AI key in Singapore's infocomm and media transformation map

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) is among key technologies highlighted by the infocomm and media (ICM) industry transformation map (ITM) announced on Friday.

Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information, said at the launch event: "To unlock the opportunities that technology and digitalisation can bring, we will have to strengthen the ICM sector core. The transformation of this sector will also serve as a growth multiplier for other sectors in the economy."

First, Singapore will drive the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in a big way. It will support budding AI enterprises, train AI professionals, modernise regulations around data for the purposes of AI, and build necessary infrastructure such as a National Speech Corpus.

AI has been identified as one of four frontier technologies under the ICM ITM that will grow Singapore's digital economy and enable its Smart Nation vision. The other technologies are cybersecurity, immersive media and Internet of Things (IoT).

Next, Singapore will strengthen its core of ICM professionals and companies by preparing more Singaporeans for a variety of ICM job roles, facilitating co-innovation between local tech companies and multinational corporations such as IBM and Microsoft, and providing support to more tech startups and SMEs (small and medium enterprises).

To accomplish the latter, the Accreditation@IMDA programme has, as of Friday, been re-branded as Accreditation@SG Digital. Dr Yaacob said this will "help companies leverage the Singapore brand for better recognition overseas".

The programme, launched in July 2014, will continue to help accredited companies win projects from government agencies and large enterprises. It will, however, expand to support more than just startups and young SMEs, but also later-stage SMEs and deep-tech foreign companies.

Meanwhile, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) will work with various sector lead agencies to develop Industry Digital Plans (IDPs), which aim to guide SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in technology adoption. Two IDPs have been launched this week: the Retail IDP on Friday, and the Logistics IDP on Wednesday.

The launch event on Friday also marked the first-year anniversary of IMDA, a lead agency that will execute the ICM ITM, and that was formed a year ago through the merger of the then Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and the Media Development Authority.