When we think about a future city, we imagine flying cars and robots selling coffee when we head out to work, like in a Sci-Fi movie. But upcoming technology, especially Artificial Intelligence has real potential to deeply and fundamentally impact the shape of our cities. AI, at its core, is powered by algorithms.
From a simplified process perspective, data is pumped through these algorithms, or models, to find patterns in data. With enough data and improved accuracy in this pattern recognition, companies/products can generate actionable insights that help a user.
In simple words, AI can be understood as developing machines and enabling them to perform tasks that traditionally require human intelligence like speech recognition, decision making, language translations, etc.
Today, we are used to AI when it comes to face and voice recognition on our smart devices and secretly get excited at the prospect of having self-driving cars transporting us through long and tedious commutes.
This same excitement around AI’s potential to transform urban spaces led us, here at OpenGov, to Ravi Bedi, Technology Innovation Principal Director at Accenture and an SME for Intelligent Automation and AI. He is also the GTM lead for Accenture’s Data Business group in ASEAN and Automation Engineering Lead for APAC.
Ravi first recognises and highlights two fundamental occurrences that one, lots of data is now digital and two, reduction in the cost of processing data (especially with cloud providers). These changes have positioned Automation and AI to play a key role in today’s world.
Moreover, Ravi believes AI technology can drastically improve the planning and functioning in modern cities. He understands Intelligent Automation solutions as a constellation of various technologies, when combined together, represent the functionality of a digital co-worker, encompassing both rules-based activities as well as judgment-based activity.
He believes it is important to focus on creating Intelligent and connected platforms that look at the constellation of various technologies such as blockchain, AR/VR, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision.
Urban Planning and AI is already a hot topic of discussion in the tech world, especially after the release of the study, Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030, which outlines the dramatic impact Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having and will continue to have for our cities and the way we live and work in them over the next couple of decades.
Ravi too delved deeper in it to explain how Data Analytics solutions, machine learning, and eventually the 3rd tier of AI solutions using deep learning, will be able to create a digital crystal ball, allowing us to peer into the future, and predict outcomes, with a high degree of accuracy.
He explained that there are three tiers of applications for AI-backed solutions that can be used in Urban Planning:
The first is, Data Analytics, which takes raw data either in real-time or historical, and provides current insights, for example, intelligent traffic lights. Intelligent traffic lights can use data analytics to coordinate and track time changes in traffic lights, based on the current flow of traffic, making daily commutes smoother.
The second tier of AI applications uses Machine learning. Ravi explained, “ML is a more advanced form of AI. When machine learning is applied to data sets, the algorithms look for patterns in the data, in order to make near term predictions and deeper insights into the data.
A good example within urban planning could be road maintenance. Instead of road crews looking round for potholes to repair, or to wait for citizens to complain about potholes, urban planners can use computer vision techniques to collect and annotate data sets, so that machine learning models can be applied to predict which roads will have more “wear and tear”, resulting in potholes. These maintenance crews can then focus their energy on repairing potholes, instead of looking for them.”
The third tier of AI solutions uses Deep Learning: an advanced version of machine learning. Ravi explained, “Deep Learning AI solutions use highly advanced and complex algorithms. Deep learning is used to crunch very large data sets over a fairly long period of time, to be able to give planners, predictive insights, into the data”.
He provided the following example, of how Urban Planners may use Deep Learning techniques to help design the cities of the future. “Assume a city has won the bid to host the next Olympic games. A multi-year project to build all the sporting facilities is underway. Using deep learning models, urban planners will be able to look into the future, and understand how the nature of traffic will change, how to best manage new traffic flows, how best to design the roads leading up to sporting venues and leading away from sporting venues, how best to design new public transportation etc.”.
Further, on the wider debate between the Tech optimists and pessimists on how much we should let AI take control, Ravi is an optimist who believes AI should be democratized and humanized. Today, most major corporations are incorporating AI as an effective tool to boost their businesses and one such example is Netflix that suggests users shows to watch content based on the pattern of previous views.
Hence, as businesses increasingly adopt the AI-first and Data-first approach in their operations, AI is bound to be a prominent trend across various fields in 2020. Enumerating some of them would include: AI improving healthcare accuracy and cost, empowering cybersecurity, enabling more data synthesis methods, driving efficiency in manufacturing, etc.
Despite these current and prospective adaptations and use cases, AI is still in its infancy stage. Currently, we are at the “Narrow AI” solutions stage that translates to applying algorithms to solve very narrow problems of work. But, even within these narrow applications, when AI is applied, it can work at a scale, that far outstrips what a human can and could do.
