Singapore, US increase AI partnership to deal with upskilling youth and girls

Singapore and the US are widening their collaboration on synthetic intelligence (AI) to deal with increase expertise amongst youth and girls. 

A brand new AI Expertise Bridge initiative expands on the US-Singapore Ladies in Tech Partnership Program that the 2 international locations launched in 2022. The most recent plan goals to bolster expertise in rising know-how, together with AI, with an emphasis on youth and girls, in line with a joint assertion launched by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Commerce and Trade Gan Kim Yong. 

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To be rolled out within the coming months, efforts listed below are a part of the Partnership for Progress and Innovation pact that the 2 nations launched in October 2021 to establish bilateral commerce alternatives, particularly throughout these 4 areas: digital financial system and sensible cities, provide chain, healthcare, and clear vitality and environmental know-how. 

The pact encompasses shared targets to faucet the advantages of AI and “harness its potential for good,” the 2 authorities businesses mentioned. “The US and Singapore have prioritized improvement and adoption of interoperable governance frameworks for the trusted, protected, safe, and accountable improvement, deployment, and analysis of AI applied sciences,” they mentioned. 

Final October, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Improvement Authority (IMDA) and the US Nationwide Institute of Requirements and Know-how (NIST) mentioned each international locations had synced up their respective AI frameworks to ease compliance and can proceed to drive “protected, reliable, and accountable” AI developments. 

The mapping train between IMDA’s AI Confirm and NIST’s AI Danger Administration Framework goals to harmonize worldwide AI governance frameworks, supply larger readability on necessities, and cut back compliance prices. 

Shifting ahead, Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Info (MCI) will arrange an AI dialog with business and authorities representatives to debate the 2 nations’ investments, governance fashions, and workforce improvement in AI. 

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With the brand new AI Expertise Bridge plan, the Ministry and the US Division of Commerce intention to proceed their AI partnership to advance “an inclusive and forward-looking agenda” for financial progress and to spice up AI competitiveness for each international locations. 

“We consider the rise of AI, together with generative AI (GenAI), brings with it new and creating alternatives, together with the flexibility to reinforce financial and social welfare and digital inclusion, to speed up and advance socially helpful analysis and scientific discovery, to help extra aggressive and environmentally sustainable financial progress, and to advertise honest and aggressive markets,” MCI mentioned. 

The ministry mentioned virtually 6,000 US organizations at present function in Singapore, with bilateral commerce supporting practically 250,000 jobs throughout the US. 

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In response to MCI, know-how spending in Singapore tipped at SG$22 billion (USD$16.3 billion) final 12 months, whereas US corporations’ present and dedicated capital investments in AI over the subsequent few years, alongside Singapore enterprise companions, have exceeded SG$50 billion (USD$37 billion). Organizations from each nations even have pledged to spice up the AI capabilities of greater than 130,000 employees in Singapore.

Their joint efforts in AI governance additional point out a must mitigate the challenges that include the fast adoption of AI. 

“Either side acknowledge that the testing and analysis of AI applied sciences ought to take note of trustworthiness issues that may help the targets of AI governance frameworks,” MCI mentioned. 

“We consider AI governance ought to consider related worldwide requirements and internationally acknowledged ideas and pointers, together with these on explainability, transparency, accountability, equity, inclusivity, robustness, reproducibility, safety, security, information governance, human-AI configuration, inclusive progress, and societal and environmental well-being.” 

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NIST and IMDA will proceed to collaborate on the subsequent era of AI, together with mapping their respective frameworks for GenAI, spanning testing, pointers, and benchmarks,

Additionally, the US AI Security Institute, which sits beneath NIST, and Singapore’s Digital Belief Centre, which is funded by IMDA and Nationwide Analysis Basis, will work collectively to advance the science of AI security. This can present a vital hyperlink in a world community of AI security institutes and different government-supported scientific establishments, MCI mentioned.