Singapore – Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced plans to invest an extra S$12 billion in its existing cloud infrastructure in Singapore between 2024 and 2028. This decision was initiated by the growing demand for cloud technology and services in the country.
By 2028, AWS aims to have invested over S$23 billion in its cloud infrastructure, tripling its initial S$11.5 billion investment in the AWS Asia Pacific (Singapore) Region through 2023.
AWS is working with Singaporean public organisations to develop solutions powered by AI and generative AI technology. These initiatives include SEA-LION by AI Singapore, Analytics.gov by GovTech Singapore, the Maritime AI-ML Digital Hub by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, StoryGen by the National Library Board, and Synapxe’s national healthcare data and AI app.
AWS intends to launch its flagship AI program, AWS AI Spring for Singapore, in order to support Singapore’s Smart Nation and National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0) goals. With the goal of accelerating the use of AI and generative AI technologies across Singapore, this extensive program incorporates collaborations with the government, enterprises, and public sector organisations in Singapore.
Six key pillars comprise the comprehensive AI program, which is in line with Singapore’s S$1 billion investment in NAIS 2.0 to advance AI initiatives. Its goal is to benefit partners, customers, and the community of AWS.
These pillars include AI Spring Public Sector, focusing on collaboration with the Singapore Government and government agencies to advance AI initiatives for industries and citizens; AI Spring Workforce, offering AI skilling and professional certification programs; AI Spring Enterprise, aimed at fostering AI adoption in local enterprises; AI Spring Startups, dedicated to nurturing core AI startups in Singapore; and AI Spring Communities, contributing to community development.
Within the framework of AI Spring Public Sector, AWS will form collaborations with Singapore government agencies to facilitate and accelerate AI integration in the public sector and across industries. In a significant move, AWS just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Synapxe, Singapore’s HealthTech agency. This cooperation intends to create a data and AI application that will enable healthcare practitioners to use data analytics and AI technology across several healthcare systems.
In addition to this, AWS and the Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA) have signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) in support of AI Spring Enterprise. The partnership intends to leverage Amazon Bedrock, Amazon SageMaker, and Amazon Q’s capabilities to create an AI adoption program specifically designed for regional businesses.
The goal of this project is to give companies the ability to identify and scale AI applications for important use cases in their operations. The IMDA’s GenAI x Digital Leaders program, which aims to support locally established, digitally mature businesses in creating, developing, and implementing unique generative AI digital solutions, includes the MoI as a key component
AWS’s AI Spring Workforce program is prepared to raise Singapore’s workforce through skilling and professional certification programs in cloud and AI technologies. In accordance with this commitment and in support of the Singapore Government’s goal of tripling the number of AI practitioners to 15,000 within five years, AWS will work with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) such as universities and polytechnics, as well as the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), to improve AI education. The goal is to train 5,000 people in AI skills per year across these educational institutions over a three-year period, from 2024 to 2026.
By utilising its generative AI capabilities, AWS is expanding its assistance to instructors and students in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), enhancing their educational experiences and facilitating technological discovery and experimentation. AWS and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to incorporate AI education into the ITE curriculum, which is a big step.
Speaking about the investment, Priscilla Chong, country manager of AWS Singapore, stated, “AWS has been deeply committed to helping Singapore grow its economy, workforce, and digital prowess with cloud and advanced technologies since it launched its first Asia Pacific infrastructure Region here over a decade ago.”
She added, “AWS is doubling down on its cloud infrastructure investments in Singapore from 2024 to 2028 to support customer demand, and help reinforce Singapore’s status as an attractive regional innovation launchpad, and a global leader in digital competitiveness. This investment will create a ripple effect across Singapore by increasing economic growth and cloud adoption. It also brings additional contributions to the local economy by AWS, such as upskilling the local digital workforce, developing renewable energy projects, and creating a positive impact in the communities where AWS operates.”
Meanwhile, Elsie Tan, country manager, Worldwide Public Sector, Singapore, AWS, said, “With AWS AI Spring, we are eager to embark on this collaborative AI journey with the Government and customers to unlock the potential of AI, and accelerate Singapore’s Smart Nation vision and goal to become a beacon in the international AI field. By leveraging AWS’s broadest and deepest set of artificial intelligence and machine learning services, cloud infrastructure, and network, AWS will empower local organisations and students with technology and skills to tackle unique challenges, unlock new opportunities, delight customers, and scale in a secure, resilient, and sustainable manner.”
Leong Der Yao, assistant chief executive, Sectoral Transformation Group, IMDA, commented, “We believe that AI can be harnessed by enterprises to transform and stay ahead. In 2023, IMDA supported over 3,000 SMEs to adopt AI-enabled pre-approved solutions. Earlier this year, we also launched the GenAI Sandbox for SMEs and GenAI x Digital Leaders initiatives to enable our SMEs to adopt generative AI technology to generate greater business value. Building on this, we are excited to partner with AWS to uplift and empower our enterprises in generative AI. AWS, as a key global partner, will bring the necessary expertise to support IMDA’s GenAI x Digital Leaders initiative to help our digitally mature local companies identify and develop AI solutions for business transformation and growth.”
“We are also working with AWS to incorporate AWS Training and Certification programmes in polytechnic and ITE curriculums. IMDA will continue to collaborate with AWS to upskill and reskill professionals in roles such as AI and Analytics,” Yao added.
Furthermore, Low Khah Gek, CEO of ITE, said, “ITE intends to equip all her students with AI and Gen-AI understanding and competencies to ensure they are industry-ready, job-ready and future-ready. AWS expertise and programmes will accelerate ITE’s plans for the students and staff to learn prompt engineering and start to use Gen-AI and LLM in their learning, projects and work. ITE and AWS will also conduct short CET Gen AI courses for the public and workers to support the upskilling of Singapore’s workforce.”
Lastly, Ngiam Siew Ying, CEO of Synapxe, stated, “The inking of the MOU with AWS reflects our mutual commitment towards enabling our public healthcare users with leading edge cloud-native analytics tools. It will catalyse more efficient analyses towards actionable insights, and transform the way we enhance the quality of healthcare for Singapore.”
