预算辩论 · 2024-03-01 · 第 14 届国会

新加坡AI战略与数字基础设施投资

Committee of Supply – Head Q (Ministry of Communications and Information)

AI 安全与伦理AI 经济与产业AI 与国家安全AI 基础设施与研究 争议度 3 · 实质辩论

议员质询新加坡在AI时代如何加强数字基础设施建设及人才培养，强调AI既带来机遇也有风险，需保持人类控制。政府回应将继续加大投资，推动国家AI战略2.0，提升网络速度和计算能力，保障数字信任。核心争议在于如何平衡技术发展与安全伦理，以及投资力度是否足够。

关键要点

  • • AI是未来关键技术
  • • 需加强数字基础设施
  • • 保持技术人类控制
政府立场

积极推进AI战略与基础设施建设

政策信号

加大AI基础设施与人才投资

"Singapore believes that AI can be a potent force for good – to uplift human potential and to unlock economic opportunities."

参与人员（11）

完整译文（中文）

Hansard 英文原文译文 · 翻译日期：2026-05-02

下午4时15分

主席：通讯及资讯部Q项。田佩玲女士。

投资智能未来

田佩玲女士（麦波申选区）：主席女士，我请求动议：“将估算表中通讯及资讯部Q项的总拨款减少100元。”

纵观历史，掌握技术一直是一个国家进步和战略竞争能力的关键。在现代社会，这一重要性愈加突出。因此，通过投资关键基础设施、创新和人才培养，国家可以在新兴技术领域占据领导地位，塑造全球经济和地缘政治的未来。

作为一个小型开放经济体，新加坡不追求成为超级大国，但我们必须投资以克服生产力挑战，释放新的经济潜力，并造福人民。

随着时间推移，新的颠覆性技术不断涌现。这些技术带来的变革发生得越来越频繁且迅速。在数字化发展的关键阶段，人工智能（AI）正成为焦点。在DeepMind创始人穆斯塔法·苏莱曼的著作《即将来临的浪潮》中，他认为未来十年将由一波强大且快速扩散的新技术定义，而AI是这波浪潮的核心。

AI的一些突破以意想不到的方式发生，极大地加速了进展。因此，我们必须为一个AI几乎渗透生活各方面的未来做好准备。

然而，如果AI不负责任地发展，也可能带来重大危害。因此，保持人类对强大技术的控制是我们时代的重要挑战。

虽然听起来令人担忧，技术本质上只是工具——好坏取决于使用者。新加坡相信AI可以成为推动人类潜能和释放经济机会的强大力量，这一点在《国家人工智能战略2.0》中有所体现。值得注意的是，AI战略已从视AI为“机会”转变为“必需”。

鉴于这一信念转变，新加坡需要加大对数字基础设施、人才和关键能力的投资，以推动下一阶段经济发展，同时加强数字信任，利用数字能力建设社区，改善生活——所有这些都发生在AI时代。

首先，关于数字基础设施和韧性。

正如我在一月份关于“建设包容和安全的数字社会”动议中的发言所述，提前建设基础设施对于保持竞争优势至关重要，新加坡一直如此。

同样，随着我们迈向AI时代的智能未来，新加坡需要加倍投资于更高速的网络和更高性能的计算能力。请问部委能否更新目前在加强此类数字基础设施投资方面的进展？

鉴于基础设施对提供基本服务和推动创新至关重要，数字安全和韧性的重要性不容忽视，因为它们不仅确保业务连续性，还塑造公众信心。

正如我在一月份动议辩论中再次强调的，2023年DBS多次发生数字服务中断，中央公积金储蓄因安卓恶意软件诈骗受损，公共医疗个人数据泄露。即使这些事件并非企业或机构直接过错，也影响了大量民众，进而影响公众对数字的信任。

法规有效地设定界限，明确可为与不可为。随着技术，尤其是AI的发展，法规必须跟进。但仅靠法规不足以解决问题。解决方案需要更上游，使企业和机构能在产品和运营设计中整合安全和韧性。因此，请问政府如何更新法规？又如何帮助企业和机构实施更高的数字安全和韧性标准？

相关地，政府去年推出了首席信息安全官（CISO）即服务。请部长更新网络安全健康计划的实施情况。

其次，为释放经济机会，产业和企业必须能够充分且迅速转型。政府推出了2017年中小企业“Go Digital”计划，过去十年多实施了多项企业资助，并定期更新产业转型路线图。这些举措深思熟虑且有益。

大型企业或许更精明，更能利用这些举措，有些甚至不需依赖。但微型、小型和中型企业（MSMEs）往往缺乏资源和专业知识，难以选择能提升生产力的数字解决方案。因此，即使有资助和方案，他们也可能未采用适合的数字方案，或采用不相关的方案，导致不必要的成本和转型风险。政府于2021年推出首席技术官（CTO）即服务，协助中小企业转型。进入第三年，该服务表现如何？政府还将如何更好地帮助中小企业采用符合其业务需求的数字方案？

随着新加坡数字化进程推进，AI战略从机会转向必需，我欣慰地看到2023年6月发布了数字连接蓝图，旨在提升新加坡企业和民众的数字基础设施，以捕捉数字领域新机遇。半年过去了，部委能否更新蓝图计划的实施情况，并分享初步成果？

第三，我们需确保人民为未来做好准备。我们深知新技术，尤其是AI带来的机遇与挑战。我在本院过去的发言中谈及此事，尊敬的同事们也多次阐述AI的优点和问题，我相信稍后还会继续讨论。

数字进步的承诺之一是为新加坡人提供更好的就业机会。但近期我们见证了Lazada、Google和Grab等大规模科技裁员，或因其调整组织结构和资源以配合新的AI战略。受影响员工措手不及，有些因劳动力市场紧张而被其他公司吸纳，有些则需更长时间并重新技能培训。虽然企业有权如此，但显然我们的劳动力必须具备未来准备，因为技术颠覆只会加速，工作性质也将改变。

在人才培养方面，教育重要，因为它为我们构建新知识和技能提供基础，以跟上新发展。但仅靠教育不足。我们需要机会让年轻人和人才与新加坡外的杰出人士交流思想，激发新想法。我们需要空间和平台让这些杰出人才聚集，学习、研究、试验、失败、迭代、交付并推向市场。

因此，政府如何支持劳动力具备AI和未来准备，并利用AI保持竞争力？

主席女士，我可以将剩余的削减一并提出吗？

主席：不行，我必须先表决。

田佩玲女士：好的，那我先暂停。

[（程序文本）提出动议。 （程序文本）]

主席：田佩玲女士，你可以将剩余四项削减一并提出。

科技向善

本地语公共传播

迈向数字韧性

数字信任

田佩玲女士：继续刚才的发言。

第四，为了让全社会全面拥抱智能数字未来，我们必须确保利用技术弥合差距，建设社区，改善生活。

一月份动议辩论中已广泛讨论诈骗及如何打击诈骗以维护数字时代的社会信任，这里不再赘述。

我想强调的是错误信息的危害。昨天我对外交部的削减中提到，某些信息可能被传播以制造新加坡人之间的分裂。但错误信息还可能带来其他危害，如阻碍对严重但可预防疾病的疫苗接种。因此，拥有可信赖的公共服务媒体渠道，且能覆盖所有人口群体，对于打击错误信息和维护安全的公共空间至关重要。

那么，政府如何确保我们的公共服务媒体继续维护社会凝聚力和公共空间，继续反映我们的社会价值观，如多元文化主义？

此外，为促进更大理解和建设社区，各年龄和背景的公民必须能够相互沟通。若要持续与长者及各社区互动，准确可靠地用不同语言传递信息能力至关重要。因此，政府如何保护我们的本地语能力？又如何利用不断进步的技术实现这一目标？

最后，随着社会进步，问题日益复杂，人民更为精明，政府不可能独自解决所有问题。正如一月份动议辩论强调的，需要全社会共同努力。那么，政府将如何促进公民更广泛参与，识别问题并共同创造成功的数字解决方案？

总之，技术进步和AI的普及正在重塑产业和全球格局。新加坡必须提前准备，通过投资、维护和加强数字信任，利用数字能力弥合差距，建设社区，改善生活。

SPH媒体信托基金资助

普里坦·辛格先生（亚逸拉惹选区）：主席，SPH媒体信托基金的第一笔公共资金于2023年3月发放。政府在本院四次部长声明中说明了为何纳税人需补贴SPH媒体信托基金的运营，至少部分补贴。

我们被告知公共资金有三大理由。

第一，没有公共资金，SPH媒体信托基金转型为数字新闻公司将无法承担专业新闻编辑部的投资和运营成本，预计广告收入难以覆盖，因线上争夺眼球竞争激烈。

第二，维护本地新闻媒体，尤其是本地语新闻媒体，符合公众利益，这些媒体对多元种族社区发声重要，但因读者或观众较少，财务难以维持。

第三，公共资金有助于支持SPH媒体信托基金，公众将受益于受信任的主流媒体。

例如，2021年路透社数字新闻报告显示，77%的受访者信任《海峡时报》，高于2018年的70%。去年6月，SPH媒体信托基金的审计与风险委员会发现SPH在2020年9月至2022年3月间确实夸大了发行量，并已报案。

鉴于纳税人资金支持SPH媒体信托基金，公众对新加坡主流媒体如何更好服务新加坡人有重大兴趣。这反映了寻求更大编辑独立性、更广泛观点、多元反馈政府政策，甚至对重大公共利益事项进行调查性报道的新加坡人诉求。

我们被告知SPH媒体信托基金将设有关键绩效指标（KPI），并须向通讯及资讯部（MCI）半年报风险管理框架。部长能否告知公众——现为SPH媒体信托基金利益相关者：一、SPH媒体信托基金在资助框架下须达成哪些KPI？二、资助一年后，其KPI表现如何？三、未达标的KPI有哪些，原因何在？四、MCI对其半年风险更新是否满意？五、SPH媒体信托基金如何改进风险管理框架？

我期待部委回复，并请求说明补贴SPH媒体信托基金的款项在收入与支出估算表中属于哪个项目和页码？2023年支出及2024/2025年预算金额是多少？

我之所以询问，是因为估算表中没有专门提及重大市场影响力（SMP）或SPH媒体信托基金的项目。

主席：沙拉尔·塔哈先生，你有六项削减，可以一并提出。

下午4时30分

国家人工智能战略（NAIS 2.0）投资

削减标题

产业转型图与就业转型图

支持中小企业利用AI

AI基础设施投资

支持本地语报纸

通过数字化改善生活

沙拉尔·塔哈先生（巴西立-榜鹅选区）：谢谢，主席女士。上个月我们党团在本院提出“建设包容和安全的数字社会”动议，议会重申了采用全民方法以维持信任，建设包容安全的数字社会的承诺。

本周早些时候的预算辩论中，我分享了很高兴我们承诺在五年内投资超过10亿新元用于国家人工智能战略2.0，重点建设基础设施、发展劳动力和产业。接下来几项削减，我将聚焦国家人工智能战略2.0的几个关键点。

首先，如何提供平等机会，确保AI带来的机遇不仅惠及少数顶层人士？我在一月份动议中也提出过。这包括确保NAIS 2.0为所有新加坡群体提供机会，弥合贫富差距，并确保中小企业参与能力建设。

其次，AI被称为跨行业的通用能力，将影响多个行业。NAIS 2.0如何更新产业转型图和就业转型图？我们如何建设人才管道？

第三，如何建设新加坡成为AI发展强国所需的基础设施？

最后，如何通过数字化改善生活？

首先，随着数字化和国家人工智能战略的转型，如何确保新加坡所有群体都能利用AI和数字带来的机会？如何确保数字拥有者和数字缺乏者，尤其是低收入家庭的在校儿童，享有平等机会？

从商业角度看，AI是跨行业的通用技术，不仅限于科技公司或跨国企业。我们如何支持各行业中小企业利用AI提升价值主张、生产力和流程？

其次，有报告称70%的工人将受到AI影响。部长能否更新各行业的产业和就业转型图？AI如何改变产业转型图？我们如何积极支持可能被技术替代的工人？

通过NAIS 2.0，我们如何识别工人提升技能并应用AI以提升生产力和行业价值的机会？

预计AI领域需要超过15,000名工人。MCI如何与人力部合作，培养所需的15,000名AI从业者？如何设立具体的职业转换计划，提供更多具备此技能的人才？

随着从业者规模扩大，我们还需培养行业深度人才。在高端领域，如何吸引世界级人才将AI能力带入新加坡？如何在本地机构培养AI研究人才？

第三，主席女士，为发展繁荣的AI产业生态，新加坡必须建设基础设施以领先新兴趋势和需求。除了高速网络，AI还需高性能计算能力。政府有何计划建设计算能力以支持日益增长的AI和数字化需求？如何保障芯片供应，避免过度依赖单一来源？如何可持续发展这一能源密集型高性能计算？

最后，鉴于Singpass、HealthHub等平台的成功，我们如何继续通过数字化改善新加坡人的生活？我们如何通过数字化为新加坡人提供更便捷的政府服务？我们如何利用数字技术帮助有特殊需要的居民，如视障人士和老年人？我们如何利用数字技术拉近社区成员之间的距离？

支持方言报纸

主席女士，接下来请允许我用马来语发言。

（马来语）：【请参阅方言发言稿。】自2023年以来，《Berita Harian》已经转型，从单纯的印刷媒体转向数字化平台。现在，它在马来语和多个数字平台上推出了许多创新产品，以吸引现有和新读者。

从#notapis播客、Instagram短视频、TikTok、BH Hub、BH实验室、创新内容，甚至组织社区论坛，《Berita Harian》团队已经改变了向马来读者传递新闻的方式，符合社区的需求。

我的第一个问题是，我们如何继续在人力或预算方面支持《Berita Harian》，以持续开发这些马来语产品？

其次，虽然马来语在新加坡的使用者基数较小，但该地区有更多的马来语读者。

在我们努力建设成功社区的过程中，我们如何支持《Berita Harian》的能力，使其能够为该地区提供新加坡马来人的时事视角？

生成式人工智能沙盒

李显龙先生（提名议员）：女士，新加坡企业发展局和信息通信媒体发展局（IMDA）推出的生成式人工智能（GenAI）沙盒，是一项受欢迎的举措，帮助中小企业利用生成式人工智能提升运营、产品和服务。我希望部长考虑采取分层支持策略，鼓励企业采用越来越先进的技术——从20%的低层支持用于后台和运营数字化，到60%的高层支持用于使用人工智能技术，并提供补助支持进一步的定制需求及数据集创建。

此外，随着人工智能的普及，文化、社区及青年部（MCI）是否会引入治理和伦理框架，以确保人工智能的负责任和有效使用？

主席：亚历克斯·严先生。不在场。克里斯托弗·德索萨先生。

克里斯托弗·德索萨先生（荷兰-武吉知马）：主席女士，我有三项发言请求，可以合并发言吗？

主席：可以，请合并发言。

人工智能——治理与国际合作

克里斯托弗·德索萨先生：谢谢。新加坡于2022年推出了AI Verify，作为全球首批人工智能治理测试框架和工具包之一。AI Verify的理念是为企业使用的人工智能系统提供客观的可验证性，以证明人工智能系统按其声明的方式运行。

正如大家所想，AI Verify在人工智能法规的实施和执行中发挥着极其关键的作用，全球各地的相关法规正在陆续出台，例如欧盟人工智能法案。IMDA已与国际合作伙伴开展相关工作。例如，去年宣布与美国国家标准与技术研究院（NIST）的人工智能风险管理框架建立对应关系。这本质上是一项映射工作，将AI Verify的元素映射到美国框架。

MCI有何计划继续将新加坡置于人工智能创新和治理的前沿？未来有何计划与其他国家合作制定治理框架？

人工智能——深度伪造生成式人工智能的危害

主席女士，随着生成式人工智能的兴起，深度伪造图像及其他内容日益普遍，个人可能恶意利用这些内容谋取私利或伤害他人。这导致诈骗、欺诈甚至通过深度伪造色情图像进行骚扰的激增。这也威胁到商业企业和行业，例如通过深度伪造广告，并影响媒体和政治领域。

【议长主持】

此类内容的威胁在于，即使人们知道人工智能生成的图像是假的，公众的认知仍可能被影响。同样，即使深度伪造的色情图像被认定为假，个人可能已经遭受无法挽回的伤害。

MCI如何监控此类情况，确保生成式人工智能的危害不会损害我们的经济和社会契约？

人工智能——数字安全与安全保障

主席先生，随着社会转型，公民学习使用人工智能，我们必须考虑如何在过渡期及未来保护他们。

我们希望建设一个人工智能赋能的社会，让所有人共同参与转型，数字安全和安全保障是确保转型顺利并鼓励所有人的关键。我们需要确保风险合理分配给合适的商业实体，以激励风险管理和风险思维。

