SINGAPORE – Technological change is often met with scepticism, which is why sound policies and education are key to helping businesses and individuals keep up with digitalisation, said Communications and Information Minister Josephine Teo on April 16.
As more sophisticated technology and digital infrastructure like artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud servers are increasingly woven into daily activities, there needs to be a common understanding about these tools and assurance that they are reliable, she said.
Speaking at the Oracle CloudWorld Tour tech conference, Mrs Teo said that since 2018, the Government has pushed for most of Singapore’s servers to be accessed over the internet – or the cloud – through data centres, instead of building more expensive computing infrastructure at each individual location. With the cloud, data can be accessed anywhere and anytime by an organisation’s clients.
“When we started this journey for the private sector, there was a great challenge in training and building up the capacity,” she said.
“If more services move to the cloud, then people have to feel that they can rely on the cloud... That they trust the cyber security aspect of it, and they can have confidence in (its) resilience, meaning that the services will continue to be provided when they need to be provided,” said Mrs Teo, who is also Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity.
Policies here aim to capture these goals, she added, pointing to the proposed changes to Singapore’s Cybersecurity Act, which requires operators of critical information infrastructure (CII) to report cyber incidents aimed at their systems – even the systems of their suppliers – as long as the incidents impact their services.
Keeping up with the use of cloud technology, the proposed amendments to the Act will also expand the definition of “computers” to include virtual systems and cloud infrastructure and require CII operators here, like banks and energy companies, to bear responsibility for any cyber-security lapses within their supporting cloud systems.
“Those are things that governments can do to help bring about and strengthen the pace and promote acceleration of digital transformation,” said Mrs Teo, who was speaking during a talk alongside Oracle chief executive Safra Catz.
The US company, which has operated in Singapore since 1988, will offer free training in AI to at least 10,000 students and professionals in Singapore over the next three years.
Ms Catz, who has been Oracle CEO since 2019, agreed with Mrs Teo on the need for guardrails, adding that such frameworks can help to build confidence in technology. “That’s how you really build momentum because change is hard. People say that they love change, but they are actually terrified of it. The reality is having these guardrails and a vision for the future is the kind of thing that businesses and individuals need when they put their data in the cloud and know that it will be safe,” said Ms Catz.
Mrs Teo added that Oracle’s commitment to train some 10,000 people in AI-related skills here will go some way towards building expertise.
The training is expected to contribute to Singapore’s vision to triple its pool of AI practitioners to 15,000 over the next five years to support the nation’s plans on AI, as outlined in its refreshed AI strategy announced in December 2023.
AI requires specialisation and huge amounts of computational power, said Ms Catz, adding that the figure of 10,000 trainees was a minimum target.
Mrs Teo noted that digitalisation during the Covid-19 pandemic has taught Singapore many lessons on how to introduce new technology, which proved to be essential in keeping businesses afloat.
“It wasn’t without hiccups, but at least people were able to continue working, children continued to be educated and commerce did not stop,” said Mrs Teo.
“That was a useful reminder to businesses and individuals that digital technology brings a lot of benefits.”
