Speech by Minister Josephine Teo at DPGA Third Annual Members Meeting

Opening Address by Minister Josephine Teo at the Digital Public Good Alliance's Third Annual Members Meeting, 13 November 2024

Her Excellency Ms Salima Bah

Ms Liv Marte Nordhaug, Chief Executive Officer of DPGA

Colleagues and Friends

Introduction

1. Good morning, and a very warm welcome to the third Annual Members Meeting of the DPGA!

2. Thank you for inviting me and for the honour of hosting you in Singapore. We are very pleased to welcome friends and colleagues from over 40 countries and organisations, including many of our ASEAN colleagues, as well as colleagues from the UNDP and GitHub.

3. We appreciate that some of you have travelled very long distances to be here. You have a full programme lined up, and I’m confident that it will be as inspiring as it is intensive.

Navigating Global Challenges with Technology

4. Just last month, Singapore refreshed our Smart Nation vision – what we call Smart Nation 2.0. This comes after a 10-year effort that has seen significant progress in the development of a vibrant digital economy and a cohesive digital society, underpinned by a progressive digital government, as well as comprehensive digital security.

5. In refreshing our vision of a Smart Nation, we have identified three goals that must now be at the front and centre of all our efforts.

a. The first goal is “growth”, which is about empowering our people and businesses to use technology to push our own limits and realise our full potential.

b. The second goal is “community”, which recognises the power of technology, when used responsibly, to connect people, foster collaboration and strengthen society.

c. The third goal is “trust”, which addresses the growing concerns about the reliability of technology, the security and resilience of digital systems and services, and compromises to our safety and well-being; and whether there is effective help and recourse if we encounter harms.

6. Singapore is taking active steps towards meeting these goals and I’m sure my colleagues will be happy to share more with you. But for today’s purposes, I want to focus on one aspect of Smart Nation 2.0 that deserves equal attention.

7. An essential part of our refreshed Smart Nation vision is, in fact, Singapore’s commitment to harness Technology for the Global Good.

a. We firmly believe in the importance of inclusion, so that technology benefits the many and not just the few. Now, this applies domestically, as well as internationally.

b. We also believe that the pressing issues of our time – climate change, ageing populations, widening inequality – these can all be better addressed with the help of technology.

c. However, to gain from the use of technology, we must be able to manage their impact.

i. In areas like cybersecurity, combatting online harms and AI governance, acting alone will not be enough.

ii. They demand coordinated action across countries, and we must invest to make this happen.

8. Singapore will therefore do our part to build bridges in support of the Global Digital Compact.

9. In fact, at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), our Prime Minister Mr Lawrence Wong affirmed Singapore’s belief in the transformative power of artificial intelligence, and our commitment to support fellow Commonwealth states – especially fellow small states – to use technologies for the good of our people, economies and the world.

10. In this regard, our commitment compels us to work together with the international community to build consensus around international norms and rules.

a. For instance, we worked closely with ASEAN colleagues – many of whom are here today – to launch the ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics in February this year, and we are working on an Expanded Guide that covers generative AI. This builds on earlier efforts to develop shared foundations in cybersecurity and data management.

b. To amplify the voices of smaller states on the global stage, Singapore also introduced a digital pillar under the Forum of Small States, of which we are the convenor, from more than 30 years ago. Digital FOSS, as we call it, is a platform for us to come together to share good practices, as well as to advance our shared interests.

c. Together with Rwanda, we published the AI Playbook for Small States in September, so that we can jointly level up our capabilities and participate meaningfully in international discussions on AI governance. Last week, we hosted the Digital FOSS Executive Programme, which comes on top of the Fellowship Programme held in May.

11. We are also committed to deepening our bilateral and multilateral partnerships to promote trade, foster innovation, and enhance information sharing.

12. We have established multiple Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs), including the plurilateral Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), to facilitate trusted cross-border data flows, digital trade and innovation as our digital economies expand.

13. To truly harness technology for the public good for Singapore and the world, we must bridge the global digital divide, through capacity building at the regional and global levels.

14. We are a contributing member of the International Telecommunications Union’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition and have pledged $10 million Singapore dollars to help the international community harness the potential of digital technologies in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. We partner countries like Japan and the US to deliver relevant training programmes for colleagues in Southeast Asia.