这将使市场力量自然平衡国家经济利益与保护个人消费者和用户利益。通过与企业合作，监管可以吸纳行业反馈，量身定制适合新加坡社会的治理。

主席：谢耀权先生，您可以合并四项发言。

AI Verify

谢耀权先生（裕廊）：主席先生，我们去年推出了AI Verify，帮助开发负责任使用人工智能的测试工具。该计划进展如何？下一步措施是什么，以确保人工智能的使用负责任且安全？

生成式人工智能

主席先生，训练生成式人工智能需要大量数据，其中部分可能涉及私人性质。政府如何更好地保护我们的个人数据免遭不当使用？

此外，生成式人工智能训练和运行需要大量计算和电力，我们的其他数字需求亦如此。这些都需要耗电量大的数据中心。我们如何可持续地为数字未来和未来数据中心供电？

数字安全与韧性

主席先生，鉴于近期影响银行和医疗机构的停机事件，我们如何增强对数字经济和社会关键数字基础设施及服务的韧性和安全？

此外，量子计算预计将削弱或破解当前保护数字通信和交易的加密算法。我们如何确保数据和通信网络的安全？

第三，MCI去年曾宣布推出首席信息安全官（CISO）即服务，帮助中小企业根据风险状况和承受能力制定定制化的网络安全健康计划。MCI能否提供该计划的实施进展？

数字企业蓝图

主席先生，MCI去年宣布启动数字企业蓝图的行业咨询，汇聚行业领袖、行业协会和各部门公司，更好地洞察和解决新加坡企业的数字需求。请问该部能否提供相关进展更新？

主席：蔡振辉先生，请合并两项发言。

网络危害

蔡振辉先生（丹戎巴葛）：近期媒体头条包括：“青少年涉及多名受害者的系列性犯罪”；“偷窥女同事如厕者获判八周监禁”；“少年承认多次性侵两名妹妹”；“2022至2023年偷窥案增长12.3%：新加坡警察部队近期年度犯罪简报五大要点之一”。

我可以继续列举，但议员们对这些高调新闻已十分了解。令我警觉的是，尽管过去十年青少年逮捕总数总体下降，青少年性犯罪却逆势上升。根据新加坡警察部队数据，2016年至2020年，青少年实施猥亵和强奸罪案数从109起增至162起，增长48.6%。

下午4时45分

为更好理解此现象，我曾与几名青少年性犯罪者深入交谈，分别与三名年轻罪犯各花约一小时交流。他们背景各异，但并非全部来自问题家庭。根据他们的分享，有一点令我印象深刻：他们都在与色情材料成瘾作斗争。

当然，这只是三个人的个案分享，不能代表整体，但也不应轻易忽视这一发现。

数字技术的普及为接触和消费色情材料，尤其是暴力性质的色情材料，开辟了新途径。虽然我不主张色情使用与青少年犯罪之间有直接因果关系，但大量研究显示，青少年使用色情与性侵害行为有关，无论是施害还是受害。

2019年一项针对美国高中生的研究发现，接触暴力色情的男性青少年实施青少年约会性暴力的可能性是未接触者的三倍以上。网络色情的使用还与青少年的自我发展和信念相关，影响其对外貌理想的内化和身体监控。

简言之，性犯罪只是冰山一角。色情成瘾虽然多数情况下不表现为犯罪，但会持续困扰个人生活，破坏人际关系，扰乱日常作息。

这类似持续的低烧，是一系列深层问题的症状，若不解决，潜能难以发挥，生产力下降。社会为此付出代价，表现为家庭机构弱化，极端情况下，变态和暴力犯罪率上升。鉴于新加坡互联网和社交媒体的高普及率，我们必须更加关注网络危害及其对社会的广泛溢出影响。

另一个相关话题是，网络上不切实际的身体标准助长了对完美和外部认可的盲目追求。近20%的新加坡成年活跃社交媒体用户存在身体形象焦虑，其中男性约占40%。我个人也感受到保持体型的压力，有时甚至在午夜后去健身房，决心在漫长一天结束前锻炼。令我惊讶的是，健身房里总有许多年轻人，尤其是年轻男性，依然坚持锻炼，甚至在深夜。

长期以来，传统媒体如电影和电视一直引领传播不切实际的身体标准。然而，社交媒体的普及和内容创作的民主化加剧了同龄人比较，极大地强化了对自身身体形象的不切实际期望。

简而言之，追求完美体型的需求非常真实。迄今为止，相关讨论多将身体形象不安全感视为女性问题，但事实远非如此。男性同样面临压力，且往往被劝阻承认或分享自己的不安全感。

核心问题是，我们需要开始讨论当代新加坡社会中“男子气概”的含义。我最近偶然看到NPR.org上的一篇文章，想借此内容与议员们做个思维实验。希望大家认真听我说。

我将读出三组描述词对，议员们可以自行判断哪组更恰当地描述了男子气概。开始。

第一组：表达愤怒胜过表达悲伤。第二组：即使不舒服也坚称没事，还是在需要时向亲人和可信朋友求助。第三组：面对恐惧和危险大笑，还是坦诚表达思想和感受。

议员们，您认为哪组更能描述男子气概？您无需告诉我您的立场或答案，更不必投票。我希望这个简单的练习能说明刻板印象的影响。

诚然，这是一场艰难的对话。对某些人来说，讨论重新定义男子气概可能被视为女性化甚至去男性化。我们越来越多地看到与传统男子气概相悖的现象：全职在家的父亲承担主要照顾责任；异性恋关系中女性收入更高的“倒追”，这些都带来挑战和社会污名。

回到我之前提到的网络危害及其对社会，尤其是年轻男性的影响，这是我们共同需要解决的问题：政府、社区、家庭、父母都在努力中。但最核心的是，我们需要有意识地对话，探讨在当今语境下，什么才是真正的“够男人”。

技术与老年人

先生，昆士敦是新加坡第一个建屋发展局（HDB）卫星公共组屋区，居住着许多老年居民。昆士敦约三分之一居民年龄在60岁及以上，我们已实施多项计划和市政改善，确保老年人能够安享晚年。

例如，梅岭街和斯特灵路的丘陵地形及宽阔道路对老年人过马路构成安全隐患。为提升安全并让老年人有短暂休息的空间，中央隔离带已加宽，此外还有其他改善措施。

昆士敦还有多项服务老年人的计划，包括心理健康项目SafePod、未来照护规划工作坊，以及正在筹备的老年节。该节旨在赋能老年人，向他们及其家属展示无需惧怕老龄化，且有多种方式享受黄金岁月。

昆士敦也是昆士敦健康区试点的一部分，旨在利用合作伙伴的多元专业知识，创造综合解决方案，提升昆士敦居民各生命阶段的健康与福祉。其中一合作伙伴是狮子会友伴者。在梅岭活跃老龄中心，他们将推出Gym Tonic力量训练计划，利用适合老年人的健身器材跟踪老年人的体能和进展。他们还利用技术开发了名为i-Boleh的系统，允许老年人与狮子会友伴者工作人员自我交流，同时提供帮助提升认知能力、降低痴呆风险的游戏。

尽管我们为老年人设立了许多计划，他们仍面临一个持续的难题——跟上技术发展。我经常听到老年人反馈需要自动柜员机（ATM），尤其是带存折更新功能的ATM。许多人告诉我，必须远距离前往最近的ATM非常不便，尤其是行动不便时。他们向我诉说这些困难，我深感同情。

尽管数字银行普及，许多老年人仍偏好现金交易。有些人表示不熟悉数字银行应用程序，另一些则担心被骗。他们的担忧并非无的放矢。理解他们的顾虑后，我多次向银行呼吁，虽然未必总是成功，但我不会放弃。

虽然部分老年人犹豫不决，我欣慰的是，许多老年人仍愿意学习数字技能，并掌握如何安全上网的技巧。因此，我感谢位于昆士敦的岭记社区俱乐部被新加坡数字办公室（SDO）指定为新加坡数字社区中心。新加坡数字社区中心由IMDA发起，作为新加坡数字化推动的一部分，便利地分布在各个心脏地带。岭记社区中心每天上午10点至下午6点开放，老年人可获得一对一的定制指导，帮助他们数字化生活。

老年人数字活动包通过游戏化学习体验，鼓励老年人利用在线资源自主学习。鉴于新加坡人口快速老龄化及昆士敦居民的超高龄特征，数字社区中心在装备老年人及未来老年人适应数字生活方面将变得更加重要，随着技术不断发展。

为此，我想请问部委，岛内有多少比例的老年人已通过数字社区中心参与活动？老年人数字活动包的接受度如何？

除了社区中心，近年来还实施了“弱势老年人移动接入”计划，为低收入老年人提供补贴智能手机和移动套餐，帮助他们数字化。申请资格为60岁及以上，且为社会及家庭发展部长期或短中期ComCare援助受益人，或属于建屋发展局公共租赁计划受益人。

此外，我们也鼓励长者在社区中心提升并掌握基本的数字技能。符合条件的长者可享受为期两年的每月5.10新元的手机计划，并可一次性低至20新元购买智能手机。鉴于当今在线沟通的重要性，此类计划鼓励更多长者数字化，融入社区，同时与家人保持联系。

因此，我想请教相关部委，这项计划在长者中的反响和参与率如何？

在我们继续为长者装备数字时代技能的同时，技术也可以用来保持情感上的联系。各位议员可能听说过VintageRadio.sg——这是一个为长者设计的数字服务，旨在让他们保持信息灵通、娱乐和参与。通过一个应用程序，VintageRadio.sg旨在激发长者探索陌生数字世界的信心，同时唤起熟悉感。

播放1950年代、1960年代和1970年代的多语种流行曲目，并由资深主持人如Patrick Kwek、Brian Richmond、Rahimah Rahim和PN Bala引导他们使用应用程序，这些都是在数字学习旅程中注入熟悉感的例子。这些曲目和主持人对许多长者来说都很熟悉，有他们的陪伴，希望能让数字化过程不那么令人生畏。

在此，我想赞扬VintageRadio团队为长者提供了一个重要的渠道，使他们在数字和情感上都能保持联系。

先生，最后总结，长者与技术不必像油和水那样格格不入。采用技术不意味着服务自动变得不够人性化或高科技而缺乏温度。相反，技术的使用应如同在清水中注入水果或草本植物，增添色彩、味道和营养。

所以，我想问部委同事，我们独特的新加坡式“注水配方”是什么？

主席：Jessica Tan女士，请将您的四个发言点合并发言。

人工智能的潜力与能力建设

Jessica Tan Soon Neo女士（东海岸）：谢谢主席。

主席先生，作为2024年预算的一部分，副总理黄循财宣布将在未来五年投入10亿新元用于国家人工智能战略2.0，以提升新加坡的人工智能能力、容量和价值，目标是卓越与赋能。

人工智能和生成式人工智能有潜力改变产业并提升我们的生活质量，重新想象我们的生活和工作方式。然而，人工智能的发展和部署也存在风险，如训练数据或算法设计的偏见、分析大量数据时的隐私问题、人工智能系统的复杂性及有时缺乏透明度。还有利用人工智能复杂手段利用系统漏洞的安全风险。尽管存在风险，生成式人工智能和机器学习能够高效地从大量数据中学习，预测潜在的网络威胁并保障系统安全。

下午5时

对于新加坡来说，战略重点是利用人工智能应对重大挑战，如人口健康和气候变化。我们如何发展能力，提升企业和政府的生产力与竞争力，并准备好劳动力，尤其是那些因人工智能应用而受到冲击的低技能工人，进行再培训并抓住机遇？我们如何应对和最小化人工智能的风险？

数字人才与能力建设

主席先生，技术固然重要，但如果没有能够想象技术可能性、能够利用、开发和创新技术的人才，我们就无法实现技术的潜力和价值。

到2025年，新加坡经济将需要额外120万名具备数字技能的工人。这是2021年亚马逊网络服务委托对亚太六国进行的报告结果。

随着数字化不仅在新加坡而且在整个地区的推进，人才竞争将更加激烈。我们如何确保培养能力，发展并留住支持数字化愿景和增长所需的人才和技能？随着技术和数字化（包括人工智能）的普及，我们可以预期每个职位都会以某种形式被重新设计。

大多数工作都需要某种形式的数字素养。培训和再技能提升是必需的。如何支持企业，尤其是数字化准备不足的中小企业，发展数字能力以提升生产力和竞争力？

维护数字领域的信任

主席先生，在新加坡，随着技术的快速发展，推动数字化以及对数字技术的更广泛使用和依赖，数字技术已成为企业运营和许多行业人员工作的组成部分。对个人而言，数字化已深深融入生活——从社交互动、购物支付到休闲娱乐。

随着我们对数字生活、工作和娱乐的依赖日益增加，政府将如何营造一个值得信赖的数字环境，保障政府服务的韧性和安全，以及数字技术（包括人工智能）的负责任使用？我们如何向民众保证服务的可用性、个人数据的保护和数字交易的安全？政府如何确保新加坡的数字基础设施保持安全和韧性，使企业能够有信心开展数字业务，提供无缝、可靠和安全的服务？

数字化——改善新加坡人的生活

主席先生，我们智慧国的愿景是“一个让人民更有能力过上有意义和充实生活的国家，技术无缝支持，提供激动人心的机会给所有人。”智慧国的核心是以人为本，改善生活。智慧国的目标是提升新加坡人的日常便利和生活质量，推动企业更高效和创造价值，支持创新新领域，确保无人被落下。

智慧国已进入第十年，数字化已成为新加坡生活的重要部分，智慧国如何转化为企业机会和新加坡人的就业机会？智慧国和数字化推动如何改善新加坡人的生活？

主席：Hany Soh女士，您可以将两个发言点合并发言。

数字化中的人文关怀

Hany Soh女士（马西岭-裕廊西）：（中文发言）[请参阅母语发言稿。]根据去年的新加坡数字社会报告，越来越多的新加坡人在日常生活中使用数字技能。其中，老年人在使用移动支付应用和上网浏览方面取得了显著进步。然而，在理解和使用新技术方面仍有提升空间。

我在Woodgrove的许多老年居民也向我表达，虽然他们认可数字技术在日常生活中的好处，但他们几乎感到无力跟上这些数字技术的快速发展和变革。

（英文发言）：主席，争取全社会支持数字转型是一项艰巨任务。虽然数字化的优势被普遍认可，但仍有人不愿意接受。听取Woodgrove居民的意见，我发现许多长者在国家数字化进程中感到难以跟上。对他们大多数人来说，耐心且有人情味的学习方式更受欢迎且更有效。

在我们继续引入新技术时，必须首先了解最终用户的需求和整体用户体验，并确定最有效的知识和技能传授方式。但每个人的学习方式不同。作为全社会推进数字化的过程中，我们是否曾停下来思考，我们是否足够包容长者和有特殊需求的居民？

因此，我恳请信息通信媒体发展部（MCI）牵头确保为那些迷失方向、感到无助的长者提供随时可用的面对面替代方案。以我们典型的社区图书馆为例：长者更愿意向图书馆员或接待员寻求帮助，而不是求助于虚拟帮助台。

所以，我想问，政府将如何确保我们的长者掌握必要技能，使他们能够有意义地参与快速变化的数字社会？

其次，MCI如何平衡保持人文关怀与确保数字化进程不受阻碍之间看似矛盾的利益，特别是在未来政府项目推出和社区互动中？

流动图书馆

主席先生，我Woodgrove的许多居民每个月的第三个星期六喜欢带着孩子去伍德兰兹区域图书馆——那里四至六岁的孩子们参加充满乐趣的下午活动，听故事并参与基于图书的手工和测验等活动。

国家图书馆局（NLB）精心策划的此类活动深受欢迎，许多居民向我反馈希望社区内，甚至图书馆外能举办更多类似活动。

据我了解，NLB的流动图书馆服务MOLLY可能满足此类需求。自2008年成立以来，MOLLY流动图书馆一直在新加坡各地巡回，为缺乏公共图书馆便利的社区带去图书、服务和项目。

请问MCI能否更新迄今取得的成果，以及是否有计划扩大范围和推广力度，在社区俱乐部、长者活动中心和幼儿园等地更好地促进阅读和终身学习？

主席：通讯及资讯部长Josephine Teo女士。

通讯及资讯部长（Josephine Teo女士）：主席先生，感谢各位议员的发言。

十年前，我们启动了智慧国计划，愿景是让新加坡成为一个人民通过技术过上有意义和充实生活、为所有人提供激动人心机会的国家。毫无疑问，技术已成为新加坡人日常生活的重要部分。总体上，84%的人表示数字技术让生活更便捷，超过一半的人愿意尝试新技术。