Hence, while Automation is inevitable, the focus should be on humanizing it. For instance, AI still needs good data to function well. If the data at hand is biased and not curated carefully, the algorithms will learn wrong patterns. In essence, it is equally important that we (tech users) and the governing authorities understand AI’s potential but also be mindful of its limitations to ensure holistic wellbeing in the long run.
The NSW Government and the NRMA will deliver at least 20 additional electric vehicle fast chargers to the existing regional network along NSW’s major highways.
The first two charging stations will be installed in Wagga Wagga and Yass in September 2020. This will help complete the rollout of charging stations on both the Sturt and Hume highways.
Electric vehicle drivers will be no more than 150 kilometres from a charging station once the regional network is completed by 2020. This will allow people to travel to Broken Hill, Moree and Bourke, and link up to major routes in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
The Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Minister stated that the additional charging stations will open regional NSW up to electric vehicle owners.
He noted that the extended network will help further support the regional tourism economy and promote local investment in regional centres along the Newell, Barrier, New England, and Kamilaroi highways.
Growing the demand for electric vehicles in Australia
According to another article, an Australian listed public energy company will provide and install 150 smart chargers to incentivise new and existing EV owners to participate in the trial.
The smart chargers will be installed across residential, commercial and industrial premises of EV owners and fleets, where they will be remotely monitored and controlled via software. The smart chargers will also be integrated into the company’s existing platform for managing distributed energy.
The $2.9 million trial will look to evaluate the benefits of and barriers to controlled smart charging, including improving our understanding of EV driver behaviour, willingness to accept third party control and what incentives are needed to encourage future participation in charge management programs.
Smart chargers will allow control of EV charging in order to avoid negative impacts on the grid, and maximise the use and value of renewable energy.
The trial will help to demonstrate how the Australian electricity grid can successfully integrate higher numbers of EVs while limiting costly network expansion.
As the uptake of EVs increases, it will be important to efficiently manage the charging of vehicles, to avoid potentially costly impacts on peak demand, associated network charges and grid security issues.
Smart charging enables charging at times when demand is lowest and electricity is cheapest, which reduces the burden on the network and the cost to the customer.
The company’s Executive General Manager of Future Energy and Technology said that he hoped the trial will help them better understand how they can maximise the benefits to customers by offering products that reduce their EV charging costs, as well as manage EV charging in a way that helps with grid and network stability.
The firm has developed a leading artificial intelligence orchestration platform, with a wide range of distributed assets, such as storage, residential air-conditioning systems, pool pumps and industrial coolers, already connected and continuing to grow.
The platform will enable the capability to remotely switch chargers on and off, or higher or lower, in response to changes in wholesale prices, with benefits for customers in terms of lower charging costs and the NEM as we can more efficiently manage demand and supply in the system.
The company aims to push people to think about EVs as more than just cars and saving on petrol, they will double as battery storage in the home and be connected to virtual power plants or used for grid stabilisation, all of which will significantly reduce payback periods and improve the economics of EV ownership for many Australians.
Before December 2019, calamities and disasters were overcome as individual nations.
Be it the wildfires in Australia, floods in India and Malaysia or typhoons in the Philippines, we were thought we were prepared and equipped to deal with them one at a time.
But there was a harsh reality check when the world was hit by the global pandemic at the end of last year. The world was caught off guard in a way that nobody could imagine; a calamity of such magnitude that impacted every little aspect of everyone’s life.
OpenGov Asia dedicated its latest Virtual Breakfast Insight on 4th August 2020 to help enterprises be better prepared to continue their business operations in the world of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA).
The audience comprised of an well-experienced group of digital executives from diverse industries like retail, manufacturing, FSI, IT, etc. from India and Hong Kong.
The session was opened by Mohit Sagar, Group Managing Director, and Editor-in-Chief, OpenGov Asia.
Mohit pointed out that a lack of planning and experience to deal with a global pandemic like COVID- 19 caused a lot of panic among governments and citizens all over the world.
Unlike the siloed approach to tackle critical events in the past, the pandemic required a strong unified effort from everyone – governments, organisations and individuals.
Agencies and enterprises assumed that the business continuity plans that they already had in place would be enough to help them stay afloat.
However, the new normal is forcing businesses to reinvent themselves and to adapt quickly to it.
