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Artificial intelligence (AI) program AI Singapore (AISG), launched by Singapore's National Research Foundation, has partnered with Google Cloud in a bid to help drive the adoption of AI and machine learning (ML) across industries in the country.
The AI Singapore program is hosted by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and brings together all Singapore-based research institutions, along with the local ecosystem of AI start-ups and companies developing AI products to perform research, build knowledge, create tools and develop talent to help underpin Singapore’s AI efforts.
AISG claims to have helped deploy more than 30 AI projects for local industry entities.
The program’s partnership with Google Cloud sees AI Singapore’s Makerspace programs and AI Apprenticeship program, 100 Experiments (100E), leverage Google Cloud AI and machine learning to solve real-world business problems with AI technology.
Companies will have the opportunity to approach AI Singapore to have engineers work to develop minimal viable products using Google Cloud’s technology under the 100E and Makerspace programs.
“Our partnership with Google Cloud will see both teams working on interesting industry projects, talent development and AI/ML best practices,” said Laurence Liew, director of AI innovation for AISG. “This collaboration will allow our teams to tap on Google Cloud’s engineering team and resources to improve our talent programs, gain access to best-in-class AI tools, and AI/ML best practices.”
According to Paul Wilson, Google Cloud Asia Pacific public sector managing director, AI and machine learning are the next frontier of the digital age, with cloud technologies holding the key to data-driven solutions.
“The partnership with AI Singapore sees us working jointly to spearhead new applications of cloud AI to fundamentally change business models and advance innovation in Singapore,” Wilson said. “In doing so, we hope to play a role in sustaining the nation’s national competitiveness, and transforming Singapore into a global hub for AI solutions.”
Two local organisations already working together with AISG to implement AI-based solutions with Google Cloud tools are Oceans.ai and Genesis Gym.
Oceans.ai looked to 100E for a solution to develop an AI-based asset inspection solution for industrial applications to conduct first-level defect detections in certain environments and contexts, such as on offshore oil and gas platforms.
The company has used Google Cloud tools such as Firebase, Cloud Run and Cloud Storage to accelerate the development of its AI engine. It is expecting the AI engine to be implemented by the end of 2021.
Genesis Gym, meanwhile, turned to AISG and GCP to scale up its AI capabilities and computing resources in a bid to cater to online gym-goers, after facing rising demand for customised online fitness services.
Now, Genesis Gym is working to utilise Google Cloud’s AI tools for computer vision and pose estimation, to assist users in their movement errors and provide coaching tips catered to their specific needs.
Last month, Malaysian telco conglomerate Axiata Group, via its business-to-business unit Axiata Enterprise, dramatically deepened its partnership with Google Cloud, striking a deal to roll out the cloud vendor’s services to its telco brands across Asia.
In June 2020, Axiata’s Indonesia-based mobile telco operator XL Axiata deployed Google Cloud to advance digital transformation efforts in the country, rolling out Anthos through specialist partner Techolution to accelerate workload migration to the cloud.
Now, Axiata Enterprise has inked a new strategic partnership with Google Cloud in an effort to serve the evolving needs of millions of companies in the various rapidly digitalising economies across Asia as a whole.