今年一月，国会就数字包容和安全议题进行了广泛辩论。因此，在供应委员会（COS）阶段，信息通信媒体发展部将涵盖智慧国发展的三个重要方面。

第一，利用技术提升我们的集体潜力。第二，维护数字领域的信任。第三，保障事实基础设施。在预算和供应委员会辩论中，不少于15位议员提及人工智能发展。总体上，他们支持未来五年投入超过10亿新元以推动新加坡的人工智能活动。

正如副总理黄循财指出，人工智能是一种通用技术，将有许多应用，其中一些我们尚无法想象。但这并非新加坡唯一投资的技术。例如，我们也在量子技术方面建立了能力。尽管如此，鉴于当前对人工智能的强烈兴趣，我将详细介绍政府加强新加坡人工智能生态系统和防范其风险的计划。

去年十二月，我们推出了更新版的国家人工智能战略（NAIS 2.0），作为智慧国努力的关键支柱之一。它建立在2019年推出的首个国家人工智能战略的投资基础上。信息通信媒体发展部认同Mariam Jaafar女士的观点，我们的人工智能抱负不应被炒作驱动。

虽然我们投资建设Sea-Lion，以提升能力并验证在东南亚语言上训练大型语言模型（LLM）的价值假设，但我们避免与成本更高的前沿大型模型开发者正面竞争。正如Mariam Jaafar女士所言，我们相信新加坡的利益更好地通过部署基于全球任何地方可开发的最合适基础模型的用例来实现。

NAIS 2.0的目标之一是打造在领先经济部门和与智慧国优先事项相符领域的新卓越高峰。今天早些时候，颜金勇部长宣布计划与100家公司合作设立人工智能卓越中心（CoEs），推动制造业等关键领域的人工智能发展。随后，高级国务部长Janil Puthucheary博士也将向议员更新提升支持人工智能活动基础设施的计划。

我将重点介绍人才培养和治理。

在人工智能领域，我们可以广义地划分为三类群体：人工智能创造者，他们进行前沿研究、设计前沿系统并推动新颖用例；人工智能实践者，具备在组织中实施和部署人工智能系统、模型和算法的技能；以及人工智能用户，能够使用人工智能驱动的解决方案和服务，提高生产力，获得更好工作。

每个有人工智能抱负的城市都希望拥有尽可能多的创造者、实践者和用户。正如Tin Pei Ling女士和Sharael Taha先生所提，竞争非常激烈。

以Koh Pang Wei博士为例——他是获奖的人工智能研究员，目前在华盛顿大学任职。Koh博士因专注于构建能处理不完美数据的人工智能模型而备受追捧，这在现实应用中是常见问题。在新冠疫情期间，Koh博士开发了从原始数据估计人群流动的新方法，帮助政府理解病毒传播并制定重启政策。

Koh博士是土生土长的新加坡人。虽然我们希望他回国，但也认识到他因现任职位而建立的网络价值。

事实上，还有来自不同国籍的研究人员希望与我们加强合作。我们欢迎他们，并将很快推出新的人工智能访问教授计划，邀请世界级人工智能研究人员与新加坡合作。我们还将与AI Singapore和本地大学合作，推出新的人工智能加速硕士课程，培养新加坡人工智能研究人才。

同时，我们将在未来五年内将人工智能实践者人数增加三倍，达到15,000人。实践者包括数据科学家和机器学习工程师，他们在经济各领域开发和应用人工智能。

下午5时15分

以SG Digital学者Joshua Wong为例。SG Digital奖学金让Wong先生有机会在剑桥大学学习计算机科学，接触人工智能研究，并与全球顶尖人工智能人才建立网络，助他实现创业梦想。

2020年，他共同创办了Hypotenuse.AI，一家为企业提供人工智能驱动营销内容生成平台的初创公司。如今，Wong先生继续与其他学者交流，并指导年轻人才。我们将支持更多有类似抱负的新加坡青年。

作为初步措施，我们将在未来三年投入超过2,000万新元，提升学生的人工智能实践者培训，包括人工智能相关的SG Digital奖学金和海外实习。除学生外，我们还将支持应届毕业生和中年转职者成为人工智能实践者。

信息通信媒体发展局计划扩大科技技能加速器（TeSA）项目，为有相关职位空缺的雇主提供资金支持，帮助本地员工通过技能提升和行业相关培训胜任岗位。

在努力发展创造者和实践者群体的同时，我们将装备更广泛的劳动力成为自信的人工智能用户。这可能是防止人工智能引发的就业置换的最佳方式，许多议员包括叶汉荣先生对此表达了关切。

正如以往技术浪潮，工人担心被取代。人工智能不仅让基层员工担忧，专业人士、管理人员、执行人员和技术人员（PMETs）也感到风险，他们担心人工智能工具和代理会接管他们当前的任务，包括基于知识的任务，如研究、编码和写作。

许多有见地的观察者指出，问题不在于人工智能取代工人，而是掌握人工智能技能的工人取代缺乏人工智能技能的工人。正如议员们所知，人民行动党政府一贯投资于工人技能提升和再培训，常常领先需求并与全国职工总会合作。我们将继续这样做。

让我介绍一下就业转型地图（JTM）及其如何支持受人工智能影响的工人，正如Sharael Taha先生所问。目前已有16张就业转型地图，识别受各种技术影响的职位，其中13张专门说明人工智能的影响。这些地图涵盖至少140万名工人，涉及数百个职位。

虽然我们无法完全预测人工智能带来的冲击范围和规模，但这些职业技能地图（JTM）为雇主、工会和工人提供了有用的指引，帮助他们规划岗位重设计或培训干预。因此，许多全国职工总会（NTUC）的公司培训委员会都会参考这些地图。负责行业发展的机构也可以据此确定合适的培训干预措施。

例如，信息通信发展管理局（IMDA）于去年九月在信息与通信职业技能地图下任命了五家培训合作伙伴。他们目前提供超过180门与人工智能相关的课程。截至去年十二月，已培训约1000人，使他们成为自信的人工智能用户。未来三年内，将有数千人接受培训。

今年的预算也为技能未来积分（SkillsFuture Credits）和面向中年新加坡人的升级计划（Level-Up Programme）提供了丰厚的追加资金，帮助他们通过全日制文凭课程进行再技能培训。IMDA将与技能未来新加坡（SkillsFuture Singapore）合作，确保提供合适的课程，帮助更多新加坡人掌握人工智能技能，保持职场竞争力。

正如严杰利先生（Mr Gerald Giam）所建议的，我们不仅仅依靠培训项目来促进实践学习。一个很好的例子是国家图书馆局（NLB）的MakeIT项目，允许参与者尝试3D建模与打印、机器人技术和编码。我之前在全国职工总会辩论会上谈过这个项目。

公共部门本身也提供正式和非正式的学习体验，以培养人工智能能力。例如，我们推出了Pair工具，这是我们安全版的ChatGPT，帮助公务员完成写作、头脑风暴、研究和编码等任务。目前约有35,000名公务员在工作中使用Pair，提高工作效率。

先生，我还应补充，维持高就业率和减少失业的最重要策略是持续创造就业机会。这意味着确保企业持续增长，包括通过使用人工智能等技术。通过这样做，我们无需被动应对人工智能带来的岗位流失，而是积极利用人工智能为人民创造更好的工作岗位。这也是我们将投资推动企业采用人工智能的原因，资政陈杰辉高级部长稍后将对此进行阐述。

现在让我转向人工智能治理的话题。虽然我们欢迎人工智能进步带来的机遇，但也必须防范滥用风险。例如，人工智能可能加剧现有威胁，如网络攻击、诈骗或虚假信息和错误信息。因此，设立防护措施是必要的。

克里斯托弗·德索萨先生（Mr Christopher de Souza）、谢耀权先生（Mr Xie Yao Quan）和李显龙先生（Mr Mark Lee）询问我们如何促进人工智能的安全和负责任使用，以及如何保护可能用于训练人工智能模型的个人数据。信息通信媒体发展部（MCI）理解他们的关切。在去年全国职工总会辩论会上，我阐述了我们计划明确《个人数据保护法》（PDPA）如何适用于人工智能系统。

经过与利益相关者的广泛磋商，个人数据保护委员会（PDPC）已最终确定《人工智能推荐和决策系统中个人数据使用的咨询指南》，并将于今日发布。PDPC接下来将考虑就使用个人数据训练生成式人工智能（GenAI）系统提供指导。

德索萨先生问MCI将如何继续使新加坡处于人工智能治理的前沿。事实上，新加坡已被认可为人工智能治理的积极且可信赖的贡献者。去年，我们成立了AI Verify基金会，利用全球开源社区的专业知识，促进人工智能的负责任使用。这是基于2022年推出的AI Verify测试框架和软件工具包。如今，该基金会成员包括IBM、谷歌、德勤、星展银行（DBS）和新加坡航空（SIA）等组织。

今年一月在世界经济论坛上，我们公布了《生成式人工智能模型治理框架》（MGF-GenAI）草案，并征求合作伙伴意见。该框架基于早期的《模型人工智能治理框架》，反映了生成式人工智能的新兴原则、关注点和技术发展。最近，新加坡牵头制定了《东盟人工智能治理与伦理指南》，该指南于上月在本地举行的第四届东盟数字部长会议上获得通过。

我现在转向演讲的第二个主题：维护数字领域的信任。苏涵妮女士（Ms Hany Soh）和蔡伟业先生（Mr Eric Chua）都问到，在数字化日益加深的背景下，我们如何保持人文关怀。先生，巧合的是，我昨天在内政部全国职工总会辩论会上也谈到了这个问题。

现实是，没有灵丹妙药。数字化正在多个场景中展开，极大地改变了我们彼此的互动方式。因此，我们必须摸索前进，愿意调整方法。政府方面，我们注意到通过数字手段提供公共服务应精心设计，以满足不同人群的需求，包括老年人。

两天前，陈振声部长也重申政府承诺确保我们的服务对所有人都可及。例如，需要政府服务支持的公民可以前往任何ServiceSG中心，这些中心可协助办理来自25个以上机构的近600项服务和计划。IMDA的数字大使也在多个社区接触点随时为老年人提供指导。

随着数字环境的发展，我们的图书馆也将继续推广阅读和终身学习。这包括国家图书馆局的移动图书馆服务MOLLY，苏涵妮女士提到了这一点。我感谢苏女士对MOLLY所帮助国家图书馆局实现的外展工作的支持和认可。自2008年启动以来，MOLLY已服务超过500个机构，接待约140万人次访问，促成约270万次借阅。图书馆对此成就感到非常自豪，并将继续尽可能多地服务更多人群。

我还应补充，不仅仅是MOLLY将图书馆带给市民，图书馆还有其他方式展现其存在。例如，在繁忙的购物中心和其他人流密集地点设有快闪站点，您会在那里看到图书馆的身影。

我现在将回答苏婷女士（Ms Tin）、陈洁仪女士（Ms Jessica Tan）、德索萨先生和谢耀权先生提出的数字信任的另外两个方面：安全性和韧性。这主要涉及支撑我们数字经济并满足市民日常需求的数字基础设施和服务。

2023年，新加坡经历了政府在线服务、银行和支付服务以及公共医疗机构网站访问的中断。但我们并非孤例。随着数字化程度加深，许多国家也面临类似问题。例如，法国一家数据中心的故障导致政府及其他服务广泛中断。美国一次云服务故障使许多网站无法访问，包括新闻媒体和航空公司的网站。

为应对这类中断的影响，欧盟、德国和澳大利亚已出台法规，加强数字基础设施（如云服务和数据中心）的安全性和韧性。虽然我们无法完全消除中断，但将采取更多措施减少其发生。由MCI牵头的跨部门工作组正在审视不断变化的形势并制定缓解措施。

我们关注两个关键举措。首先，将加强监管手段。即将修订的《网络安全法》将提升基础数字基础设施及其他系统和实体的网络安全水平，覆盖范围超出目前的关键资讯基础设施（CII）。扩展范围将包括数据中心、云服务及可能持有敏感数据或执行重要公共职能的关键实体。

我高兴地向议员们通报，关于修订案的公众咨询已于一月完成。我们计划下周在议会提交修订法案，届时将分享更多细节。[请参阅《通讯及资讯部长澄清声明》，官方报告，2024年3月1日，第95卷，第128期，书面声明更正部分。]

虽然提升网络安全态势很重要，但这还不够。新加坡及其他地方过去的中断事件表明，中断可能由非网络原因引起，包括云架构配置错误，或因火灾、水泄漏和冷却系统故障导致数据中心停机。

因此，工作组还在研究引入新的《数字基础设施法》（DIA），以解决关键数字基础设施和服务的更广泛安全和韧性问题，超越网络安全范畴。DIA将聚焦于那些一旦中断可能对经济和社会造成重大影响的数字基础设施。

例如，大型云服务提供商和数据中心对企业和消费者日常使用的各种数字服务至关重要。因此，这些运营商可能需要满足更高的安全和韧性标准，以降低系统性中断的可能性。

工作组正在进一步研究DIA的范围和提案。挑战复杂，包括数字基础设施运营商（如云服务提供商）的跨境性质。我们还需在风险缓解与合规成本增加之间权衡。我们将继续与行业参与者和相关利益相关者磋商，确保DIA与《网络安全法》之间要求的一致性。

其次，工作组正在探索补充法律法规的非监管措施。这可能包括向数字基础设施和服务提供商提供安全和韧性最佳实践指导。政府尽最大努力确保数字基础设施和服务的安全与韧性，但企业和消费者也需发挥作用。

例如，企业必须制定健全的业务连续性和事件恢复计划。较小企业可参考新加坡网络安全局（CSA）的网络安全基础项目；较大企业应采用CSA的网络信任标志。消费者也应准备在数字服务中断时使用替代方案。这将激励服务提供商提升服务质量。

下午5点30分

谢耀权先生询问量子计算相关风险，特别是对我们的数据和通信网络的影响。

去年六月，副总理王瑞杰宣布启动国家量子安全网络加（NQSN+）。新电信（Singtel）、SPTel及另一家本地公司SpeQtral被任命建设新加坡首个量子安全网络——这也是东南亚首个此类网络。该网络预计于2024年底完成。

我们还在建设能力，开发支持安全可信数据共享的解决方案——这是玛丽亚姆·贾法尔女士（Ms Mariam Jaafar）提到的内容。2022年7月，我们启动了隐私增强技术沙盒计划，支持企业试点技术解决方案，使其在保护个人数据和商业敏感数据的同时，安全地从数据中提取价值。

万事达卡（Mastercard）是参与企业之一，试点了一种跨国界共享金融犯罪信息的解决方案，同时遵守现行法规。万事达卡目前正在研究在商业环境中的实施。

我现在转向演讲的第三个也是最后一个主题：维护事实基础设施以维护社会凝聚力。该基础设施有多个支柱。

国际上，我们目睹了深度伪造技术被滥用来传播虚假信息、操纵公众舆论（如美国的枪支暴力事件）、以色列-哈马斯冲突，甚至破坏选举诚信。正如克里斯托弗·德索萨先生、苏婷女士和蔡伟业先生指出的，这些技术的逼真性使其成为特别危险的武器。我们对恶意的人工智能生成内容采取强硬立场。针对它们的专项立法以迅速应对，是该基础设施的一个支柱。

这包括《防止网络虚假信息和操纵法案》（POFMA），该法案使我们能够发布更正声明，并用正确事实标注人工智能生成的虚假信息。如果内容对公共利益造成严重危害，我们也可以考虑禁用指令。

另一个支柱是公众教育计划，旨在使新加坡人具备辨别信息真伪的能力，成为信息的明智消费者和生产者。我们的图书馆在这方面发挥关键作用。去年，国家图书馆局在其S.U.R.E计划中引入了关于生成式人工智能的资源和工作坊，教育新加坡人了解人工智能的利弊，并传授验证和事实核查可能由人工智能生成的在线内容的技能。这些努力已覆盖超过66,000人。

今年晚些时候，国家图书馆局将推出新的项目和学习包，教育新加坡人认识人工智能生成虚假信息对社会可能带来的风险。我们也认识到需要培养新的能力。

我们此前宣布，信息通信媒体发展部和科学技术研究局将成立在线安全先进技术中心（CATOS）。该中心将开发检测有害内容（包括深度伪造）的工具和措施。

在充斥人工智能生成内容的碎片化媒体环境中，受众很难分辨真伪。因此，我们还需要值得信赖的新闻媒体来告知和引导民众，确保大家信息一致。这是一个关键支柱。

普里坦·辛格先生（Mr Pritam Singh）询问政府对新加坡报业控股（SPH Media）的资助情况。作为公共服务媒体实体，SPH Media在向新加坡人传达国家重要议题、反映新加坡价值观和生活方式、以新加坡视角报道国际事件以及向世界展示新加坡观点方面发挥着关键作用。