Mohit stressed the need for a collective, universal effort to come up with a solution / remedy that will protect us from this virus.
In order to do that, not only is good leadership and partnerships needed at all levels, but it is essential that all the small moving parts are in sync – moving in one unified direction.
Mohit’s opening set the tone for the next presentation by Frederic Gillant, Vice President APAC for Everbridge.
Frederic shed light on what Critical Event Management means and its relevance in the current crisis.
He began by defining critical event management and how it puts people / human resource first during a critical event.
He then went on to share the challenges in managing critical events and why is it so hard for organisations despite facing them very frequently.
Frederic shared a step wise approach that can make it easier for organisations to tackle critical events. They include:
- Knowing what’s happening
- Deciding on if we should care about it
- Doing what needs to be done
- Looking at our experience and learning from it
After settling on the above-mentioned points and having a plan, the next step is to execute that plan. This will include assess, locate, act, and analyse.
Frederic concluded by explaining how the Everbridge solution can organisations monitor and plan for crisis. Their solution helps keep people safe and businesses running during any kind of critical event.
After this informative presentation, the virtual podium was taken over by Dr. Santrupt Mishra, who is the Chief Executive officer for Birla Carbon and Director Group Human Resources for Aditya Birla Group.
Santrupt began by sharing how business resilience can have different interpretations. He strongly emphasised two significant points that he believes help business and organisations stay up and running through critical events.
He highlighted the significance of having been battle tested though critical events in the past and the organisational memory it creates.
This organisational memory coupled with the software and systems being talked about previously will help businesses to have resilience when faced with the next critical event.
He shared that resilience is built into the DNA of an organisation by virtue of what it does during the time of peace.
A culture of innovation, empowerment of people at all levels, availability of technology, and people’s orientation of it are key factors that play a significant part in making an organisation robust.
Santrupt concluded by emphasising that organisational culture, system building, system testing, and empowering people require work and investment during peace times.
Thus, in order to be truly resilient and manage critical events efficiently, organisations need to work towards it around the year.
After Santrupt’s insightful presentation, the event moved into a polling session that involved all the audience more intensely.
On the first question of “Being in control of the current critical event (COVID-19) in keeping your employees safe and business running”, a majority of our audience voted that they are somewhat (69%) in control of the situation.
A senior delegate from a major Indian enterprise reflected that he voted for somewhat because there is still an element of unknown around the pandemic.
He believes that not fully knowing the magnitude of the problem makes it very hard to address and / or solve it.
On the next question of “Are you still manging COVID- 19 or preparing for the day after this calamity”, 58% of the delegates voted that they are thinking about tomorrow and have some idea what to do.
A senior technical executive from a major corporate group in India reflected that even though the pandemic situation is under control, the working style of people has changed forever.
In this new mode of remote working, managing people’s efficiency over a long period of time is going to be a great challenge for them.
On the final question of “Having business continuity plans in place to deal with an issue of this magnitude”, the participants seemed divided between having some plans in place but they are outdated and disintegrated (46%) and working on it but need help (30%).
A technology leader reflected that the objective of business continuity plan is to sustain the revenue streams of the organisation. Current plans need to be revamped entirely in order to make it more integrated at group and unit level.
The session was closed by Samir Nayak, Senior Sales Director and Country Manager for Everbridge India.
He shared how Everbridge is helping people and enterprises to deal with the current situation and recover from it.
He encouraged all delegates to engage in discussions with them to come out with innovative solutions for dealing with future critical event management.
Australia and Singapore yesterday signed a Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) to harness digital transformation and technology to expand trade and economic ties in the region. Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham and Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing signed the DEA digitally via videoconference.
The SADEA is the second Digital Economy Agreement that Singapore has signed, following the signing of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) with Chile and New Zealand in June this year.
At a time of global uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the signing of the DEA demonstrates Australia and Singapore’s recognition of the value of digital trade in forging a path to a post-COVID economic recovery.
Mr Chan said, “The signing of the Singapore-Australia Digital Economy Agreement marks a milestone in the long standing and multi-faceted partnership between our two countries. The SADEA will facilitate digitalisation of trade processes and make it easier and more cost effective for Singapore companies to engage in cross border business activities with Australia.
“As COVID-19 forces businesses to consider innovative ways to reach customers and adapt to a new way of doing business, agreements like the SADEA will allow our companies to take advantage of opportunities in the digital economy and tap on new technologies to create new digital products and services.”
