Sherie Ng (Google Cloud)
Google Cloud has partnered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) to advance Singapore’s generative AI capabilities.
Announced at the recent Google Cloud Singapore Summit 2023, the strategic partnerships aim to explore the development and use of AI applications and technologies through ‘responsible AI’ practices.
Besides accelerating the adoption of AI, the partnerships also aim to deepen skill sets as well as competencies and secure Singapore’s talent pipeline.
MoU with MAS
The vendor’s partnership with MAS involved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which provides a framework for the collaboration in terms of identifying use cases, conducting pilots, and co-creating solutions for MAS’ services.
“This collaboration allows us to explore potential use cases in our functions and operations that could harness generative AI, while prioritising information security as well as data and AI model governance,” said Vincent Loy, assistant managing director (Technology) at MAS.
“Through this, we hope to inspire greater adoption of responsible generative AI in the financial sector.”
Additionally, the partners will ‘cooperate on responsible generative AI technology’ through test-bedding solutions across MAS’ business functions and operations.
Overall, Google Cloud will help support the technical competency development of MAS functions.
“Building on our deep experience in delivering enterprise-grade AI solutions that the financial sector is already using to tackle everyday business problems, we’re now providing refreshed skilling programs, high-performance infrastructure, large language models, and other tools to help financial institutions deploy generative AI with ease and speed while protecting their data, applications, and users,” said Sherie Ng, country director, Singapore at Google Cloud.
“We look forward to working with MAS to strengthen Singapore’s position as a leading financial hub and customise our foundation models for its internal use.”
Strategic partnership with MCI
With MCI, Google Cloud plans to help bolster Singapore’s national AI strategy by supporting the development of home-grown technologies as well as accelerating the adoption of cloud AI.
The vendor’s next-generation AI infrastructure, GPU hardware, Vertex AI platform, and AI managed services and tools like its AI model marketplace are already available in Singapore’s ecosystem, so the partners are now focused on implementing them at scale to help developers and businesses develop their capabilities.
Google Cloud will also commit to upskilling businesses in Singapore, as well as developing incubators and accelerators to enable developers and start-ups to innovate using its generative AI technologies.
“AI, and generative AI in particular, will have a profound and long-term impact on community and commerce,” said Karan Bajwa, vice president of Google Cloud Asia Pacific.
“Working together, we will create a vibrant AI ecosystem and thriving AI startup economy, accelerate business transformation and innovation, and develop the AI capabilities of Singapore's workforce.”