SPH Media也是我们共同记忆的机构和存储库。去年，《联合早报》庆祝了百年华诞，而《海峡时报》即将迎来180周年。马来语报纸《Berita Harian》和泰米尔语报纸《Tamil Murasu》也历史悠久，满足马来语和泰米尔语社区的需求，正如沙拉尔·塔哈先生和苏婷女士所关心的。

然而，SPH Media正面临其有史以来最大的挑战。整个媒体行业因数字化和社交媒体而遭受严重冲击。读者数量下降，受众选择多样。传统收入来源大幅减少，广告转向社交媒体和其他在线平台。这些问题并非SPH Media独有。

即使是像《华盛顿邮报》这样成熟的媒体公司，去年也亏损了1亿美元，不得不裁员10%，尽管进行了广泛的转型努力。纯数字平台也未能幸免。普利策奖得主BuzzFeed News去年四月关闭，尽管聘请了顶尖记者并在全球设立了分社。

据《纽约时报》报道，2005年存在的报纸中有四分之一已不复存在。

在重组为担保有限公司之前，SPH首次出现亏损。如果任由市场力量和商业压力主导，其结局很可能与《华盛顿邮报》和BuzzFeed类似。尤其是其本地语种报纸，受众自然较小，正如沙拉尔·塔哈先生和苏婷女士所关心的。

政府决定介入，给予SPH Media在新媒体环境中一搏的机会。截至目前，2022和2023财年已向SPH Media拨付约3.2亿新元。鉴于前述更具挑战性的环境，我们已为2024财年预算约2.6亿新元资助SPH Media。

这在信息通信媒体发展部的预算书中有所体现，作为对其他机构整体拨款的一部分。

正如我之前在议会所述，SPH Media的资金主要用于三大领域：人才、技术和本地语种能力。这反映了政府对优质新闻、数字转型和维护多元文化的重要性。

为确保公共问责和财政审慎，SPH Media信托结构包括代表社会不同群体的成员——从商业实体如星展银行、大华银行和华侨银行，到本地高等学府如新加坡国立大学、南洋理工大学、新加坡管理大学和新加坡科技设计大学。但归根结底，SPH Media对新加坡人负责。新闻业是以人为本的行业，SPH Media承担着重要的公共服务媒体角色。

因此，设定了关键绩效指标（KPI）以跟踪各社区的覆盖和参与度，包括本地语种媒体、青年和数字覆盖的具体目标。信息通信媒体发展部还要求SPH Media定期报告这些领域的表现，并遵守相关审计，以确保对资金使用的监督，以及公共服务媒体成果的所有权和问责。

迄今为止，已拨付的资金已被有效利用。SPH Media一直在加强其数字系统以提升影响力，符合其他全球出版物的做法。例如，《纽约时报》和《华尔街日报》已从印刷转向数字优先模式，采用多媒体格式以增加读者群。

同样，SPH传媒最近采用了新的数字内容管理系统，以支持其在线报道并在其英文及本地语新闻品牌中推出移动应用程序。它还通过与海外机构如路透新闻学院的培训、奖学金和研究员项目，做出了大量努力以提升新闻编辑部的留存率和质量。然而，SPH传媒仍有相当大的追赶空间。

虽然其整体覆盖率保持稳定，并实现了数字订阅的适度增长，但在数字覆盖率、青年覆盖率、本地语覆盖率以及网站和应用的平均停留时间等关键绩效指标方面未能全部达标。因此，它未能获得全部承诺的资金支持。

更重要的是，这些结果表明迄今为止所做的努力只是一个开始。SPH传媒需要做更多工作，以在这个充满挑战的媒体环境中保持其相关性，并在努力站稳脚跟的过程中需要持续支持。

主席先生，我希望各位议员同意，在一个真相必须与虚假信息竞争的信息环境中，公共服务媒体是我们社会事实基础设施的重要支柱。在值得公众关注的事项上，如关键的全球事件、本地语社区新闻，甚至是议会程序，利润驱动的平台可能除了炒作或加入自己的解读外，别无兴趣。

我们还需要公共服务媒体讲述新加坡的故事，传递新加坡的声音。我们不能指望其他地方的媒体机构为我们做到这一点。事关我们作为一个民族对当下问题的共同理解，了解我们的国家利益所在，以及我们必须做什么以确保持续成功。

因此，对我们的公共服务媒体实体进行持续投资，不是可有可无的，而是必须的，如果我们要维护支持公共利益的高质量新闻业。我因此请求议员们支持持续对公共服务媒体实体的公共投资，以维护我们的事实基础设施，并保持公众对公共服务媒体的高度信任。

主席先生，若获准，请允许我用中文结束发言，回到我开头提及的人工智能话题。

（中文发言）：[请参见本地语发言。]人工智能将继续渗透全球各地区和行业，包括新加坡的社会和经济。我们必须抓住机遇，帮助人民和企业做好准备。为此，我今天宣布了若干举措。

首先，我们将启动一项新计划，吸引全球顶尖的人工智能创作者来到狮城，与本地专家和学者合作，在我国建立尖端技术。为了加强我国的人工智能人才队伍，我们计划在未来五年内将该领域专业人士人数增加到15,000人。政府还将投资2亿新元培养本地人才，提供奖学金和海外实习机会。

然而，数字技术带来机遇的同时，也带来风险。因此，我们将推出新的指导方针，规范人工智能系统中个人数据的使用。政府还在探索一项新法律，以增强我国数字基础设施和服务的安全性，确保民众能够更安心地使用数字技术。

我一直倡导“数字优先，但非数字唯一”。政府将继续为尚未准备好上网的公民提供非数字选项。然而，人工智能发展的势头不会减缓。新加坡政府将秉持前瞻性的治理理念，采用以人为本的方式实施上述计划。

主席：通讯及资讯高级国务部长陈杰辉。

通讯及资讯高级国务部长（陈杰辉先生）：主席先生，我们在数字化经济方面取得了良好进展。2022年，新加坡数字经济创造了1,060亿新元的附加值，约占名义GDP的17%；而2017年为580亿新元，占GDP的13%。

越来越多企业实现数字化。例如，现今超过九成企业使用电子支付，而2018年仅为六成。企业也在部署更先进的数字解决方案，如云计算和数据分析。令人欣慰的是，我们的中小企业也在积极采用。

2023年，95%的中小企业采用了数字解决方案，而2018年为74%。连小贩也加入了数字化。截至去年11月，60%的小贩接受SGQR数字支付。该平台每月平均促成510万笔交易，金额达4,200万新元。

下午5时45分

资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）推出的“中小企业数字化”和“小贩数字化”等计划推动了进展。与此同时，尤其是人工智能领域的技术进步速度加快。我们希望为企业和员工提供能力，乘势而上。

我们正在制定《数字企业蓝图》，规划下一阶段工作，谢耀权议员对此有所询问。我们已广泛咨询行业伙伴和业界，根据反馈完善蓝图，并将在未来几个月发布咨询文件，征求更广泛业界和公众意见。

但我借此机会简要介绍蓝图的总体轮廓。

《数字企业蓝图》旨在“提升企业和员工在人工智能时代的能力”。我们将通过三大重点推进：第一，赋能企业更智能，利用人工智能驱动的数字解决方案；第二，支持企业通过采用集成数字解决方案更快扩展；第三，提升企业网络安全韧性，使其更安全。即更智能、更快扩展、更安全。

《数字企业蓝图》是动态文件，将持续更新。因此，我们已开始实施一些获得广泛支持的“无悔”举措。请允许我详细说明。

Jessica Tan女士、田佩玲女士、Sharael Taha先生、Mark Lee先生等人询问我们如何支持中小企业从人工智能中受益。

我们将通过IMDA的“中小企业数字化”计划，帮助企业和员工获得人工智能能力带来的好处。首先，对于绝大多数中小企业，IMDA策划了一份适合广泛采用的预批准数字解决方案清单。我们已开始与科技行业合作，将人工智能能力融入其数字解决方案。很高兴地分享，截至目前，约20%的预批准解决方案已具备人工智能功能。

例如，人工智能能力已无缝集成到客户关系管理解决方案中，帮助企业分析客户互动和数据，建议个性化营销活动。2023年，超过3,000家中小企业采用并受益于这些具备人工智能功能的预批准解决方案。这是针对广大中小企业的支持。

其次，在行业层面，IMDA与行业负责人合作，共同制定行业数字计划（IDP），作为企业的路线图，突出满足行业特定需求的解决方案。我们2018年启动了五个IDP。如今，已有22个涵盖批发、建筑、零售和餐饮服务等多个行业，覆盖了经济的广泛领域。

IMDA将更新IDP，纳入适合满足该行业企业需求的人工智能解决方案。我们已在去年推出或更新的四个IDP中开始这样做，分别是法律、旅游、零售和安全行业。

举个好例子，我曾拜访一家名为Ghows LLC的律师事务所。他们使用一款具备人工智能功能的校对工具，帮助检查合同草案中的冲突和不一致。据律师们介绍，这一过程过去是手工完成，既繁琐又耗时且易出错。采用该人工智能工具后，Ghows的生产力提升了50%，错误减少。我们将逐步更新所有IDP，纳入行业特定的人工智能解决方案，让企业受益。

田佩玲女士询问了CTO即服务计划。已有超过92,000名用户访问该平台资源，超过1,600家中小企业受益于数字咨询服务。举例来说，餐饮企业西门街面对市场上众多技术解决方案感到不知所措，团队求助于CTO即服务计划下的数字顾问，帮助整合数字系统。该企业实现了15%的人力节约和销售增长。我鼓励所有中小企业利用这些计划。

对于希望做更多的企业，我们通过高级数字解决方案（ADS）计划支持他们，该计划汇聚技术生态系统，为行业负责人确定的关键问题策划解决方案。我们在ADS下推出了两项新计划，帮助企业体验生成式人工智能（GenAI）。[请参见《通讯及资讯高级国务部长澄清》，官方报告，2024年3月1日，第95卷，第128期，书面声明更正部分。]

第一项计划是IMDA与EnterpriseSG合作，为一批试点中小企业提供13款专门策划的生成式人工智能解决方案，涵盖营销和销售等常见业务功能。如果这些解决方案证明有效，我们将把它们纳入“中小企业数字化”预批准数字解决方案清单，惠及更多企业。

第二项计划面向规模更大、数字化更成熟的企业，帮助他们开发和部署自有的生成式人工智能数字解决方案。IMDA推出名为“数字领导者生成式人工智能”的新举措，技术合作伙伴包括科技巨头，将与参与企业合作，帮助开发和实施创新的生成式人工智能解决方案。我们对企业的早期兴趣感到鼓舞，欢迎更多企业报名参与。

先生，请允许我转向第二大重点，支持企业更快扩展。

在咨询过程中，中小企业反映，随着业务增长，发现数字解决方案缺乏互操作性和可扩展性成为限制因素。

例如，食品服务中小企业Bread Createur采用了多种销售渠道和配送平台，但发现无法自动汇总订单和跟踪第三方配送平台及销售渠道的销售数据。对于小规模运营来说，这只是个不便，但随着业务增长，成为了瓶颈。这种孤立的解决方案也阻碍企业充分利用数字化潜力，包括从数据分析中获得商业洞察。

因此，我们将加大力度：(a) 在“中小企业数字化”计划中纳入更多集成数字解决方案；(b) 尽可能规定这些解决方案的互操作性要求；(c) 鼓励更多解决方案采用云原生架构，以增强可扩展性。

市场上若无集成解决方案，我们将通过ADS计划策划此类方案。一个例子是面向食品服务中小企业的“连接业务套件”解决方案，使这些企业能够集成管理前端和后端功能。借助该集成方案，我提到的Bread Createur能够轻松跟踪不同销售渠道的所有销售和交易，包括直接送达厨房的第三方订单。

未来，我们将与行业负责人和协会紧密合作，推出更多预批准的集成数字解决方案和云端解决方案，支持企业在成长过程中快速扩展。先生，此时我必须强调，正如其他人早先提到的，技术不是万能钥匙。集成且可扩展的数字解决方案还需要行业和企业重新设计流程和运营。

接下来，我谈谈第三大重点，保障企业更安全。我很高兴看到CSA最新的网络安全调查显示，75%的组织意识到网络安全的重要性。然而，尽管企业采取措施改善网络卫生状况，仍有很大提升空间。

同一调查发现，新加坡超过八成企业在一年内遭遇至少一次网络安全事件，几乎所有企业都遭受了负面业务影响。CSA还发现，只有三分之一的组织实施了CSA网络安全基本认证计划下五类网络安全措施中的一半以上。缺乏实施网络安全解决方案的知识是普遍挑战。

田佩玲女士和谢耀权先生询问我们如何帮助中小企业提升网络韧性。虽然我们将在《数字企业蓝图》中详细阐述，但我先简要介绍我们的三级策略。

第一，我们支持中小企业采取措施改善网络卫生。将推出网络安全健康检查工具，帮助企业评估网络卫生状况，与同行业企业比较，并获取资源以弥补不足。

需要更多支持的企业可利用CISO即服务计划，聘请网络安全顾问制定定制化网络安全健康计划。符合条件的企业可获得共资支持，抵消服务费用。迄今已有55家中小企业受益。

第二，我们将从上游提升企业使用的数字系统的网络安全标准，特别惠及无内部网络安全资源的中小企业。将从IMDA“中小企业数字化”计划下的预批准数字解决方案开始。

第三，我们将与行业负责人合作，制定行业特定的网络安全指南。例如，在医疗领域，CSA与卫生部合作，制定网络安全指南，提升医疗服务提供者的网络安全水平。

因此，主席先生，我简要介绍了《数字企业蓝图》的三大重点，通过更智能、更快扩展、更安全，提升企业和员工在人工智能时代的能力。

接下来谈谈我们如何培养劳动力的技术能力。

在更广泛的劳动力层面，更多人需要掌握有效使用数字工具的技能。随着技术变革加速，我们需将再培训和技能提升视为工作文化的一部分，视为对自身的持续投资。

雇主也必须将员工的再培训和技能提升视为投资，以充分利用已部署的数字系统。打个比方，就像拥有一辆强劲的汽车，却只能用一档。我们需要提升员工技能，才能充分发挥这台强大引擎的效能。

因此，每个行业数字计划不仅包含为企业策划的数字解决方案，还附带相关数字工具的培训课程清单。例如，零售行业数字计划包括员工学习如何有效利用社交电商解决方案增加销售的课程，包括如何通过直播销售商品。

IMDA还与新加坡技能未来合作，为许多课程提供资金支持。我鼓励雇主和员工充分利用这些计划。

充足且优质的技术人才对实现我们的目标至关重要。鉴于科技公司裁员，田佩玲女士提及了对科技行业前景的担忧。

全球科技公司在更具挑战的经济环境下，调整和优化运营，优先发展新增长领域。不幸的是，这有时导致裁员，给相关人员带来痛苦和压力。新加坡也不例外，部分科技公司裁员主要影响非技术岗位。

幸运的是，新加坡仍是许多科技公司全球战略中的关键节点。随着它们加深和扩大在本地区的参与，对新加坡技术人才的需求将持续增长。目前，技术岗位在整体就业中的比例从2018年的4.5%上升至2023年的5.2%。

这一增长由信息通信行业和非信息通信行业共同推动，后者在2023年占技术岗位约57%。

随着更多企业采用数字化，包括更先进的数字解决方案如人工智能，我们预计对技术人才的需求将进一步增长。这些岗位对新加坡人来说是优质工作。例如，信息与数字技术专业的大学毕业生月均起薪仍为最高，达5,500新元。

下午6时整

谭洁西卡女士、陈佩玲女士、任国权先生和莎瑞尔·塔哈先生询问了我们如何确保科技人才的稳定供应。约瑟芬部长早些时候谈到了我们培养人工智能人才和具备人工智能技能的劳动力的努力，包括加强现有的科技技能加速器（TeSA）计划的举措。迄今为止，该计划已帮助超过17,000名本地人获得科技岗位，并提升和再培训了超过231,000名专业人士的技能。

我们还在努力加强工艺教育学院（ITE）和理工学院毕业生在科技领域的就业成果，并为他们在整个职业生涯中提供更多发展路径。我们于2022年成立了ITE和理工学院TeSA联盟（TIP联盟），汇聚志同道合的合作伙伴——学校领导、科技行业协会以及如NCS、埃森哲和新加坡科技工程等主要科技人才雇主，共同推动变革。

令我欣慰的是，雇主们正在改变他们的思维方式和人力资源（HR）做法。雇主们不再仅仅关注学术资格，而是给予申请者的技能和能力足够的重视，以评估其适合度。

为了推动整个行业的变革，信息通信媒体发展局（IMDA）和TIP联盟发起了基于技能招聘运动，并推出了一本手册，为企业基于能力吸引、评估和培养科技人才提供实用指导。在三个月内，我很高兴地分享，承诺支持基于技能招聘的公司数量已从100家增加到200家。