Singapore and Australia enjoy strong bilateral trade and investment flows and the SADEA builds on this foundation to enhance economic opportunities in the digital realm. With the SADEA, Singapore and Australia aim to create a seamless digital trading environment which is crucial for businesses during this COVID-19 pandemic.
Enhancing economic opportunities in the digital realm
It will also enable trusted cross-border data flows without unnecessary and costly requirements such as data localisation, while protecting consumers’ privacy and businesses’ proprietary information.
Australia and Singapore have agreed to set new rules to prevent unnecessary restrictions on the transfer and location of data, improved protection for software source code, and ensure compatibility between e-invoicing and e-payment frameworks.
Importantly, the DEA will also feature rules for enhanced business and consumer trust in digital trade and cooperation in creating a safe online environment, and protecting personal information and consumer rights.
The Digital Economy Agreement is further supported by MoUs on data innovation, artificial intelligence, trade facilitation, e-invoicing, e-certification for agricultural exports and imports, personal data protection and digital identity
The signing today follows the conclusion of negotiations by Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and Lee Hsien Loong on 23 March 2020. The DEA will now undergo Australian treaty-making processes, including tabling in Parliament and consideration by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties prior to ratification. When the DEA enters into force it will amend the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement to replace the existing Electronic Commerce chapter with a new Digital Economy chapter.
PHOTO CREDIT: dfat.gov.au
In collaboration with GOVTECH
You won’t be needing one of those coveted National Day Parade tickets to experience Singapore’s birthday celebrations this year.
A reimagined parade will see popular segments taking place in the heartlands, with digital channels enabling Singaporeans to be a part of festivities from the comfort of their homes.
On our end, the GovTech team has been busy building an interactive map – so that Singaporeans will be able to better enjoy Singapore’s 55th birthday bash from the comfort of their homes.
Here’s how to use it to have the best national day possible. Or at least in theory.
Highlight 1: Fireworks, tanks, and flying men – check out where they are!
No NDP is complete without the parade. This year, the showcase this year will be dispersed around Singapore. Some of these perennial crowd-pleasers are:
- Heartland Fireworks Display
- Red Lion’s Landing Zones
- SAF’s Mobile Column featuring everyone’s favourite military and civil defence vehicles
The NDP2020 Interactive Map will be updated with the position of these elements so that you won’t miss the tanks as they rumble by your home or the fireworks display if you live near one of these 10 locations. The elite Red Lions will also be parachuting into the heartlands, so check out if your neighbourhood is one of the landing sites.
That aside, there are also quite a few fringe activities unique to this year’s celebrations. Use the map to see what’s near you. Some of these include:
Heritage and Culture light up. 10 national monuments and arts and cultural institutions will be illuminated in red and white. Great for pictures!
Museum and Heritage Institution Open House Weekends. Great opportunity to take stock of how far we’ve come – and inspiration for ideas on how to move forward.
The Flag of Unity. A massive display of over 10,000 Singapore flags. This one’s at Siloso beach, so technically, you won’t need our map for it. 😂
You can also post your birthday wish for Singapore on the map on 9th August 2020 (all the way till 10pm) and be part of the collective celebrations all over the country.
Highlight 2: Get your discounts
Every Singaporean loves a good bargain, and this year’s NDP discount booklet – featuring over 100 discounts – is going fully digital so there’s no more misplacing those coupons!
Choose discounts from a wide variety of categories such as food & beverages, grocery shopping, and local attractions like the Singapore Zoo and Sentosa.
(For those of you who have our Moments of Life app, you can also access the discount list there)
Highlight 3: Connect with fellow Singaporeans through your stories
2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. A major component of this year’s NDP will capture the voices of Singaporeans coming together to overcome this hurdle.
Share your reflections on the impact these few months have had and express your thanks to the frontline and essential workers who are keeping Singapore ticking during these extraordinary times. These stories and messages of gratitude can be shared on Facebook or Instagram by using the #OurHeartForSG hashtag and tagging the NDPeeps accounts, or through the Our Heart For SG website.
Highlight 4: Get featured on the parade’s social media!
Your contribution doesn’t have to be in the form of words or photos. Break out your singing voice and record your rendition of any NDP song or even an original composition. Your entry just might be shared on the NDPeeps YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
If singing is not your thing, there’s also the Fly Our Flag video that will be played on August 9. To take part, follow the steps in this TikTok video to record your birthday wishes to Singapore.
