31
August
2018
|
17:35
Asia/Singapore

Boosting AI capabilities, one year on

From left: Ms Thien Kwee Eng, Asst Managing Director, Economic Development Board; Mr Tan Kok Yam,Deputy Secretary, Smart Nation and Digital Government Office; Mr Tan Kiat How, Chief Executive, IMDA; Mr Santhosh Viswanathan, Managing Director, APJ, Intel; Prof Ho; Mr Iswaran; Prof Low Teck Seng, CEO, National Research Foundation Singapore; Mr Kevin Wo, Managing Director, Microsoft Singapore; Mr Bruce Liang, CEO, Integrated Health Information Systems; Mr Pang Heng Soon, Head, Venture Building, SGInnovate; and Prof Chen Tsuhan, NUS Deputy President (Research & Technology) and AI Singapore Chief Scientist

AI Singapore, hosted at NUS, celebrated its one year anniversary with the launch of two initiatives in partnership with the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) — AI for Everyone (AI4E) and AI for Industry (AI4I) — designed to strengthen local proficiency in artificial intelligence (AI). The initiatives were announced by Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran at a celebratory event held at NUS on 30 August.

In his keynote address, Mr Iswaran spoke about Singapore’s strategic focus on nurturing a pipeline of AI talent and building a trusted AI ecosystem to position the country well for its next phase of growth. “These efforts, to take advantage of opportunities brought forth by frontier technologies such as AI, are key to ensuring that our companies, researchers and workers continue to benefit from the increasingly digital economy,” he said. 

The first initiative, AI4E, aims to introduce AI technology to the general population and demonstrate to Singaporeans, from secondary school students to working adults, the practical uses of AI in their daily lives. The programme, which will be conducted by AI Singapore for free, is co-supported by IMDA and Microsoft and aims to expose 10,000 individuals to AI and data science over three years.

AI4I, the second initiative, is a three-month foundational programme aimed at equipping 2,000 industry professionals with AI knowledge and skills to enhance their competitiveness and productivity for a digital future. The initiative is supported by IMDA, Microsoft and Intel, together with DataCamp, a leading online learning platform for data science and AI. 

Whether for future job opportunities, career advancement or just knowing the basics, we are hopeful that these two programmes by AI Singapore will benefit many people in Singapore, providing them with the knowledge and skills to thrive in the digital economy.

The new programmes are part of TechSkills Accelerator, a SkillsFuture initiative to develop a skilled workforce to drive Singapore’s technology ecosystem. 

Professor Ho Teck Hua, Executive Chairman of AI Singapore and NUS Senior Deputy President and Provost said that it is imperative that everyone be AI-ready to benefit from its immense potential. “Whether for future job opportunities, career advancement or just knowing the basics, we are hopeful that these two programmes by AI Singapore will benefit many people in Singapore, providing them with the knowledge and skills to thrive in the digital economy,” he said.  

AI Singapore was launched in 2017 as a national programme to boost Singapore’s AI capabilities. It is a key initiative under the Services and Digital Economy domain of the Research Innovation and Enterprise 2020 plan to enable Singapore and Singaporeans to benefit fully from growth opportunities in the digital economy. 

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Guests viewing a showcase of some of AI Singapore’s research projects and collaborations