 was Singapore. The Southeast Asian country unveiled its National AI Strategy 2.0 in December, an updated version of its AI effort that outlines steps to get the economy ready to employ AI to empower workers. as well as business.

"The focus on AI and [machine learning] will ensure Singapore's dominance in technological advancements, positioning itself as a desirable place for businesses and talent in an increasing digital Report Phrase global landscape," Penny Sia, Workday's general manager for ASEAN. The vendor is an American one that sells software for human resources and finance.

Because of Google's innovation-friendly culture, Singapore has "huge" potential to become a worldwide center for artificial intelligence, cloud executive Caroline Yap previously told CNBC in an interview.

Governance of AI

In May 2022, Singapore introduced AI Verify, the world's first software toolset and framework for AI governance testing for businesses, to encourage the responsible usage of AI. With the aid of this program, users may verify the record process and test their AI models technically.

Among the businesses who have previously tried out the AI Verify tool and offered input are Google, Meta, and Microsoft.

The National AI Strategy 2.0's safe implementation, together with the SG$1 billion allotted for AI, "reflects the commitment of the government to fostering a trusted responsible and secure AI ecosystem," said the company's Sujit Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager of ASEAN. Is."

"Consumers must have confidence that their data is safe and that AI is being used for good as its adoption grows," Abraham said.