甲骨文公司是承诺支持基于技能招聘的企业之一，已根据技能招聘其职位空缺。作为承诺的一部分，其招聘团队选择在新加坡所有技术岗位的招聘广告中不突出教育要求。

埃森哲是另一家采用基于技能招聘的公司。他们采用严格的多阶段评估，侧重于技能、能力和成长潜力，结果招聘时间缩短了75%，优质人才储备增加了40%。基于技能的招聘方法与我们作为“前进新加坡”（Forward SG）计划的一部分所做的转变相一致，拥抱超越成绩的学习，创造多元化路径。

学校也在发挥作用。例如，响应行业反馈，我们工艺教育学院和理工学院的信息与数字技术（IDT）专业已将实习期限从六个月延长至十二个月。去年，超过400名理工学院和工艺教育学院学生进行了为期一年的实习，以获得更多行业经验。我已与许多学生见面。我们将支持提供这些为期一年的实习的公司，提供共同资助以覆盖培训成本。

伍妮女士是该计划的受益者。在义安理工学院就读期间，她在华侨银行担任全栈开发员，进行了为期一年的实习，参与仪表盘和架构项目以提升运营效率。伍妮发现项目规模令人震撼。与较小规模的学校项目相比，实习让她接触到更复杂的系统及其相互关联。这段经历拓宽了她对动态科技行业及其众多激动人心职业选择的理解。先生，请允许我用普通话说几句话。

（普通话）：[请参阅方言发言。] 先生，人工智能正引领我们进一步走向数字化道路。除了为我们的企业带来竞争优势外，它还提升了劳动力的生产力。因此，政府将协助企业，特别是中小企业及其员工，利用人工智能谋取利益。

迄今为止，IMDA已与各行业合作推出了22个行业数字计划（IDPs）。在即将更新的IDPs中，机构还将纳入人工智能相关内容。此外，在中小企业数字化计划下，IMDA将与科技行业合作，将人工智能技术纳入预先批准的数字解决方案。目前，20%的数字解决方案由人工智能驱动，惠及超过3,000家中小企业。更重要的是，我们将与各行业合作，规划相关培训课程，帮助员工掌握技能，保持更新，抓住人工智能带来的新机遇。

（英语）：先生，新加坡没有许多其他经济体所具备的自然优势。我们没有庞大的国内市场、庞大的本地劳动力，也没有自然资源。但我们能够通过灵活应变，充分利用数字化和人工智能等技术赋能，继续扩大企业的市场机会，为新加坡人创造优质且激动人心的工作岗位，我们正建立在坚实的基础之上。

政府将在数字化旅程的下一阶段，坚定地成为企业和员工的合作伙伴，提升企业和员工在人工智能时代的能力。这将是一段激动人心的旅程。因此，我欢迎更多志同道合的合作伙伴与我们携手，并邀请所有企业和员工加入我们，共同踏上这段激动人心的旅程。

主席：通讯及资讯部高级国务部长贾尼尔·普图切里。

通讯及资讯部及卫生部高级国务部长（贾尼尔·普图切里博士）：主席先生，感谢议员们的发言和提问。

今天，我想借此机会说明通讯及资讯部对数字政府的策略：我们如何需要并正在打造有效的数字产品，以公民为中心，关注新加坡人的需求，勇于尝试和拥抱试验，以及我们如何投资数字基础设施和研发。所有这些，都是为了让新加坡具备实现智慧国愿景的能力。

先生，良好的数字政府始于了解公民需求，解决他们关心的问题。我们最成功的产品都是基于同一个问题：新加坡人面临哪些挑战？

一个例子是RedeemSG。该平台让居民领取并使用政府发放的数字券，包括社区发展理事会（CDC）券。它是我们从纸质券转向数字券的关键推动力。纸质券对消费者的弊端显而易见，商户也面临挑战。收到的纸质券每天需捆绑、收集、手工处理，报销需时数天或数周。RedeemSG提供了更好的方式。自2020年以来，家庭已领取超过10亿新元的数字券。简单有效的数字产品能对人们生活产生切实影响。

陈佩玲女士询问政府如何促进公民更积极参与识别问题和共同创造成功的数字解决方案。莎瑞尔·塔哈先生也问政府如何通过新的数字产品持续改善新加坡人的生活。

“为善而建”（Build For Good）是我们如何做到这两点的好例子。该项目汇聚志愿者为同胞建设数字解决方案。我们采用问题优先的方法。在2023年“为善而建”活动前，组织者从公众收集了700多个问题陈述。其中一个团队解决了学生辅导员需花时间撰写个案笔记的问题。他们的解决方案是名为NoteFlow的产品，一种用于转录和总结个案访谈的工具，使辅导员能专注于关怀学生。NoteFlow及其他“为善而建”中涌现的有前景的想法目前是原型，我们希望其中一些能成熟并为公共利益做出贡献。

确定问题后，我们探索不同解决方案：快速构建原型；与真实用户测试；并推广有潜力的想法。政府需解决的问题具有挑战性，尝试不同方法找出最佳方案是解决新加坡问题的最佳途径。

正如我所述，针对单一问题采用多种方法意味着我们尝试的一些想法可能不会成功。举个例子：一款名为MoneySound的产品。团队观察到，尤其是年长的小贩，有时难以目视确认顾客设备上的电子支付凭证。确定问题后，GovTech的小团队在几个月内构建了MoneySound的“概念验证”原型。这是一款能朗读数字支付的设备，解放小贩双手，无需目视确认支付。

我们与小贩测试后发现他们兴趣不大，反馈负面。他们对设备安装、维护及工作方式有顾虑。考虑这些反馈后，团队在启动三个月后暂停了MoneySound的开发。提出想法，快速行动，通过“概念验证”确定其受欢迎程度，若不理想则暂停。

这些想法未如预期成功令人失望，但这是我们数字政府工程师正在经历的试验过程。这种方法带来的见解有助于我们解决下一个问题或产品的下一版本。

这种试验方法还允许我们同时尝试多种策略解决重大问题。例如，GovTech团队一直在探索如何帮助公民从政府网站获取相关信息。为公民以合适方式提供正确的信息是个大问题。我们没有寻找单一灵丹妙药，而是推出了多个产品。每个产品针对不同用户群体，满足不同需求。

需要帮助的新加坡人可以使用SupportGoWhere。这是一个一站式门户，帮助寻找政府计划或资助服务。其关键功能之一是为照顾者推荐护理服务、财政支持计划和未来规划工具，方便他们根据自身情况找到支持，无需浏览多个政府网站寻找信息。他们不必知道去哪儿找相关信息，只需一个门户。

但有时需要更通用的信息，我们开发了另一款产品SearchSG，这是一个搜索引擎，利用人工智能从多种政府来源抓取信息，为公民提供相关且最新的搜索结果。

因此，我们采用多种策略尝试解决同一问题。通过此过程，我们能了解用户在使用数字产品时的需求和体验。学习越快，改进越快。

谭洁西卡女士问数字化推动如何改善新加坡人生活，随着智慧国计划进入第十年。2014年至2023年间，公民对政府服务的满意度从73%提升至83%。同期，企业对政府服务的满意度也从69%升至83%。请允许我分享我们认为促成这一提升的三大战略。

第一，我们致力于改善新加坡人的日常生活。第二，在此过程中，我们提供更好、更整合的政府服务。第三，我们更加包容。若允许，我愿分享每个类别的一些例子。

通过网站、应用商店或其他渠道提供了许多数字服务。市场也存在未能满足或难以满足的需求。

其中一个例子是保护新加坡人免受诈骗的ScamShield。市场难以提供同样有效的解决方案。诈骗是日常影响我们的难题。现在我们有了ScamShield，且反响良好——下载量达85万次。它是我们打击诈骗的最广泛工具之一，我鼓励新加坡人使用它。

第二，提供更好、更整合的政府服务，举几个例子。其一是健康预约系统（HAS）。用户可轻松预约疫苗接种、筛查（如乳腺X光检查）。该产品支持英语、普通话、马来语和泰米尔语。市场难以以多语言形式满足此类需求。该产品还允许用户查看社区健康援助计划和医疗储蓄账户等计划对健康预约的补贴。

下午6点15分

我们将两三项市场难以提供的服务整合——多语言预约系统及补贴信息展示，帮助用户做出决策。

另一个例子是MyLegacy@LifeSG。它更进一步，将与临终规划及身后事相关的可靠信息和数字服务汇聚于便捷门户。处理此类事务不易，即使是有提前规划的人也如此。这些时刻不常发生，充满压力、不确定性和繁杂事务。任何支持都弥足珍贵。

一个例子是克里斯托弗·哈姆扎先生。他已婚，有一个四个月大的女儿。2021年，哈姆扎先生亲眼目睹好友在哀悼中处理其已故父亲事务的挑战。受此启发，他与妻子决定提前规划，并求助于MyLegacy。通过该产品，哈姆扎先生轻松记录重要信息——各类账户、保险单——并与可信赖人士共享。他形容门户仪表盘直观、易用，且安心信息不会被用于第三方营销，已成为MyLegacy的热心推广者。我也鼓励议员们关注MyLegacy，鼓励居民和选民注册使用。

第三部分策略是更加包容。蔡艾立先生对此有提问并提出观点。他询问了老年人的手机使用情况。

主席，2022年，89%的60岁及以上老年人拥有智能手机，较2017年的74%有所提升。自2020年该计划启动以来，我们的“老年人手机接入”计划已批准超过16,000份低收入老年人援助包。蔡先生还提到需更好支持老年人使用数字空间。为此，我们推出了“老年人数字化”计划，迄今已培训超过280,000名老年人。

同时，我们也努力在设计和开发中体现包容性，将过程带给老年人。我们与广泛用户群体（包括老年人）测试数字服务，确保满足他们的需求。我们还开发了专门支持不同需求群体的工具。

一个例子，议员们可在一层亲自体验，是名为“ReadLiao”的产品。它是我们最近“为公共利益黑客马拉松”活动中涌现的原型之一。如今，老年人有时难以理解冗长复杂的信件，常需依赖照顾者（包括子女）为其总结信息。拥有年长亲属的人可能熟悉查看和解释此类信件的经历。问题不仅在语言，还在于材料的呈现方式。

因此，ReadLiao结合光学字符识别和人工智能平台，将文件重新包装并以清晰易懂的格式展示，更好地传达内容给老年人。我们计划在未来几个月内在社区试点ReadLiao，并希望将其发展为成熟产品。该产品目前仅几周历史，处于原型阶段。

我们还有另一款更成熟的工具，名为“Purple A11y”，是GovTech的开源自动化测试工具。它扫描网页，识别潜在的无障碍问题。开发者可用它识别标签错误的按钮或图片。对大多数人而言，这些问题不易察觉，也不影响使用体验，但对视障人士或使用屏幕阅读器的用户来说，正确设计至关重要。自2023年以来，我们利用Purple A11y提升政府数字服务的无障碍性，并已直接集成到MyCareersFuture等网站的开发中，确保其可访问性。

先生，迄今为止我主要关注数字产品。但我们的工作还有另一个方面需要关注——基础设施，即必须协同工作的互联系统，才能使这些产品成为可能。现在我想解释一下我们如何加强新加坡的数字基础设施并投资研发，以便我们能够继续拥有有利于数字创新的环境。

沙拉尔·塔哈先生问及文化、社区及青年部（MCI）如何装备新加坡以充分利用最新技术发展，尤其是人工智能（AI）。确保新加坡拥有支持人工智能活动的基础设施至关重要。为此，我们将投资高达5亿新元，确保新加坡拥有足够的高性能计算能力，以支持我们在人工智能创新和能力建设方面的雄心。

我们预计这些资源将支持跨行业的应用场景，如金融服务、医疗保健、交通和物流。随着时间推移，我们希望这笔种子资金能够催化新加坡人工智能的更大发展和应用，并激发产业对计算基础设施的额外投资。

田佩玲女士询问实施数字连接蓝图（Digital Connectivity Blueprint，DCB）的计划。该蓝图由文化、社区及青年部和信息通信媒体发展局（IMDA）于去年六月发布，概述了新加坡建设下一代数字基础设施的战略。它涵盖了各种基础设施组成部分——如连接世界的海底光缆等硬件基础设施；连接不同系统、应用和设备以实现协同工作的中间件；以及许多其他因素。数字连接蓝图旨在通过综合总体规划，确保我们在需要时拥有所需资源。

在未来几年，我们可以期待看到数字连接蓝图中大胆的构想逐步实现。这一进程已经开始。

例如，数字连接蓝图的战略重点之一是在未来五年内实现无缝的10吉比特每秒（10G）国内连接。我们已预留资金以提升全国宽带网络（NBN）的容量，使10G宽带成为现实。信息通信媒体发展局将投资高达1亿新元，支持运营商升级基础设施，并以有竞争力的价格提供创新服务。

正如2000年代全国宽带网络建设时一样，我们是在需求到来之前进行投资。这是为了应对人工智能、沉浸式数字体验和自动化解决方案等领域即将出现的机会，这些领域将需要更高带宽的连接。我们计划于2026年前完成10G全国宽带网络的升级，预计未来五年将有超过50万个家庭注册并受益于更高速的宽带。

谢耀权先生询问如何更可持续地推动我们的数字未来。正如预算演讲中提到的，能源效率补助金（EEG）将扩展至数据中心行业。随着2024年底能源效率补助金在数据中心行业的推广，我们希望更多数据中心运营商和终端用户采用节能设备。能源效率补助金只是信息通信媒体发展局今年晚些时候将推出的绿色数据中心路线图下多项可持续发展举措之一。

除了产品和基础设施，我们还需要确保能够获得合适的技术。这一点至关重要。新加坡需要强大的研发能力，以开发和定制适合本地环境的技术。

在网络安全方面，我们已在南洋理工大学设立了CyberSG研发项目办公室，拨款6200万新元支持网络安全研究。该项目办公室于去年九月启动，作为协调机构，推动新加坡将研究成果转化为政府机构和产业的商业解决方案。它是加强数字安全和发展数字经济的关键推动力。

沙拉尔·塔哈先生还问及文化、社区及青年部如何建设新加坡在人工智能领域的研究能力。过去五年，我们在人工智能研究上投资超过5亿新元，投资已取得成效。根据顶级人工智能会议的论文发表数量，我们位列全球前十。我们的研究人员获得了国际认可，如谷歌人工智能博士奖学金，该奖学金每年全球约授予50名研究生，以表彰其卓越和创新的研究工作。此外，我们支持了近150项与政府和产业合作的研究项目，有些项目规模较大，有些较小，甚至涉及意想不到的领域，例如人工智能新加坡与牙科连锁机构Q&M合作，帮助牙医从X光片中检测疾病，执行自动牙科图表绘制并推荐治疗方案。我建议所有议员定期检查牙齿，必要时借助人工智能。

随着获取最新技术变得越来越必要以吸引投资，我们必须继续投资研发，以保持我们在全球市场的竞争优势。

先生，请允许我总结。数字技术是我们满足公民和企业需求的最强大工具之一。我们拥抱大胆的发展和敏捷的试验，以便利用数字技术为新加坡人和新加坡创造最大的影响力。同时，我们必须未雨绸缪，投资数字基础设施和研发，以提前促进我们的数字化目标。迄今为止，这一方法已取得成功，随着我们进入智慧国旅程的第二个十年，这一方法还能为新加坡带来更多成果。[掌声]

主席：我们已进入澄清时间。杰西卡·陈女士。

杰西卡·陈顺娘女士：谢谢主席。我想问高级国务部长詹尼尔关于全国宽带网络升级的问题。2006年升级时，我们确实看到不少居民没有注册。因此，您提到预计有50万人注册，我希望能有良好的沟通，确保居民和企业都能注册，不错过周期。我们也看到当时有很多物流挑战，所以我希望有充分的沟通，让大家明白该做什么、何时注册，以避免重蹈覆辙。

詹尼尔·普图查里博士：先生，感谢杰西卡·陈女士提出这一点。确实，推出新产品和过渡到新模式——这可能是也可能不是新商业模式，取决于运营商的做法——我们必须确保充分向消费者群体传达信息。她的观点很好，我们一定会跟进。

主席：辛格先生。

普里塔姆·辛格先生：谢谢主席。感谢张玉娟部长回应我的发言。请允许我向部长提两个简短问题。

第一个问题关于我之前提到的预算书中特定条目，基本上是阐明对SPH传媒信托的资金支持。感谢部长指出这属于“对其他机构的拨款补助和资本注入”项。鉴于这笔巨额拨款，我建议部长考虑未来为SPH传媒信托设立单独条目。我之所以这样说，是因为考虑到资金框架以及政府介入公共服务媒体领域的方式，如果能持续追踪纳税人资金投入SPH传媒的情况，将对公众有所帮助。这只是给部委的一个建议。