Painting the HDB towns red (and white)
We know what you’re thinking: All these high-tech wizardry can’t make up for the fact that there’s no large-scale, mass gathering – the only way we’ve been doing NDP so far.
Well, we used to think the same about work and offices too. But one of the things we’ve learnt from this Covid-19 episode is that for many jobs, working from home can be as productive or even more so.
So give this digital-and-physical hybrid of an NDP to shine.
Who knows, we may have discovered a whole new way to party.
The Australian government has announced its support for a new initiative that enables the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist economic recovery in Vietnam after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government is providing AU$ 650,000 (about US$ 467,216) to the initiative, which is within the framework of Australia’s Aus4Innovation program in collaboration with the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).
It will offer short-term funding for innovative AI solutions to deal with the consequences of the virus, and support long-term demands, including technical support for the implementation of Vietnam’s AI strategy and training courses for stakeholders in the AI ecosystem.
According to a news report, the announcement was made at the second Innovation Partnership Meeting between the Australian Embassy in Vietnam and MOST in Hanoi on 4 August.
At the event, the two sides reviewed the outstanding achievements from the first 18 months of implementing the Aus4Innovation program.
Accordingly, Aus4Innovation has provided AU$ 4 million (around US$ 2.8 million) in funding for:
- Innovative partnerships between Vietnamese and Australian institutions.
- Capacity-building activities in science commercialisation for individual researchers and institutions across Vietnam.
- Technical assistance to MOST in important science, technology, and innovation policy research.
As a continuation of the Aus4Innovation initiatives to support the building of Vietnam’s future digital economy in the strong correlation between digitisation and economic growth, the funding of the AI initiative is a natural extension of program activities to help Vietnam cope with COVID-19.
Addressing the meeting, Australian Ambassador Robyn Mudie hailed innovation as one of the three key pillars in the Vietnam-Australia partnership, stating that in the face of the global pandemic, it has become more important than ever.
The new AI initiative is a great example of how modern technology can be adapted quickly to respond to Vietnam’s emerging needs, she said.
It is also a strong demonstration of Australia’s commitment to working with partners in Vietnam and the Indo-Pacific region to address the impacts of COVID-19 and support long-term recovery, Mudie added.
MOST Minister Chu Ngoc Anh welcomed Australia’s support to Vietnam in AI application as well as the continued support from the Aus4Innovation program in enhancing connections between the Australian and Vietnamese innovation ecosystems.
Over the past 18 months, the sides have created a sound basis for a further mutual innovation partnership. They are confident this partnership will continue to bring positive results and impacts to Vietnam’s sustainable socio-economic development, he stated.
The new AI initiative will be implemented from August 2020 to June 2021, including support for the 2020 Vietnam AI Day (AI4VN 2020) under the theme “AI in pandemic: Adapting to the new normal”.
Other funded events include workshops, a technology showcase conference, training courses, and a hackathon. The highlight is the AI Hackathon, a 48-hour contest that brings experts and top programmers together to find new ways to utilise AI as Vietnam recovers from COVID-19. The winning ideas will receive funding for implementation.
Aus4Innovation is an AU$ 11 million (around US$ 7.9 million) development assistance program that aims to strengthen Vietnam’s innovation system, to prepare for and embrace opportunities associated with Industry 4.0, and to help shape Vietnam’s innovation agenda in science and technology.
The adoption of robotic process automation (RPA) technology in Thailand has been forecasted to continue growing. Many businesses in the region are preparing to roll out automation in efforts to re-engineer their operations.
This is aimed at improving performance, according to the Thailand operating unit of a Japan-based consulting firm.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, RPA tech is likely to help various business sectors enable enhanced business process engineering and targets achievement. This includes process enhancement, customer experience improvement, service delivery improvements and cost reduction, the Managing Director of the local branch stated.
Enterprises are being urged to learn and adopt RPA in their businesses in order to thrive in the new normal from both consumer and business side, as well as to be ready for the next wave of disruption in the future.
The MD stated, “from now on, the new normal will impact every business sector because consumer behaviour is changing.”
Businesses of all sizes and across all industries should invest in and adopt RPA, starting with processes that have high transaction volumes or which are highly repetitive, such as data entry, data processing, reconciliation, and report generation in the back office.
This will not only help firms cope with the new normal but will also prepare companies to be ready for the next wave of inevitable disruption.
Based on the company’s research on the country’s digital transformation situation, many firms in Thailand expressed interest in adopting RPA for their business.
