Singapore to invest S$50m to develop digital trust capabilities

THE Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and National Research Foundation Singapore will invest S$50 million over the next five years to develop the city-state's digital trust capabilities, said Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo.

Speaking at the ATxAI Conference during Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG) on Wednesday, Mrs Teo said the investment will get research institutions, institutes of higher learning and the industry to drive research and translation in trust technologies, which should provide businesses and consumers with greater assurance and confidence as they digitalise.

IMDA said it will focus its efforts on addressing industry needs and unlocking new opportunities enabled by emerging digital trust technologies.

These include privacy-preserving technologies that enable businesses to gain insights from data while preserving privacy, technologies that address emerging areas in decentralised identity and verification, and testing and assurance which can provide confidence that digital technologies are safe and trustworthy.

The investment will allow Singapore to tap new possibilities and demands arising from a global digital trust market, and further enable Singapore to extend its strength as a trusted hub into the digital realm, IMDA added.

Said Mrs Teo: "We want to foster an environment where businesses and consumers feel safe and confident about using digital technologies."

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In her speech, she also highlighted other initiatives the government has made to build trust in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, including the Model AI Governance Framework, plans to develop testing and certification programmes that allow industry to achieve greater transparency around AI systems, and collaborations to develop a credible minimum viable product for testing and certification.

Singapore has also partnered countries including Japan, Spain, Thailand and Egypt and engages in discussions on AI at multilateral platforms, such as Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the Global Partnership on AI.

ATxSG is Asia's flagship tech event that discusses tech trends, challenges and opportunities, and is built on the foundations of Singapore's Smart Nation Innovation Week and Informa Tech's ConnecTechAsia.