Singapore to Invest USD740M Into AI
- By Paul Mah
- February 21, 2024
Singapore will invest USD740M (SGD 1 billion) to accelerate AI development, including secure access to the necessary computing power and talent, over the next five years.
This was announced by Singapore deputy prime ministry Lawrence Wong in his Budget 2024 statement last Friday.
Singapore first unveiled an AI plan in 2019. This was followed by the National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0), announced late last year, which was envisioned to bring the benefits of AI not just in Singapore, but in the region and beyond.
Billed as a whole-of-government and whole-of-economy approach, NAIS 2.0 includes plans to triple the existing AI talent pool to 15,000 from about 4,500 currently.
A transformative technology
In his speech, Mr. Wong emphasized that the government sees AI as a general purpose technology with the potential to transform a wide swathe of industries and enhance productivity.
“AI is not just about ChatGPT or large language models. It is a general-purpose technology, like electricity, the internal combustion engine, the computer, or the internet,” said Mr Wong.
“It has the potential to transform a wide range of industries, and to enhance productivity across many existing processes, from drug discovery to organizing warehouses, or driving vehicles.”
Part of the investment will be used to ensure that Singapore can secure access to the advanced chips that are so crucial to AI development and deployment.
The government will work with leading companies to set up AI centers of excellence here to “spur collaboration and innovation, and drive greater value creation across the whole economy”.
In support of AI
In the same speech, Mr. Wong also noted that Singapore will set aside additional resources to upgrade the national broadband network to enable mass-market access to 10Gbps Internet access.
The investment will be used to ensure backend infrastructure can support emerging technologies such as immersive media and AI. The timeline to achieve that is by the second half of this decade, with work starting by mid of this year.
“The increasing need for employees' training in AI, reflects on Singapore's Budget 2024 focus and anticipates an ever-evolving business landscape,” said Eileen Chua, managing director of SAP Singapore.
“With the rising demand for AI expertise in this digital economy, building skills-centric organizations where expertise and know-how take precedence over roles and titles will improve business agility and employee experience. [To] achieve this, companies must have a holistic view of their workforce and ignite potential by providing opportunities for growth and development.”
Image credit: iStockphoto/leungchopan
Paul Mah
Paul Mah is the editor of DSAITrends, where he report on the latest developments in data science and AI. A former system administrator, programmer, and IT lecturer, he enjoys writing both code and prose.