RPA is able to support any organisation across different industries, as the technology allows anyone today to configure computer software, or a robot to emulate and integrate the actions of a human interacting within digital systems to execute a business process.
The MD mentioned that through a partnership with a leading RPA tech developer, the consulting firm is capable of providing RPA service capabilities in the area of business process re-engineering utilising the tech developer’s RPA tools.
The consulting firm’s RPA service value in Thailand increased by more than double in 2019 and is projected to continue with strong demand from the market in 2020.
RPA technologies have been adopted more and more in the past year, particularly by the banking and insurance sectors.
Last year, the firm conducted a survey through its 180 clients in Thailand by looking into digital transformation approaches.
In terms of the planning level of the digital transformation strategy, which is divided into three development stages, most Thai enterprises were found to be in the first stage with no strategy ironed out.
The second stage concerns individual digitalisation that has been put in place in particular divisions or areas, while the third stage involves a broad digital strategy adopted throughout a company.
The firm also looked into the stages of digital adoption at the execution level. Most Thai enterprises were found to be in the second stage, where they have connected with other business partners through digital tech with recognised value improvement.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) announced in a press release on 4th August 2020 that they will be setting up a research institute to develop deep capabilities supporting the demands of digital financial services in Asia.
The Asian Institute of Digital Finance (AIDF) will provide thought leadership and strengthen the ties between education, research and entrepreneurship in digital finance. The Institute aims to be running by the end of this year.
Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS President, said, “FinTech is making a profound impact on financial services, and will continue to drive the transformation of the financial services industry in Singapore, which is an integral part of Singapore’s ambition to be a Smart Nation. NUS is deeply honoured to partner MAS and NRF to achieve the vision of AIDF – the first of its kind in Singapore and this region, which takes an integrative approach to education, research, innovation and business incubation. NUS’ thought leadership in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and data science makes us perfectly positioned to address the challenges of the digital economy in Singapore and other parts of the world.”
Asian Institute of Digital Finance to offer large range of FinTech subjects
Hosted at NUS, AIDF will offer a Master’s programme and award scholarships to top students to pursue research at the doctoral level, as well as train post-doctoral fellows in Digital Finance and FinTech. Through its education programme, the AIDF will build the FinTech leadership pipeline for Singapore and the wider region.
The AIDF faculty will bring together deep expertise in Finance, Technology and other disciplines that are critical to integrating financial services with technology. These include: Finance domain: Payments, Credit & Lending, Financial Advisory & Wealth, Management, Retail & Corporate banking and Financial Markets. Technology domains: Digital Architecture, Digital Platforms, Big Data, Distributed Technology, Tokenisation, Cloud Computing, UX/UI design, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Research will include AI, Machine learning and Next-Gen Financial Services
AIDF will pursue foundational and inter-disciplinary research projects covering fundamental digital infrastructure, performance optimisation of business processes, and advanced application development research on cyber, fraud and anti-money laundering challenges. The institute will also develop financial services to meet sustainability and
resiliency needs.
Potential areas of focus include: Digital Assets and Ledger Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Digital Finance Platforms, Green Finance Technology and Next-Gen Financial Services on 5G networks.
Professor Low Teck Seng, NRF Chief Executive Officer, said: “AIDF will help build strong FinTech research capabilities in Singapore, and commercialise high-impact research ideas to deliver practical and innovative solutions for the market. It will leverage on NUS’ regional and global networks involving local and foreign universities and research institutes to generate and testbed FinTech solutions for the Asian markets. More importantly, AIDF will also groom next-generation FinTech leaders that will strengthen Singapore’s Smart Nation core.”
“Fincubator” programme will promote entrepreneurship
The regional research institute will also establish a unique “Fincubator” programme that will promote entrepreneurship and provide the support to drive transformation of ideas and projects by promising students and entrepreneurs into market-ready products and services.
Potential areas of focus include:Applied research for commercialisation, Incubation of financial solutions to solve unmet digital financial service needs of Asia, Industry collaboration to provide comprehensive mentorship to build marketready solutions and Strengthened linkages with investor community to spur research
commercialisation
Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director, MAS, said, “AIDF will be an important addition to Singapore’s rich and vibrant FinTech ecosystem. Through applied research and active collaboration with industry, AIDF will help to build strong capabilities in digital finance and FinTech. Located in the heart of the fastest-growing digital finance market in the world, the Institute will facilitate the expansion of knowledge and skills among FinTech leaders in the region and support the digitalisation of economies in ASEAN and beyond.”
