June 6, 2024
SINGAPORE – Singapore is deepening its economic ties with the United States with the launch of a new artificial intelligence (AI) programme to groom talent.
The new AI Talent Bridge programme is expected to deepen collaboration between the US and Singapore on critical emerging technology, including AI, with an emphasis on supporting youth, women, and future leaders in tech, said the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) in a statement.
It will build on the existing US-Singapore Women in Tech Partnership Programme, which was launched in 2022 and features networking and mentoring sessions, workshops as well as other activities to facilitate partnerships among companies in the two countries. But details of the programme are scarce for now.
AI talent grooming is one of three areas identified as the deliverables of a round-table discussion on AI held on June 5, led by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo.
The other two areas where cooperation between Singapore and the US will be strengthened are digital infrastructure and services, and AI innovation and governance.
Speaking to reporters, Mrs Teo said that skills development is the only enduring and sustainable way of helping to keep people in jobs, and help them move into better jobs.
“I’d like to just say that when the International Monetary Fund says that Singapore is the world’s most AI-ready country, we think that no one can ever be ready enough,” said Mrs Teo.
In May, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong had said Singapore was exploring the possibility of a talent exchange programme with the US in fields such as AI.
Over the next few years, US firms have a pipeline of investments in Singapore’s digital economy, relating to AI and other digital technologies, that will “easily exceed” $50 billion, Mrs Teo said, describing this as a “very strong stamp of approval”.
She added that US companies had also partnered local firms to raise the AI capabilities of more than 130,000 workers here through schemes such as TechSkills Accelerator, Singapore’s national tech upskilling initiative.
Mrs Teo said Singapore is continuing to invest in the fundamentals, with investments in submarine cables and data centres likely to generate more than $20 billion in investments, with plans also under way to expand existing AI centres of excellence, as well as set up new ones.
Technology spending in Singapore hit $22 billion in 2023, with the US being the top foreign investor.
Held at The Treasury, the round-table event was attended by government officials from both countries and representatives from both US and Singapore companies, including Google and Grab.
The US is deeply invested in its bilateral relationship with Singapore, said Ms Raimondo, adding that American businesses desire to do more in the Republic.
AI is the “defining technology of our generation”, she said, pointing to its potential applications in a wide array of areas ranging from clean energy to education. Specifically, the US is keen to work with Singapore in advancing the technology in partnership with innovators in the private sector.
Ms Raimondo is on a three-day official visit to Singapore to attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity ministerial meetings and Clean Energy Investor Forum.
The two countries are also committed to aligning safety standards and ways to mitigate risks associated with AI, Ms Raimondo said, adding that this will lead to greater trust in the technology and more adoption.
For a start, the US and Singapore have completed a mapping exercise between the US National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework and the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) AI Verify framework, both of which are aimed at ensuring the safe deployment of AI technologies.
NIST and IMDA are also committed to addressing the next generation of AI. On May 30, Singapore launched the Model Governance Framework for Generative AI, which highlighted nine areas where governance of the nascent technology can be strengthened.
Meanwhile, the US AI Safety Institute and the Digital Trust Centre, which is Singapore’s AI Safety Institute, are planning to advance the science of AI safety.
On their part, the DOC and MCI said they will collaborate on the responsible design and development of AI technologies, together with encouraging commercialisation opportunities and the development of international standards.