Singapore's NRF to invest $107m in AI
Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) has agreed to invest S$150 million ($107 million) over five years in a new multi-agency initiative aimed at fostering an artificial intelligence (AI) development ecosystem.
The program, known as AI.SG, comprises a partnership between NRF, Smart Nation and Digital Government (SNDG), the Economic Development Board, and Integrated Health Information Systems, as well as the Infocomm Media Development Authority and its venture capital investment arm, SGInnovate. It aims to realize 100 AI projects and proof-of-concepts, with an emphasis on servicing the finance, healthcare and city management sectors.
AI.SG will help start-ups and corporate laboratories create and commercialize new AI products, but it has not yet specified its capital deployment plans. This effort is expected to include the establishment of networking events and the promotion of new intellectual property as well as a technology innovation partnership with the Singapore Data Science Consortium.
“R&D in Singapore has already gained international recognition, and there is tremendous momentum in areas around AI such as computer vision, natural language processing and machine learning,” Steve Leonard, founding EEO of SGInnovate, said in a statement. “AI.SG will serve as a powerful point of concentration of intellectual, physical and financial resources committed to working with AI.”
The launch coincides with ongoing government efforts to increase private sector interest in emerging industries, including the smart nation initiative and a recent proposal to simplify VC fund creation. AI.SG’s management committee will be co-chaired by Tan Kok Yam, deputy secretary of SNDG, and Ho Teck Hua, a research and technology professor at National University of Singapore.
NRF has participated directly in Singapore’s VC industry through the early stage venture fund (ESVF) program, whereby it matches commitments participating managers raise from private sector investors. The most recent installment saw S$40 million distributed allocated to funds launched by four corporations.
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