2020-12-24 Singapore Trade Officer Lee Jung-Hyun
– Artificial intelligence growth is promising due to the spread of the digital economy caused by COVID-19 –
-Singapore artificial intelligence market in the early stages of growth, advancement through cooperation and market expansion-
Singapore's digital market, which dreams of becoming a 'Smart Nation', is growing even more due to the acceleration of the digital economy caused by the COVID-1919 outbreak. In particular, as the need for non-face-to-face and non-contact online environment solutions increases, AI software is expected to play a big role in everyday life beyond the economy and business. The Singapore government is sparing no effort in supporting the introduction of AI, ranking 2020th in the world (6st: US, 1th: Korea) in the 'Government AI Readiness Index' selected by Oxford Insights in 7, so future development is promising.
Singapore government's artificial intelligence strategy
The Singaporean government has announced the'National AI Strategy (NAIS)', which is the key to achieving the Smart Nation goal in 2019. This strategy aims to establish an artificial intelligence ecosystem throughout the economy through fundamental changes in business models and productivity beyond just the introduction of technology. Accordingly, the Singaporean government has selected five areas of artificial intelligence, such as transportation and logistics, smart city and real estate, healthcare, education, safety and security.
<5 areas of Singapore's AI-focused projects>
Source: Smart Nation Digital Government Office
Singapore has also launched the National AI Office (NAIO) to establish and cooperate with Singapore's AI adoption direction at different levels, including national, public and private organizations, and individuals.
<Singapore AI related organizations>
Source: National AI Office (NAIO)
Meanwhile, the Singapore government aims to develop and introduce artificial intelligence by 2030, but is focusing more on having a successful introduction system rather than developing artificial intelligence solutions. This is a strategy to actively utilize opportunities to attract foreign talent and investment based on data accessibility, political and economic stability, and excellent infrastructure instead of limited resources and manpower due to the characteristics of small-town countries.
Singapore's growing AI market
In the artificial intelligence market in Singapore, global information and communication companies such as Accenture and Infosys are entering the banking industry through cryptocurrency and fintech-related services and products, and various global companies such as Alibaba and Dyson are planning to invest in artificial intelligence technology in Singapore. It has promising growth potential. For example, German semiconductor manufacturing company Infineon announced in December 2020 that it will invest USD 3 million over the next three years to develop Singapore as an artificial intelligence hub that uses artificial intelligence for all jobs.
<Trends of Global Companies' Adoption of Artificial Intelligence>
This Is Why All Companies Need An AI Strategy Today
Source: https://www.cbinsights.com/
Among the local companies in Singapore, representative companies that have entered the artificial intelligence field are NCS Group and ST Electronic. In cooperation with MSI Global, NCS Group is working on projects such as providing intelligent transportation solutions to the Asia-Pacific market and developing a new electronic payment platform for central banks. ST Electronic is committed to cybersecurity, Internet of Things (IOT), digitalization and management systems, Artificial intelligence is being used in various fields such as smart digital buildings. These companies are government-linked companies (GLCs) that are helping the Singaporean government and businesses use innovative technologies to transform digital.
As the artificial intelligence market in Singapore is still in the early stages of growth, there are no major monopoly brands and companies, so it can be said to be advantageous for entry and market share competition. In fact, large companies such as Infosys also sometimes cooperate with other small companies, and as the fields of application of technology are infinite, it is possible to enter or cooperate among various fields.
On the other hand, a concern due to this acceleration of the digital economy is the creation of a gap between jobs and the actual workforce. Mr. A, an official from a headhunting company in Malaysia and Singapore, said in an interview, "While new technologies such as robot process automation and artificial intelligence are being developed, the majority of Singapore's workforce is not equipped with the ability to do this. And revealed. Accordingly, the demand for education programs and OTJ education for acquiring related digital skills and improving digital skills is also increasing.
Artificial Intelligence, the Key to Singapore's Economic Growth
The Singapore Artificial Intelligence (AI) market is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 42.2%, to S$2022 million in 9 and S$6000 billion in 2030. According to Accenture Research, it will take 160 years to double the size of Singapore's current economy, but the introduction of artificial intelligence technology is expected to shorten this to 2 years. Singapore will also be the largest beneficiary of economic benefits such as economic growth and increased labor productivity from artificial intelligence among other developed countries (US, Germany, UK, Japan, etc.).
<Prospects of each country's GDP in 2035 following the introduction of artificial intelligence>
Note: Baseline is the GDP forecast for each country before the introduction of artificial intelligence, and the AI steady state after introduction.
Source: Accenture, Straits Times
As the size of the Southeast Asian digital market is estimated to exceed 2025 billion US dollars by 3000, Chan Chun-Sing, Minister of Trade MOTIE of Singapore, said, “Digitalization is a way for small-scale countries such as Singapore to transcend limited land and resources to help companies enter new markets I help.” Accordingly, the artificial intelligence market in Singapore is expected to expand further based on the digital market, a new growth opportunity.
Source: The Straits Times, The Business Times, Channel News Asia, KOTRA Singapore Trade Center data synthesis