Singapore has carved out dedicated cloud resources to help government agencies deploy artificial intelligence (AI) applications more efficiently and securely.
According to the Smart Nation Digital Government Office (SNDGO), the cloud cluster was set up to accelerate the adoption of AI in the public sector and to support research on how AI can be applied. . The agency said it will also support local AI startups.
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Called the AI Government Cloud Cluster, the platform runs within a dedicated environment on Google Cloud, allowing you to deploy AI technology stacks and partner applications from US vendors. These resources include Nvidia’s A2 supercomputer running on his A100 GPU and a repository of AI models running not only first and second party, but also open source platforms, government agencies can be customized to your specific requirements. AI models span multilingual text translation, speech-to-text conversion, and software coding.
AI Government cloud clusters also provide builder tools for generative AI applications that developers with varying coding skill sets and limited technical knowledge can use to build chatbots and search platforms.
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In addition, a toolkit is provided to guide government agencies in adopting AI applications responsibly, based on the principles of explainable AI and data governance. These toolkits include mechanisms to incorporate human feedback to improve AI model performance, access control and content moderation, and source auditing to enhance AI models, thus reducing potential bias can be identified and resolved. These mechanisms also ensure that AI models run in compliance with regulations.
AI clusters are accessible via the Government on Commercial Cloud (GCC) platform. The GCC platform provides a central infrastructure for local government agencies to deploy commercial cloud services. Running on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, GCC is part of a five-year roadmap for moving public sector on-premises IT systems to commercial cloud platforms.
GCC is administered by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech). With S$1 billion ($742.6 million) allocated for cloud applications this year by the government, GovTech said it was on track to move 70% of its systems to the commercial cloud. Currently, 66% of his targeted government systems run on this architecture.
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The new AI cluster runs on GCC 2.0, the second version of the government’s platform, integrating cloud-native capabilities with enhanced cloud security practices.
GovTech was one of the first government agencies to use AI cloud clusters in this space, leveraging Google’s machine learning development and management platform Vertex AI. The agency is also considering using Google Pair’s large-scale language AI model to improve productivity while maintaining data confidentiality of government information.
GovTech and Google will further collaborate on training programs to help all government agencies improve their data science and AI skills, establish AI strategies, and adopt data government best practices. . The approach is an extension of existing collaborations to enhance AI skill sets within Singapore’s public sector, including his 150,000 staff across 16 ministries and 50 statutory boards.
The Ministry of Communications and Information also announced that it will work with Google Cloud to advance the country’s AI strategy. This includes plans to develop relevant skill sets and foster local AI technology through an AI model marketplace hosted on a cloud platform, allowing local businesses to tap into Google’s technology. Tools for developing AI models and their applications.
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Additionally, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is working with Google to identify use cases and jointly create and test generative AI applications based on responsible AI guidelines. Local central banks will also strive to improve the technical capabilities of generative AI.
Speaking at this week’s Google Cloud Singapore Summit, MAS Assistant Managing Director of Technology Vincent Loy said the way MAS uses data is a key differentiator for Singapore as a global financial hub. I was. Data insights help government agencies significantly save manpower and achieve greater efficiency in IT operations, while data analysis and visualization are used to aid in network and financial crime investigations. Yes, Roy said.
He said competition remains fierce and the global landscape is constantly evolving, adding that AI will play an important role for Singapore in the future.
He said MAS will use its collaboration with Google to identify generative AI use cases that can operate more efficiently, providing a foundational model that prioritizes data security and AI governance. “Through this, we hope to accelerate the adoption of responsible generative AI in the financial sector,” Roy said.
Do things differently with AI
According to Chan Chu Ho, SNDGO Government CTO and Senior Advisor to the Singapore Economic Development Board, several global ‘changes’ will necessitate a new approach to technology with AI and the cloud playing a key role. is said to have come to light.
Speaking at the Google Summit, Zhang pointed to changes in the environment and technology, saying people now want to know the impact of digitalization on the environment and personal safety. More people are exposed to cybersecurity risks, investors want results, and businesses need to do more for every dollar they spend.
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Few people cared about these issues, he said, as trust and safety concerns were more acute than they were a few years ago. He has zero tolerance for downtime and makes headlines when an online service or app is down for his hour.
At a time when technology is ubiquitous and impacting every aspect of our daily lives, Mr. Chan emphasized the need to protect customers and citizens and ensure that systems and services can be trusted. Otherwise, no one will want to use technology.
There is also a big technological change, and he pointed out that the cloud, along with SaaS (software as a service), and generative AI are key.
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Chan spearheaded the Singapore government’s cloud initiative, which began seven years ago, and the move is not only important for cost efficiency, but also for providing access to a global ecosystem of the best technology resources. said. Organizations that haven’t embraced the cloud also run the risk of running bespoke applications that may not scale quickly and reduce time to market, he added.
But Chan said many organizations, including Singapore’s public sector, are still straddled by legacy systems. His related IT capabilities are also lacking, without which digital transformation efforts would be difficult.
In addition, policy needs to keep up with the increasingly cloud-intensive environment, he said. Unless Singapore adopts a progressive stance on policies, attracting the best talent and ditching legacy systems, a step forward could mean two steps back.
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Chan said the situation creates a compelling case for doing something new, pointing to the government’s efforts to boost the adoption of AI and cloud. He said the new version of GCC will come with more advanced security measures, allowing more sensitive and critical workloads to move to cloud infrastructure.
Agritech company Jiva is also taking these kinds of precautions in its adoption of AI, including generative AI. The company’s mobile his app recently introduced a new feature called Crop Doctor. This allows farmers to load images of crops to diagnose diseases and recommend appropriate treatments to meet their requirements.
Aditya Thareja, Head of Business Strategy and Partnerships at Jiva, was asked if the company was concerned about leveraging generative AI amid reports of security issues. admitted. “I want to make sure I’m hallucinating.” [occurring] reduced to a few percent. The last thing you want to do is give farmers wrong advice,” Taleja said at a media briefing alongside the summit.
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With operations in Singapore, Indonesia, and India, Jiva built Crop Doctor on top of Google Vertex AI, leveraging computer vision and image processing to identify crop diseases and causes, such as potassium deficiency.Recommend treatments based on in-house data library
To mitigate potential risks, Taleja said the large-scale language AI model is trained only on vetted data provided by Jiva. He emphasized that the generative AI model does not collect public data from the internet, adding that the company is continuously fine-tuning its prompt engineering capabilities to provide the correct answers.
Crop Doctor was tested on WhatsApp with 25,000 farmers before the feature was released on Android, Indonesia, which has the highest penetration of mobile OS. Jiva currently has 125,000 farmers registered on the Asian market.
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An early iteration, called Crop Care, will also provide recommendations based on crop images, but will not customize these results based on the farmer’s specific access to the required components.
Google Cloud’s Singapore Country Director Sheri Ng said AI, especially generative AI, is taking center stage, “rewriting” the cloud industry and leading to new ways of transforming it.
Commenting on the vendor’s collaboration with the Singapore government, Ng said, “AI has profound and meaningful implications, from automating data entry to detecting fraud, accelerating cancer research, enhancing emergency response, and informing water resources. It can shape public sector digital service delivery in many ways.” management.
“We look forward to working with GovTech to build a vibrant local talent pool across a variety of AI-related roles in public service.” [and] It helps advance Singapore’s national strategy for adopting scalable and responsible AI innovation. ”
