The Government will allocate another $660 million to further the research and development of Singapore’s service and digital economy sector, said Minister for Communications and Information Mr S Iswaran.
Announcing this during the Committee of Supply debate, Mr Iswaran said the increased funding will meet Singapore’s needs in smart urban mobility, healthcare information communications, natural language processing and cyber-security solutions.
Mr Iswaran, who is also the Minister-in-Charge of Cyber Security, said that the Government will continue to expand the SMEs Go Digital programme and roll out artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based solutions to every sector here by 2020. The SMEs Go Digital programme aims to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt digital technologies and build strong capabilities.
In his speech, Mr Iswaran also announced that a new pilot programme known as TradeTrust will be starting later this year. This will replace paper-based bills of lading into digital documentation to reduce delays in container ships.
Mr Iswaran reiterated that the digital economy presented many opportunities and called on businesses, workers and Singaporeans to come together to seize them, as it is not the sole responsibility of the Government.
He said, “Indeed ultimately, every business, every worker and every citizen has to step up, overcome the challenges, and take ownership of their learning and digital transformation.”
Image Credit: Minister S Iswaran Facebook