第二个问题涉及部长分享的一些关键绩效指标（KPI），某些指标未达标。预算书中每个部委末尾都有KPI部分，列出部委如何看待其向公众提供的服务等关键指标。鉴于SPH传媒的长期资金支持，我建议在预算书的KPI部分纳入相关指标，让公众了解其表现优劣。例如，部长提到的覆盖率、参与度、方言目标等。这是给部长的建议，盼望得到回应。

下午6时30分

张玉娟女士：主席，谢谢辛格先生的建议。

我认为预算书中如何报告这些内容并非完全由文化、社区及青年部决定，因为政府有一定惯例。我不记得具体细节，但印象中，比如公共交通补贴，我不认为预算书会细分到补贴给SMRT、SBS Transit或其他巴士运营商。情况并非如此。

当然，如果考虑学前教育服务的资金，我也不记得预算书会细分到具体实体。通常是为一系列活动提供资金，而不具体反映资金流向哪个实体。我可能记错了，但这确实是我们会考虑的事项。不过，预算书中如何展示这些内容并非完全由文化、社区及青年部决定。

KPI也是如此。预算书中报告的是部委必须达成的KPI。部委与许多其他利益相关者互动。

例如，文化、社区及青年部负责信息通信媒体发展局（IMDA）。IMDA与电信公司（电信运营商）有互动。我们可能不直接资助他们，但对他们进行许可。他们也是新加坡非常关键的服务提供者。为了继续持有牌照，他们也必须达成KPI。这并不意味着我们会将所有KPI直接搬入预算书。这是另一种展现我们职责范围的方式。

感谢议员提出这些可能性。我认为他的更广泛观点是，公众会从更多关于公共服务媒体实体表现的信息中受益。

这些问题非常合理。我们需要找到更合理的方式发布信息。不过，我想补充一点，主席，我们可以继续关注覆盖率、读者数、参与度等指标。但如果回到支持公共服务媒体的根本原因，那就是新加坡人是否拥有可信赖的媒体来源。信任才是最重要的。

在这方面，至少路透社研究所（Reuters Institute），辛格先生自己提到的，发布了非常有用的年度报告，评估新加坡媒体组织中最受信任的品牌。辛格先生引用了2021年的调查结果，他说《海峡时报》（SPH传媒信托旗下刊物之一）信任度约为77%。

我想说这份报告对我们形成思路非常有帮助。最新的2023年报告已发布。如果看2023年报告，在新加坡最受信任的五大品牌中，全部是本地公共服务媒体实体；在前十名中，有八个是我们的公共服务媒体实体。

如果剔除本地公共服务媒体实体，剩下的就是美国的CNN、英国的BBC和雅虎新闻。用这个视角思考为何及如何继续支持本地公共服务媒体，我认为这在某种程度上胜过我们能设定的所有指标。

我并非说那些KPI不重要。我认为它们必须与辛格先生提到的其他验证方式一起持续评估。

主席：苏涵妮女士。

苏涵妮女士：感谢部长刚才对辛格先生的澄清。关于KPI，我也强烈建议文化、社区及青年部在考虑KPI时，应关注多个因素。尽管某些KPI因现有情况未达标，我们也应强调其他优先事项，重视其他KPI的重要性，例如部长提到的公众信任。

对我而言，另一个非常重要的关键因素是品牌。例如，《海峡时报》和《联合早报》等品牌如何与新加坡的品牌和身份相关，向外界展示新加坡的真实情况，吸引更多外国投资者来新加坡。这些都是我们希望向外界传达的良好渠道和方式，绝不能被遗忘。

张玉娟女士：主席，我完全同意苏涵妮女士的观点。确实如此。用管理术语来说，我们喜欢说“被衡量的事情才会被完成”，所以设定KPI有其意义。

但在文化、社区及青年部内部，我们完全清楚这些指标并不能完全反映我们对公共服务媒体实体的期望。它们在世界上的地位无法完全量化。它们帮助新加坡人形成的身份认同和团结，也难以用数字衡量。

我们非常清楚，现有指标体系可能非常不足。因此，我们不断与公共服务媒体实体讨论是否有更好的方式反映其进展。苏女士的观点非常重要。

主席：看起来部长和两位高级国务部长没有更多澄清问题。请问田佩玲女士，您是否愿意撤回您的修正案？

田佩玲女士：工作繁重，主席，我请求撤回我的修正案。

[(程序文本) 修正案，经许可，撤回。 (程序文本)]

[(程序文本) 预算总额中，Q项2,378,410,000新元获批准。 (程序文本)]

[(程序文本) 发展预算中，Q项327,254,700新元获批准。 (程序文本)]

英文原文

SPRS Hansard 原始记录 · 抓取日期：2026-05-02

4.15 pm

The Chairman : Head Q, Ministry of Communications and Information. Ms Tin Pei Ling.

Investing in Smart Future

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson) : Mdm Chairman, I beg to move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head Q of the Estimates be reduced by $100".

Throughout history, the mastery of technology has been essential for a nation's progress and its ability to compete strategically. This importance has only heightened in the modern era. Hence, by investing in critical infrastructure, innovation and talent development, countries can position themselves as leaders in emerging technologies and shape the future of the global economy and geopolitical landscape.

Singapore, as a small and open economy, does not aspire to be a superpower but we too must invest so as to overcome productivity challenges, unlock new economic potential and do good for our people.

New game changing technologies emerge over time. Disruptions brought about by such technologies are happening more frequently and quickly. Amidst key digital developments, artificial intelligence (AI) is now taking centrestage. In the book, "The Coming Wave" by DeepMind founder Mustafa Suleyman, he argued that the coming decade will be defined by a wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies and AI is central to this wave.

Some of the breakthroughs in AI took place in an unexpected manner and accelerated progress significantly. So, we must be prepared for a future in which AI is pervasive in almost all aspects of our lives.

Yet, AI, if left to develop irresponsibly, could bring about significant harms too. Hence, the task of maintaining human control over powerful technologies is an essential challenge of our time.

While that sounds ominously frightening, technology is but a tool – good or bad depends on who wields it. Singapore believes that AI can be a potent force for good – to uplift human potential and to unlock economic opportunities, as set out in the National AI Strategy 2.0. Notably, there is a shift in the AI strategy, seeing AI as a "necessity" and no longer just an "opportunity".

Given this shift in belief, Singapore needs to invest even more in digital infrastructures, talents and capabilities critical to Singapore's next bound of economic development and do more to preserve and enhance digital trust as well as leveraging digital capabilities to build communities and better lives. All these in the age of AI.

First, on digital infrastructure and resilience.

As I had articulated in my speech during the January Motion on "Building an Inclusive and Safe Digital Society", building infrastructure ahead of demand is important to maintaining competitive edge and Singapore has always done so.

Likewise, as we march on towards a smart future in the age of AI, Singapore needs to double down on our investments into higher speed networks and higher performance computing power. May I seek an update from the Ministry on what is being done to enhance investment into such digital infrastructure?

Given how critical infrastructures are to deliver essential services and drive innovation, the importance of digital security and resilience cannot be undermined as they not only ensure business continuity, but also shape public confidence.

As I had highlighted again in my January's Motion debate speech, with the likes of DBS' repeated digital service disruptions in 2023, Central Provident Fund savings lost to Android malware scams and personal data breaches in public healthcare. Even if the incidents were no direct fault of the enterprises or institutions, these incidents would have affected significant portion of our population and, in turn, affect public's trust in digital.

Regulations are effective in setting boundaries and making clear the Dos and Do nots. As technologies and especially as AI evolve, regulations will have to play catch up. But regulations alone will not be sufficient to address these issues. The solution needs to go further upstream so that companies and institutions can integrate security and resilience into their products and operations by design. Hence, may I ask what is the Government doing to update our regulations and what is being done to help companies and institutions implement higher digital security and resilience standards?

In relation to this, the Government launched the Chief Information Security Officer or CISO-as-a-Service last year. May I ask the Minister to also give an update on the implementation of the Cybersecurity Health Plan?

Secondly, to unlock economic opportunities, the industries and businesses must be able to transform adequately and quickly. The Government has introduced initiatives, such as small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) Go Digital programme in 2017, various enterprise grants over the past decade or so and implemented Industry Transformation Roadmaps that are regularly updated. These initiatives are thoughtful and beneficial.

Larger enterprises are perhaps savvier and better placed to leverage such initiatives. Some perhaps do not even need to tap into them. But for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), they often lack resources and expertise to select digital solutions that could enable them to improve their productivity. So, even with grants and solutions made available to them, they run the risk of either not employing digital solutions that are beneficial to them or undertaking digital solutions that might not be relevant to them; thereby incurring unnecessary costs and transition risks. The Government introduced Chief Technology Officer or CTO-as-a-Service in 2021 to help SMEs transform. Into the third year now, how has this service fared so far? What else will the Government do to better help SMEs adopt digital solutions that are relevant to their business needs?

As Singapore marches on in our digitalisation journey and as we shift our AI strategy from opportunity to necessity, I am heartened that that the Digital Connectivity Blueprint was launched in June 2023 with the aim of enhancing Singapore's digital infrastructure for enterprises and people to capture emerging opportunities in the digital space. Now that half a year has passed, could the Ministry give an update on the implementation of the plans within the Blueprint and share what preliminary results that we may have observed so far?

Thirdly, we need to ensure our people are ready for what is to come. We are well aware of the opportunities and challenges that come with the new technologies and in this case, AI. I spoke about it in my past speeches in this House and my hon colleagues have also expounded the merits and issues surrounding AI several times before and I believe later as well.

One of the promises of making digital advancements was to avail better job opportunities for Singaporeans. But in recent times, we witnessed large-scale tech layoffs by the likes of Lazada, Google and Grab, arguably because they want to better align their organisational structure and resources with their new AI strategies. Affected workers were caught by surprise. Some managed to get absorbed into other firms given the tight labour market. Some took longer and had to reskill. While it is the businesses' prerogative to do so, what is clear is that our workforce must be future-ready as tech disruptions will only pick up in pace and the nature of jobs will change.

In talent development, education is important as it provides us with the foundation from which we build new knowledge and skills to keep up with new developments. But education alone is not enough. We need opportunities for our young and our talents to meet other bright minds from outside of Singapore to exchange ideas and spark off new ones. We need to have the space and platform for these bright minds to come together to learn; to research and experiment; to fail and iterate; to deliver and go to market.

Therefore, what is the Government doing to support our workforce to be AI- and future-ready and to leverage AI to remain competitive?

Mdm Chairman, do I take the rest of my cuts together?

The Chairman : No, I have to put the question.

Ms Tin Pei Ling : Okay, then, I will pause here.

[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]

The Chairman : Ms Tin Pei Ling, you can take your four remaining cuts together.

Technology for Good

Vernacular Public Communications

Towards Digital Resilience

Digital Trust

Ms Tin Pei Ling : Continuing from my earlier speech.

Fourthly, for the vision of a smart and digital future to be fully embraced by the whole-of-society, we must ensure that we use technology to bridge gaps, build communities and better lives.

Much was said about scams and how we must combat it to preserve social trust in a digital age during the January Motion debate so I would not repeat it here.

What I would like to highlight is the danger of misinformation. In my cut to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) yesterday, I spoke of how certain messages could be spread with an intent to create schisms between Singaporeans. But there could also be other harms associated with misinformation, such as discouraging vaccinations against what could have been severe but preventable diseases. Therefore, having trustworthy public service media channels that are accessible to all demographic groups is important in combatting misinformation and maintaining a common space that is safe for all citizens.

Hence, what is the Government doing to ensure that our Public Service Media continues to safeguard our social cohesion and common space and continues to reflect our societal values, such as multiculturalism?

Also, in fostering greater understanding and building communities, citizens of all ages and backgrounds must be able to communicate with each other. The ability to deliver accurate and reliable information in different languages is imperative if we are to continue engaging our seniors and various communities. Hence, what is the Government doing to preserve our vernacular capabilities and how is the Government leveraging the ever-improving technology to do so?

Finally, as our society advances; as issues faced become more complex; and as our people become savvier, the Government cannot possibly solve everything on its own. As emphasised in the January's Motion debate, a whole-of-society effort is needed. How then will the Government facilitate greater citizen involvement and participation in identifying problems and co-creating successful digital solutions?

In conclusion, technology advancement and the proliferation of AI are reshaping industries and the global landscape. Singapore will have to be ready for what is to come by investing ahead of time, preserving and strengthening digital trust and leverage digital capabilities to bridge gaps, build communities and better lives.

Funding for SPH Media Trust

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied) : Chair, the first tranche of public funds was disbursed to SPH Media Trust in March 2023. Over four Ministerial Statements in this House, the Government has put out its reasons for making the taxpayers subsidise the running of SPH Media Trust or at least, partly subsidising the running of SPH Media Trust.

What we have been told is that public funding is needed for three reasons.

First, without public funding, SPH Media Trust's transformation into a digital news company will not be able to afford the investment and costs of running its professional newsrooms, which is expected to outstrip advertising revenue given the intense competition for eyeballs online.

Second, it is in the public interest to preserve local news media, particularly those in the local vernacular languages, that are important to give voice to our multiracial communities, but which are difficult to sustain financially given their inherently smaller readership or viewership.

Third, we were told public funding is necessary to support SPH Media Trust as the public will be well-served by a mainstream media that is trusted.

One example of this was the Reuters Institute Digital News Report of 2021, where 77% of respondents expressed trust in The Straits Times – up from 70% in 2018. In June last year, SPH Media Trust's Audit and Risk Committee found that SPH had indeed overstated its circulation numbers between September 2020 and March 2022 and a Police report was also filed.

Given the provision of taxpayer funding for SPH Media Trust, there is considerable public interest in how Singaporeans will be better served by the mainstream media in Singapore. This is represented by Singaporeans who seek greater editorial independence, a wider diversity of views, providing important feedback on Government policies and even investigative journalism on matters of significant public interest.

We were told that there will be key performance indicators (KPIs) for SPH Media Trust and it has to provide the Ministry of Communication and Information (MCI) with half-yearly updates on its risk management framework. Can the Minister inform the public – who are now SPH Media Trust's stakeholders; one, what are the KPIs that SPH Media Trust has to meet under the funding framework? Two, how has SMP fared on its KPIs thus far, after being subsidised for one year? Three, which KPIs did it fail to meet and why? Four, has MCI found SPH Media Trust's half-yearly risk updates satisfactory? Five, how has SPH Media Trust addressed its risk management framework?

I look forward to the Ministry's replies and request the officeholder to share under which line item and page of the Revenue and Expenditure Estimates the subsidy to SPH Media Trust is reflected at and what is the expenditure for 2023 and the amount budgeted for 2024/2025?

I ask because there is not a specific line item making reference to significant market power (SMP) or SPH Media Trust.

The Chairman : Mr Sharael Taha, you have six cuts. You can take them all together.

4.30 pm

Investment in National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS 2.0)

Title of the Cut

Industry Transformation Maps and Jobs Transformation Maps

Supporting SMEs to Leverage AI

Investment in Infrastructure for AI

Support for Vernacular Papers

Better Lives through Digitalisation

Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol) : Thank you, Mdm Chair. Madam, in the Motion on "Building an Inclusive and Safe Digital Society" that was raised by our GPC in this House last month, the House reaffirmed our commitment to adopt a whole-of-nation approach to sustain trust by building an inclusive and safe digital society.

In the Budget Debate earlier this week, I shared that I am glad that we commit to invest more than $1 billion over five years for our National AI Strategy 2.0 which will focus on building the infrastructure, developing our workforce and the industry. In my next few cuts on this, I will focus on a few key items on the National AI Strategy 2.0.

Firstly, how can we provide equal and equitable opportunities such that the opportunities brought about by AI do not only benefit the few at the top? I raised this during our Motion in January, too. This includes ensuring NAIS 2.0 provides opportunities for all segments of Singaporeans, bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots and also ensuring our SMEs are involved in developing their capability.

Secondly, AI is said to be a general capability that reads across industries and will have impact across multiple industries. How will NAIS 2.0 refresh our Industry Transformation Maps and Job Transformation Maps? How do we build the talent pipeline?

Thirdly, how do we build the infrastructure necessary for Singapore to be a powerhouse in AI development?

Lastly, how do we better lives through digitalisation?

Firstly, as we go digital and embark on transformation under the National AI Strategy, how can we ensure that all segments of Singapore are able to tap on the opportunities AI and digital provide? How do we ensure the digital haves and the digital have-nots, especially school-going children from lower-income families. have equal opportunities that AI and digital provide?

From a business perspective, AI is a general purpose technology that applies across industries. The technology is not confined to just companies in the tech industries or MNEs only. How can we support our SMEs across industries to leverage AI to improve their value proposition, productivity and processes?

