Speech by SMS Janil Puthucheary at Eurocham AI: Beyond the Buzz Report Launch

Speech by Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, at Eurocham’s AI: Beyond the Buzz Report Launch on 21 October 2024

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Good morning, and I am very happy join you this morning for the launch of EuroCham Singapore’s AI: Beyond the Buzz report, which compiles the knowledge base of AI across Singapore and the EU.

2. Singapore and the EU share a strong economic relationship and have longstanding cooperation across many domains. We have expanded this cooperation into the digital domain in recent years. In February last year (2023), we concluded the EU-Singapore Digital Partnership (EUSDP) which provides an overarching framework for all digital cooperation between the EU and Singapore. Both sides have agreed to strengthen collaboration in areas like promoting innovation in AI development, research, and governance. Building on this, we have concluded negotiations on the EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement (EUSDTA) earlier in July (2024). This will enable the open and secure data flows that facilitate digital trade.

3. I am confident that both the Digital Partnership and Digital Trade Agreement will enhance business opportunities and create commercially meaningful outcomes for the many businesses operating across the Singaporean and European markets. At the same time, this Digital Trade Agreement will also provide our companies and people the legal certainty and confidence to transact in the digital economy.

4. Singapore and the EU, as global frontrunners in AI. We also share common interests on what AI is. We seek to foster AI innovation, while ensuring its trustworthiness and safety through good governance.

5. As AI continues to advance rapidly, our people and businesses will need to be adequately equipped with the right capabilities and skills, to harness the full potential of this transformative technology.

6. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong launched our refreshed Smart Nation 2.0 – we’re not starting from ground zero. This refreshed vision lays out our vision for Singapore to remain a society where everyone can thrive in the digital age. Amongst other goals, we reaffirmed our commitment to Growth in the age of AI. This means advancing the development of AI and fostering a vibrant AI ecosystem, by empowering our businesses to actively engage with and benefit from AI for growth of us as individuals and as society, and deepening this growth – not just AI expansion. For example, we have partnered with leading technology players to raise AI capabilities of our small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under the IMDA’s SMEs Go Digital initiative. This is especially useful for SMEs which typically lack the resources and capabilities, to incorporate ready-to-use and affordable AI tools into their business processes.

7. Last December, we launched our National AI Strategy 2.0. Again, the most notable thing about it was the “2.0”; we’ve had a previous National AI Strategy, and we’ve had the opportunity to refresh it in light of all the developments. And this refreshed National AI underscores our commitment and ambition for harnessing AI by building our AI ecosystem, and driving the innovation and adoption of AI applications. Achieving this involves active industry participation in AI deployment and development, and I am heartened that we have since made good progress in boosting AI adoption among companies. For example, EuroCham’s 2024 AI Survey found that nearly 80% of companies polled are using AI, or are developing AI applications. Customer Experience, Product Innovation, and business functions such as sales, enterprise resource planning, HR, and compliance are currently the most common areas of AI implementation. These are areas where the barriers are relatively low and the gains are relatively clearer.

8. As we progress in our Smart Nation 2.0 vision, we will need to deploy AI to solve real-world problems and deliver impact to society. To this end, companies have established AI Centres of Excellence in Singapore to build up AI capabilities as well as develop AI solutions for business uses cases that deliver returns on investment. I am encouraged that EuroCham members have developed compelling use cases in noteworthy areas like advanced manufacturing, financial services, smart cities, and education. We have also established the Sectoral AI Centre of Excellence for Manufacturing (AIMfg), which aims to help accelerate AI adoption in a sector where integrating AI has been challenging. The gains are there, and we know this is something that we need to work on.

9. It is not just organisations across sectors that can stand to benefit immensely from the effective deployment of AI. Workers – not just those in the technology space – also stand to benefit when they augment their AI skills and productivity.

10. We have seen many industry partners step up to offer training initiatives and courses to build up our pool of AI Practitioners and AI Users, since the launch of our refreshed National AI Strategy 2.0 last year. This includes 60% of EuroCham member companies who have taken the initiative to implement training programmes to upskill employees in AI, with more planning to do so in the near future.

11. For companies with few resources to implement such internal training programmes, or those in non-digitally native sectors, the Government has introduced various avenues to train, upskill, and reskill our workforce so that they remain adaptable. For instance, our training partners under the Information & Communications Jobs Transformation Map offer around 200 AI-related courses for workers looking to upskill themselves. We worked across industry sectors, not just providing frameworks but directly providing resources for companies – especially smaller companies – to serve their workers and our country as a whole. As of December last year, over 1,600 people have been trained to be confident users of AI.

12. I strongly encourage companies to invest with equipping your employees with AI skill and knowledge to prepare them for an AI-driven world. By empowering your workforce with the tools to understand and leverage AI, you not only enhance their ability to thrive in an evolving workplace, but also position your business to capitalise on the transformative opportunities that AI brings.

13. Finally, let me briefly touch on Singapore’s approach to AI governance, and how businesses can tap on available resources or contribute to its development.

14. We believe AI is a powerful tool that opens doors to new possibilities. However, we recognise that the proliferation of AI across our economy and society comes with new risks.

15. To maximise the benefits that AI can bring in a safe and trustworthy manner, Singapore seeks to address AI’s risks through a principled approach, practical tools, and industry involvement. And again, we are not starting from ground zero. We launched our Model AI Governance Framework in 2019, which provides a set of principles and practical guidance for developers and industry to use AI responsibly. And earlier this year, we released an updated version that addresses the new risks of generative AI. On the practical front, we also developed AI Verify which is a testing framework and toolkit that allows developers to test and verify the safety of their AI systems. We extended the AI Verify toolkit from traditional AI to generative AI with Project Moonshot this year. We also set up the AI Verify Foundation to bring together stakeholders from across industry and the scientific community, to collaborate and help improve AI Verify. Many companies, including Eurocham members like SAP and Bosch, have contributed to the framework.

16. All of these efforts, everything that we have done, would not have been possible without the expertise, support, and partnership of Industry partners like yourself.

17. As AI continues to evolve, I hope that companies can continue to work closely with Government to create opportunities, deliver impact, and address the complex challenges that arise in this space.

18. Please, join us in being at the forefront of AI innovation and deploying impactful applications across sectors, investing in training initiatives to upskill your workforce in AI, and contributing to AI safety and governance efforts in Singapore.

19. Thank you and I look forward to discussing public-private partnership in detail at the fireside chat later.