Secondly, some reports mentioned that 70% of workers will see AI impacting their current jobs. Can the Minister provide an update on the Industry and Jobs Transformation Maps across the industries? How has AI changed the Industry Transformation Maps? How do we proactively support workers who may be displaced by this technology?

Through NAIS 2.0, how do we identify opportunities for our workers to upskill and apply AI in their jobs to boost their productivity and add value to the industries that they are in?

It is also anticipated that more than 15,000 workers are required in the AI field. How will MCI work together with MOM to deliver the 15,000 AI practitioners required in the industry? How can we have specific Career Conversion Programmes to provide more talent with this skillset?

As we build the critical mass of practitioners, we will also have to develop our depth talent in the industry. At the top end, how do we attract world-class talents to bring AI capability into Singapore? How do we build our own depth capability with researchers in AI in our local institutions?

Thirdly, Mdm Chair, to develop a thriving AI industry ecosystem in Singapore, we must develop the infrastructure to stay ahead of the emerging trends and demands. Other than fast network speeds, high-performance computing capability is also a necessity for AI. What are the Government’s plans to build compute capacity to support our growing AI and digitalisation needs? How do we secure the chips and not be overly reliant on a single source? And how can we develop this energy-intensive, high-performance computing sustainably for Singapore?

Lastly, given the success of platforms, such as Singpass, HealthHub and so on, how can we continue to better Singaporeans’ lives through digital? How can we provide Singaporeans easier access to Government services through digital? How can we use digital and technology to assist residents with special needs, such as the visually handicapped and our seniors? How can we use digital to bring our community closer together?

Support for Vernacular Papers

Mdm Chair, for my next cut, in Malay please.

( In Malay ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Since 2023, Berita Harian has transformed and shifted its focus from a newspaper that is exclusively print-only media to a digitally-ready platform. It now offers many innovative products in the Malay language and on multiple digital platforms to engage current and new readers.

From a podcast like #notapis, Instagram Reels, TikTok, BH Hub, BH lab, innovative content, and even organising community forums, the Berita Harian team has transformed how news is delivered to Malay readers, in line with the needs of the community.

My first question is how do we continue to support Berita Harian in terms of its manpower or budget to continue developing these Malay language products?

Secondly, although the Malay language has a small user base in Singapore, there are many more Malay readers in the region.

As we strive towards building a Community of Success, how can we support Berita Harian's capabilities so that it can provide a Singaporean Malay perspective on current affairs for the region?

GenAI Sandbox

Mr Mark Lee (Nominated Member) : Madam, the GenAI Sandbox by Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is a welcome initiative for SMEs to tap on generative AI (GenAI) to enhance their operations, products and services. I would like to ask the Minister to consider a tiered support approach to encourage businesses to adopt increasingly advanced technologies – a lower tier of 20% for back office and operational digitalisation, all the way to top tier of 60% for using AI technology, and for grants to support further customisation requirements as well dataset creation.

Additionally, as AI adoption grows, will MCI introduce governance and ethical frameworks to ensure AI's responsible and effective use?

The Chairman : Mr Alex Yam. Not here. Mr Christopher de Souza.

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah) : Mdm Chair, I have three cuts. May I take them together?

The Chairman : Yes, please take them together.

AI – Governance and International Cooperation

Mr Christopher de Souza : Thank you. Singapore launched AI Verify in 2022 as one of the world's first AI governance testing framework and toolkits. The idea behind AI Verify is to provide objective verifiability for AI systems used by companies so that they can show that the AI system is working as it has claimed.

As one might imagine, AI Verify can play a highly crucial role in the implementation and enforcement of AI regulations, which are starting to emerge around the world, such as the European Union (EU) AI Act. IMDA is already working on this with international partners. For instance, last year, it announced a crosswalk with the AI risk management framework of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. This is essentially a mapping exercise that maps elements of AI Verify to the US framework.

What is MCI's plan to continue to place Singapore at the forefront of AI innovation and governance, and what further plans are there to work with other countries in developing governance frameworks?

AI – Dangers of Deepfake Generative AI

Mdm Chair, with the rise of GenAI comes the prevalence of deepfake images and other content, which allow an individual to maliciously use such content for personal gain or to harm others. This has led to a proliferation of scams, frauds and even harassment through deepfake explicit images. This also threatens commercial businesses and industries, such as through deepfake advertisements, and affects the media and political arena.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

The threat of such content is because even when people know an AI-generated image is fake, the perception that people retain could nonetheless be swayed. Similarly, even if deepfake explicit images are known to be fake, the damage to an individual might already be irrecoverable.

How is MCI monitoring the situation to ensure the dangers of such GenAI do not harm our economy and social compact?

AI – Digital Security and Safety

Mr Chairman, as our society transforms, as our citizens learn to use AI, we must consider how we might protect them in the midst of the transition and going forward.

While we want to build an AI-enabled society and bring everyone along in the transition, digital security and safety are key in ensuring the transition is smooth and encouraging to all individuals. We need to ensure that the risks are properly allocated to the right commercial entities to incentivise risk management and risk thinking.

That would allow market forces to naturally balance the interests of the national economy with the interests of protecting individual consumers and users. By engaging with corporate partners, the regulation can take in industry feedback to tailor our governance for Singapore's society.

The Chairman : Mr Xie Yao Quan, you may take your four cuts together.

AI Verify

Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong) : Mr Chairman, we have introduced AI Verify last year to help develop testing tools for the responsible use of AI. How has the programme developed and what are our next steps to ensure the use of AI is responsible and safe?

Generative AI

Chairman, the training of GenAI requires large amounts of data, some of which could be private in nature. How could the Government better protect our personal data from inappropriate use in this regard?

Also, GenAI requires large amounts of compute and power to train and operate, and so do our other digital needs. These require power-hungry data centres. How could we power our digital future, our future data centres sustainably?

Digital Security and Resilience

Mr Chairman, in light of the recent outages affecting our banking and healthcare institutions, how can we enhance the resilience and security of digital infrastructure and services that are critical to our digital economy and society?

Also, quantum computing is expected to weaken or break current encryption algorithms that protect our digital communications and transactions. How can we ensure that our data and communications networks remain safe and secure?

Third, MCI had announced previously the CISO-as-a-Service last year, to help SMEs develop tailored cybersecurity health plans based on their risk profile and appetite. Could MCI provide an update on its implementation?

Digital Enterprise Blueprint

Mr Chairman, MCI had announced the launch of industry consultations for the Digital Enterprise Blueprint last year to bring together industry leaders, trade associations and companies across different sectors to better derive insights and solutions to meet Singapore businesses’ digital needs. Could the Ministry provide an update on the progress in this regard?

The Chairman : Mr Eric Chua, please take your two cuts together.

Online Harms

Mr Eric Chua (Tanjong Pagar) : There have been recent media headlines: "Youth committed series of sexual offences involving multiple victims, including minors"; "Eight weeks’ jail for voyeur who filmed female colleague using toilet"; "Teen admits to sexually assaulting his two younger sisters multiple times"; "A 12.3% increase in voyeurism cases from 2022 to 2023: one of five things the Singapore Police Force wants us to know from their recent annual crime brief".

I could go on, but Members would be well aware of these recent high profile headlines. What raises the alarm for me is this: while there is a general decrease in the overall number of youth arrests over the last decade, youth sexual offending has bucked the trend. According to SPF, the number of youth offenders who committed outrage of modesty and rape offences climbed by 48.6% from 109 cases 2016 to 162 in 2020.

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To better understand this, I asked to speak with some youth sexual offenders some time ago. I separately spoke to three young offenders at length, spending about an hour with each of them. The three I spoke to came from diverse backgrounds, but not all had challenging family situations. Based on what they shared with me, one commonality struck me: how each of them struggled with addiction to the consumption of sexually explicit materials.

To be sure, we are talking about anecdotes from the experiences shared by three individuals. While this is by no means representative, one also should not simply wave this revelation away.

The pervasiveness of digital technology has opened new avenues for exposure to and consumption of sexually explicit materials, especially ones of a violent nature. While I do not claim a direct causality between pornography use and juvenile crime, extensive research has shown that adolescents' pornography use is related to more sexual aggression, both in terms of perpetuation and victimisation.

A 2019 study conducted with high school youths in US found that male adolescents exposed to violent pornography were over three times as likely to perpetuate sexual teen-dating violence. The use of online pornography has also been linked to youth self-development and beliefs, influencing one's internalisation of appearance ideals and body surveillance.

Simply put, sexual offending as a consequence and endpoint is just the tip of the iceberg. Pornography addiction, for instance, while not actually manifesting in a crime in most instances, can continue to plague an individual's life, damaging relationships, disrupting daily routines.

It is akin to a persistent, low-grade fever, symptomatic of a slew of deep-seated problems, which if left untackled can leave potentials untapped and productivity flagging. Society pays the bill in the form of a weakened family institution and in the most extreme scenarios, an increased rate of perverse and violent crimes. With the high internet and social media adoption rates in Singapore, it is high time that we paid much closer attention to online harms and the widespread spillover impacts it has on society at large.

On a separate but related note, unrealistic body standards paraded on the internet fuel a mindless pursuit of perfection and external validation. Nearly 20%, or one in five Singaporean adults who are active social media users are at risk of body image anxiety – with men representing some 40% of this at-risk group. I admit I personally feel some pressure to stay in the right shape. So, I sometimes hit the gym after midnight, determined to squeeze in a workout before the end of a long day. However, I am almost always surprised by the fact that I always have company at the gym by the number of young people, most of whom are young men, who remain seriously committed to sculpting their bodies even at unearthly hours.

Yes, for as long as we can remember, traditional media like the big and small screens – that is, film and TV – has led the charge in peddling unrealistic body standards. However, the proliferation of social media and the democratisation of content creation has only intensified peer comparison and hyper-fuelled unrealistic expectations of our own body image.

Simply put, the need to be that perfect bod is as real as it gets. Much of the conversation thus far, frames body image insecurities as a women's issue, but we know that is far from the truth. Men too face pressures and in the process, are actively discouraged to acknowledge or share about their own insecurities.

At its core, we need to begin a conversation on what masculinity means in Singapore society today. I recently chanced upon an article on NPR.org and I thought would like to leverage its content and run a little thought experiment with Members in this Chamber today. I hope many of you are listening to me.

I am going to read out three pairs of descriptors and Members can decide for yourself, which set of descriptors, either the former or the latter, more aptly describes what it means to be masculine. Here we go.

The first set: expressing anger over expressing sadness. The second set: swearing that we are fine even when we are actually not versus reaching out to loved ones and trusted friends when in need. The third set: laugh in the face of fear and danger versus being vulnerable about thoughts and feelings.

In your opinion, Members of the Chamber, which group better describes masculinity? You do not have to make known your position or your answers to me, much less take a vote on this – you do not have to reach for the buttons. I hope this simple exercise illustrates the effect of stereotypes at work.

Admittedly, this is a difficult conversation to have. To some, even talking about redefining masculinity is perhaps effeminate and even emasculating. We are increasingly seeing arrangements that go against the strand of what traditional masculinity looks like: stay-home dads who step into primary caretaking roles; dating down where the woman in heterosexual relationships has a higher earning power, all of which come with their challenges and stigma to tackle.

Rounding back, the concerns I have expressed on online harms and its impact on society, especially young men, is something we collectively need to tackle: from Government, community, families, parents and that is a work-in-progress. But at the heart of it all, we also need to have a mindful dialogue on what it means to be man enough in today's context.

Technology and Seniors

Sir, Queenstown is the first Housing and Development Board (HDB) satellite public housing estate in Singapore and is home to many residents who are seniors. With almost a third of Queenstown's residents age 60 and above, we have implemented several programmes and municipal enhancements to ensure that seniors can age well in place.

For instance, the hilly terrain and wide roads of Mei Ling Street and Stirling Road pose a safety concern for seniors when they cross the roads. To enhance safety and to allow seniors the respite of a brief pitstop, the central dividers between have been widened, amongst other enhancements.

There are various programmes in Queenstown that serve seniors well too. These include mental health programmes like SafePod, workshops on future care planning and a Seniors' Festival that is currently in the works. This Festival aims to empower our seniors, show them and their family members that one does not have to fear ageing and that there are many ways through which one can still enjoy their golden years.

Queenstown is also part of the Queenstown Health District pilot, which aims to leverage the diverse expertise of partners to create integrated solutions to enhance the health and wellbeing of Queenstown residents across their life stages. One such partner is the Lions Befrienders. At the Active Ageing Centre at Mei Ling, they will be launching the Gym Tonic, a strength training programme that tracks seniors' fitness and progress using senior-friendly gym machines. They have also harnessed technology to develop a system called i-Boleh, which allows seniors to self-account to Lions Befrienders' staff while offering games that help improve seniors' cognitive skills and reduce the risk of dementia.

Despite the many programmes that we have put in place for our seniors, one persistent pain point they face is catching up with technology. One constant feedback that I hear from seniors is the need for automated teller machines (ATMs), especially those with the passbook update function. Many shared with me that having to travel a distance away to the next nearest ATM is of great inconvenience to them. This is especially so when they are less mobile. I feel their pain when they narrate their challenges to me.

Despite the proliferation of digital banking, many seniors I spoke to still preferred transacting in cash. Some have expressed unfamiliarity with digital banking apps; others feared being scammed. Their concerns are not unfounded. Understanding their concerns, I have appealed multiple times to our banks although I have not always been successful. But I am not giving up.

While some seniors are hesitant, I take heart in the fact that many of them remain open to learn how to go digital and pick up tips on how to stay safe online. That is why I am appreciative that Leng Kee Community Club (CC) – located within Queenstown – has been designated by the SG Digital Office (SDO) as a SG Digital Community Hub. SG Digital Community Hubs were initiated by IMDA as part of Singapore's digitalisation push and are conveniently located in various parts of our heartlands. The hub at Leng Kee CC is open daily from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm. Seniors get one-on-one guidance in a customised fashion to equip them to go digital.

The Seniors Go Digital Activity Pack gamifies the learning experience and encourages seniors to continue learning on their own with online resources. Given Singapore's rapidly ageing population and Queenstown's super-aged resident profile, SG Digital Community Hubs would become more important in equipping seniors and seniors-to-be for digital life as technology continues to evolve.

To this end, I would like to ask the Ministry what percentage of seniors, islandwide, have been engaged by the SG Digital Community Hubs and what is the take-up for these Seniors Go Digital Activity Packs thus far?

In addition to the Community Hubs, the Mobile Access for Vulnerable Seniors is another scheme that has been implemented in recent years. It provides subsidised smartphone and mobile plans to lower-income seniors who want to go digital but cannot afford them. To qualify, individuals must be aged 60 years and above, and a current beneficiary of the Ministry of Social and Family Development's Long-Term or Short-to-Medium-Term ComCare assistance or under HDB's Public Rental Scheme.

In addition, our seniors are also encouraged to step up and pick up a basic digital skill at our Community Hubs. Eligible seniors enjoy a two-year mobile plan at $5.10 per month and can purchase a smartphone for a one-off cost of as low as $20. Given the importance of online communication today, such schemes encourage more seniors to digitalise and be plugged in to the community and stay connected with the family at the same time.

So, I would like to ask the Ministry, how has the response and take-up rate been like among seniors for this scheme?

As we continue to equip our seniors for the digital age, technology can be harnessed to preserve a sense of emotional connectedness. Members may have heard of VintageRadio.sg – a digital service designed for seniors to keep them informed, entertained and engaged. Through an app, VintageRadio.sg aims to build confidence in seniors to explore an unfamiliar digital world by evoking a sense of familiarity as they do so.

Playing popular multilingual tunes from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and having veteran presenters such as Patrick Kwek, Brian Richmond, Rahimah Rahim and PN Bala guide them through the app are examples of how familiarity is injected into the digital-learning journey. These tunes and presenters will be familiar to many of our seniors and having them as company makes the digitalisation journey hopefully a little less intimidating.

At this juncture, I would like to compliment the VintageRadio team for providing one more important channel through which our seniors can stay digitally as well as emotionally connected.

Sir, in conclusion, seniors and technology does not have to be like oil and water. Adopting technology does not have to mean that services automatically become less personal or high-tech and low-touch. Instead, the use of technology must be like enhancing plain water by infusing it with fruits or herbs, adding colour, taste, nutrition even.

So, for colleagues in the Ministry, my final question is this: what then is our uniquely Singaporean-infused water recipe?

The Chairman : Ms Jessica Tan, please take your four cuts together.

Potential of AI and Capability Building

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast) : Thank you, Mr Chairman.

Mr Chairman, as part of Budget 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that $1 billion would be put into the National AI Strategy 2.0 over the next five years to help boost Singapore's AI capability, capacity and value with the twin goals of excellence and empowerment.

AI and GenAI have the potential to transform industries and improve our quality of life, reimagining the way we live and work. AI development and deployment are however, not without risks, such as bias training data or algorithmic design, privacy concerns with the analysis of large amounts of data, the complexity and sometimes, the lack of transparency of AI systems. There are also concerns with security risks with the sophisticate use of AI to exploit vulnerabilities in systems. Despite the risks, GenAI and machine learning with capability to learn from large amounts of data efficiently can predict potential cyber threats and secure systems.

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For Singapore, the strategic bets are to leverage AI to address big challenges, such as population health and climate change. How will we be able to develop capability and enable improved productivity and competitiveness of businesses and Government with AI and to prepare our workforce, especially our lower-skilled workers, that will be disrupted by the use of AI to reskill and to be prepared for the opportunities? How will we address and minimise the risks of AI?

Digital Talent and Capability

Mr Chairman, technology is important but without having people to imagine what is possible with technology and capable of utilising, developing and innovating with technology, we would not be able to realise the potential and value of technology.

By 2025, Singapore's economy would need another 1.2 million digitally-skilled workers. These were the findings of a report in 2021, commissioned by Amazon Web Services, amongst six Asia Pacific countries.

With the push for digitalisation not just in Singapore, but around the region as well, there will be increased competition for talent. How will we ensure that we build the capability, grow and retain the talent and skills required to support our digital ambitions and growth? With the pervasiveness of technology and digitalisation, including AI, we can expect every job role to be redesigned in some shape and form.

Most jobs will need some form of digital literacy. Training and reskilling will be required. How can businesses be supported, especially less digitally-ready SMEs, to develop digital capabilities to improve productivity and competitiveness?

Preserving Trust in the Digital Domain

Mr Chairman, in Singapore, with rapid technology development, the push to digitalise and the greater use and reliance on digital technologies is very much a part of how businesses operate and how people work across many sectors. For individuals, digital is very much a part of life – from our social interactions, buying and paying for goods and services to leisure and entertainment.

With the increasing reliance on digital for how we live, work and play, how will the Government foster a trusted digital environment, resilience and security of Government services and the responsible use of digital technology, including AI? How will we assure our people of service availability, protection of their personal data and the security of their digital transactions? How is the Government ensuring that Singapore's digital infrastructure remains secure and resilient so that businesses can have the confidence to do business digitally and offer their services seamlessly, reliably and securely?

Digitalisation – Better Lives of Singaporeans

Mr Chairman, the vision of our Smart Nation is, "a Singapore where people are more empowered to live meaningful and fulfilled lives, enabled seamlessly by technology, offering exciting opportunities for all." At its core, the Smart Nation is about people and making lives better. The Smart Nation objectives are to improve the everyday convenience and the quality of life of Singaporeans, drive greater business effectiveness and value and support new areas of innovation and ensure that no one is left behind.

With the Smart Nation now in its 10th year and digital being very much a part of life in Singapore, how has the Smart Nation translated to opportunities for businesses and jobs for Singaporeans? How has the Smart Nation and the push for digitalisation improved lives of Singaporeans?

The Chairman : Ms Hany Soh, you can take your two cuts together.

Human Touch amidst Digitalisation

Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee) : ( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] According to last year's Singapore Digital Society's Report, more Singaporeans are using digital skills in their daily lives. Among them, the most significant progress is in the use of mobile applications for payments and internet browsing by the elderly. However, there is still a need for improvement, in understanding and using new technologies.

Many elderly residents in Woodgrove have also expressed to me that while they acknowledge the benefits of digital technology in their daily lives, they feel almost powerless to keep up with the rapid developments and transformation of these digital technologies.

( In English ): Chairman, getting the buy-in of the entire nation to embrace digital transformation is an incredible task. While the advantages of digitalisation are universally recognised, there are some who remain reluctant to adopt it. Having listened to my Woodgrove residents, I gathered that many seniors face difficulties keeping up in the nation's progress towards digitalisation. For most of them, learning with a patient and personal touch is much more preferred and effective.

As we continue to introduce new technologies, we must first understand the needs of the end-users and the overall user experience as well as ascertain the most effective modes of imparting the knowledge and skills for operation. But everyone learns in different ways. As a whole-of-society charges towards digitalisation, have we paused to ponder whether we have been sufficiently and adequately inclusive of our seniors and residents with special needs?

Therefore, I implore MCI to spearhead the effort to ensure that in-person alternatives will always be readily available for those who are lost and feel helpless in seeking to embark on their digital journey. Take our typical neighborhood library for instance: seniors would much prefer approaching the librarian or receptionist for assistance, rather than having to resort to a virtual helpdesk.

So, I ask, how will the Government ensure that our seniors are equipped with the essential skills to enable them to participate meaningfully in a rapidly transforming digital society?

Secondly, how can MCI balance the seemingly competing interests of preserving the human touch versus ensuring that our digitalisation progress is not impeded amidst our increasingly digitalised society, particularly for future Government programmes to be rolled out and engagements with the community?

Mobile Library

Mr Chairman, every third Saturday of the month, many of my Woodgrove residents enjoy bringing their little ones to our Woodlands Regional Library – where their children aged four to six years partake in a fun-filled afternoon, listening to engaging stories and participating in book-based activities, such as crafts and quizzes.

Events like these that are meticulously planned by the National Library Board (NLB) are greatly appreciated and many of my residents have shared their feedback with me that they hope to see more similar events happening in the community, even outside the library.

In this regard, I understand that MOLLY, NLB's mobile library services may be able to fulfil such wishes. Since its inception in 2008, MOLLY mobile library has been travelling around Singapore bringing books, services and programmes to under-served communities which do not have ready access to public libraries.

Can MCI update on the outcome achieved thus far and whether there are plans to expand the scope and outreach efforts to better promote reading and lifelong learning in the community at places, such as community clubs, senior activity centres and preschools?

The Chairman : Minister Josephine Teo.

The Minister for Communications and Information (Mrs Josephine Teo) : Mr Chairman, I thank all Members for their cuts.

A decade ago, we launched the Smart Nation initiative, with the vision for Singapore to be a nation where people live meaningful and fulfilled lives enabled by technology, offering exciting opportunities for all. There is no doubt that technology has become a big part of Singaporeans' daily lives. Overall, 84% say that digital technologies have made their lives easier and more than half are prepared to try new technologies.

In January, Parliament debated extensively on a Motion on digital inclusion and safety. For the Committee of Supply (COS) therefore, MCI will cover three other important aspects of Smart Nation development.

First, leveraging technology to uplift our collective potential. Second, upholding trust in the digital domain. Third, safeguarding our infrastructure of fact. During the Budget and Committee of Supply debates thus far, no fewer than 15 Members of Parliament have mentioned AI developments in their speeches. Overall, they supported the more than $1 billion committed over the next five years to catalyse AI activities in Singapore.

As Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong pointed out, AI is a general-purpose technology that will find many applications, some of which we cannot yet imagine. But it is not the only type of technology Singapore has invested in. For example, we have also built capabilities in quantum technology. Nonetheless, given the current strong interest in AI, I will expand on the Government's plans to strengthen the AI ecosystem in Singapore and guard against its risks.

Last December, we launched our refreshed National AI Strategy (NAIS 2.0), as one of the key planks of our Smart Nation effort. It builds on investments made under our first National AI Strategy that was launched in 2019. MCI agrees with Ms Mariam Jaafar that our AI ambitions should not be driven by hype.

While we have invested to build Sea-Lion as a means to grow our capabilities and test the hypothesis that that there is value in training large language models (LLMs) on Southeast Asian languages, we have avoided headlong competition with builders of big frontier models which cost much more. Like Ms Mariam Jaafar, we believe that Singapore's interests are better served through the deployment of use cases, based on the most suitable foundation models that can be developed anywhere in the world.

Among other goals, NAIS 2.0 aims to create new peaks of excellence in leading economic sectors and areas aligned with our Smart Nation priorities. Earlier today, Minister Gan Kim Yong announced plans to partner 100 companies to set up AI Centres of Excellence (CoEs) and spur AI development in key sectors, like manufacturing. Later, Senior Minister of State Dr Janil Puthucheary will also update Members on plans to boost the infrastructure that powers AI activities.

I will focus on talent development and governance.

In the world of AI, we can think broadly of three communities: AI creators, who generate cutting-edge AI research, design frontier systems and drive novel use cases; AI practitioners, who have the skillsets to implement and deploy AI systems, models and algorithms in organisations; and AI users, who are equipped to use AI-powered solutions and services, increase productivity to take up better jobs.

Every city with some AI ambition wants these creators, practitioners and users – as many as they can get. The competition is extremely intense, as alluded to by Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Sharael Taha.

Take Dr Koh Pang Wei for example – an award-winning AI researcher who is currently based at the University of Washington. Dr Koh is highly sought after because he focuses on building AI models that can work with imperfect data, which is a common problem in real-world applications. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Koh developed novel methods to estimate the movements of people from raw data. This led to models that helped governments understand the spread of the COVID-19 virus and inform reopening policies around the world.

Dr Koh is a born and bred Singaporean. As much as we would like him to come home, we also recognise the value of the networks that he is plugged into because of his current appointment.

In fact, there are other researchers like him from diverse nationalities who would like to work more with us. We welcome them and will soon launch a new AI Visiting Professorship for world-class AI researchers to collaborate with Singapore. We will also partner AI Singapore and our universities to launch a new AI Accelerated Masters Programme to grow our pipeline of Singaporean AI researchers.

At the same time, we will triple the pool of AI practitioners here to 15,000 over the next five years. Practitioners include data scientists and machine learning engineers and who develop and translate the use of AI in organisations across the economy.

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Take the example of SG Digital Scholar Mr Joshua Wong. The SG Digital scholarship gave Mr Wong the opportunity to study computer science in Cambridge University, gain exposure to AI research and build networks with some of the best global talent in AI. This helped him to fulfil his dreams to be an entrepreneur.

In 2020, he co-founded Hypotenuse.AI, a startup which provides an AI-powered platform for businesses to create marketing content in seconds. Today, Mr Wong continues to enjoy networking opportunities with fellow scholars and mentors younger talent. We will support more young Singaporeans with similar aspirations as Mr Wong.

As an initial step, we will invest over $20 million in the next three years to enhance AI practitioner training for students. This will cover AI-related SG Digital scholarships and overseas internships in AI roles. Beyond students, we will also support recent graduates and mid-career workers who wish to become AI practitioners.

IMDA plans to scale up the TechSkills Accelerator, or TeSA. It will provide funding support to employers with relevant career openings to induct and equip locals through upskilling opportunities and industry-relevant training.

In parallel to efforts to grow the creator and practitioner communities in Singapore, we will equip the broader workforce to be confident AI users. This may be the best way to forestall AI-induced job displacement which many Members, including Mr Yip Hon Weng, have expressed concerns about.

As with previous waves of technology proliferation, workers worry about being replaced. With AI, it is not just rank and file workers, but professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) who feel at risk, that AI tools and agents can take over the tasks that they currently perform. These include knowledge-based tasks, like research, coding and writing.

Many thoughtful observers have, however, pointed out that it is not so much AI displacing the workers, but AI-proficient workers displacing AI-deficient workers. As Members know, the People's Action Party (PAP) Government has a consistent record of investing in upskilling and reskilling workers, often ahead of demand and in partnership with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). We will continue to do so.

Let me provide an update on the Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs) and how they support workers impacted by AI, which Mr Sharael Taha asked about. There are now 16 JTMs that identify job roles affected by various technologies, of which 13 specifically outline the impact of AI. These JTMs cover at least 1.4 million workers in hundreds of job roles.

While we cannot fully predict the scope and scale of AI disruptions, these JTMs provide useful signposts for employers, unions and workers, so they can plan for job redesign or training interventions. Consequently, many of the NTUC's company training committees refer to them. Agencies responsible for sector development can also identify suitable training interventions.

For example, the IMDA appointed five training partners under the Information and Communications JTM in September last year. They now offer over 180 AI-related courses. As of December, they have trained about 1,000 people to be confident AI users. There will be thousands more in the next three years.

This year's Budget has also provided a generous top-up to SkillsFuture Credits and the Level-Up Programme for mid-career Singaporeans looking to reskill through full-time diploma programmes. IMDA will work with SkillsFuture Singapore to ensure that there are suitable offerings to help more of our people gain AI-proficiency and stay relevant in the workforce.

And, as suggested by Mr Gerald Giam, we already go beyond training programmes to promote hands-on learning. A very good example is the NLB's MakeIT programme, which allows participants to try their hand at 3D modelling and printing, robotics and coding. I spoke about it at COS previously.

The public sector itself provides both formal and informal learning experiences to build AI capabilities. For example, we have introduced tools like Pair, our secure version of ChatGPT, to help public officers in tasks, such as writing, brainstorming, research and coding. Today, around 35,000 public officers use Pair in their work to improve their productivity.

Sir, I should add that the most important strategy for sustaining high employment and minimising unemployment is continued job creation. This means ensuring that businesses continue to grow, including through the use of technologies like AI. By doing so, we need not react passively to job displacement by AI, but proactively use AI to reinstate better jobs for our people. This is why we will also invest in promoting AI adoption among enterprises, a topic which Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How will deal with later.

Let me now turn to the topic of AI governance. While we welcome opportunities that come with AI advancements, we must also guard against the risks of misuse. For example, AI can intensify existing threats, such as cyber-attacks, scams, or misinformation and disinformation. Guardrails are, therefore, necessary.

Mr Christopher de Souza, Mr Xie Yao Quan and Mr Mark Lee asked what we are doing to promote safe and responsible uses of AI and how we will protect personal data that may be used to train AI models. MCI recognises their concerns. At COS last year, I outlined our plan to clarify how the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) applies to AI systems.

Following extensive consultations with stakeholders, PDPC has finalised its Advisory Guidelines on the use of Personal Data in AI Recommendation and Decision Systems and will publish this today. PDPC will next consider giving guidance on the use of personal data to train generative AI (GenAI) systems.

Mr de Souza asked how MCI will continue to place Singapore at the forefront of AI governance. Indeed, Singapore has been recognised as an active and credible contributor to AI Governance. Last year, we launched the AI Verify Foundation, to harness the expertise of the global open-source community to promote responsible use of AI. This builds on the roll out of AI Verify, a testing framework and software toolkit, in 2022. Today, the Foundation counts organisations, such as IBM, Google, Deloitte, DBS and SIA as members.

At the World Economic Forum in January this year, we announced a Proposed Model AI Governance Framework for Generative AI (MGF-GenAI), and sought views from our partners. This framework builds on the earlier Model AI Governance Framework and reflects emerging principles, concerns and technological developments in GenAI. More recently, Singapore led the development of the ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics, which was endorsed at the fourth ASEAN Digital Ministers' Meeting held here last month.

I will now move on to the second theme of my speech: upholding trust in the digital domain. Both Ms Hany Soh and Mr Eric Chua asked how we maintain the human touch, amidst increasing digitalisation. Sir, coincidentally, I spoke about this yesterday at the Ministry of Home Affairs' COS debate.

The reality is that there is no silver bullet. Digitalisation is taking place across multiple settings and changes our interactions with each other in so many ways. We will, therefore, have to feel our way forward and be willing to adjust our approaches. Where the Government is concerned, we are mindful that the delivery of public services through digital means should be carefully designed to cater to different population segments, including seniors.

Two days ago, Minister Chan Chun Sing also reiterated the Government's commitment to ensure that our services remain accessible to all. For example, citizens who require support for Government services can head to any ServiceSG Centre, which can help with close to 600 services and schemes from over 25 agencies. IMDA's Digital Ambassadors also stand ready at multiple community touchpoints to provide guidance to seniors.

As the digital landscape evolves, our libraries will also continue efforts to promote reading and lifelong learning. This includes NLB's mobile library service, or MOLLY, which Ms Hany Soh touched on. I thank Ms Soh, for her support and appreciation of the outreach that MOLLY has helped the NLB to achieve. Since its launch in 2008, MOLLY has served over 500 institutions, received around 1.4 million visits and facilitated about 2.7 million loans. It is obviously very proud of these achievements and will certainly continue to reach out to as many as possible.

I should also add that it is not only MOLLY that brings the library to our citizens, there are other ways in which the library makes its presence felt. For example, there are pop-ups stations in busy shopping malls and other locations with high foot fall, and you will find some representation of the library in them.

I will now address two other dimensions of digital trust that Ms Tin, Ms Jessica Tan, Mr de Souza and Mr Xie asked about: security and resilience. These largely concern the digital infrastructure and services that power our digital economy and enable citizens to meet their day-to-day needs.

In 2023, Singapore faced disruptions in online Government services, banking and payment services, and when accessing the websites of public healthcare institutions. But we were not alone. Many countries are grappling with similar issues as they become more digitalised. For example, a data centre outage in France caused widespread disruption to government and other services. A cloud service outage in the US caused many websites to be inaccessible, including those of news outlets and airlines.

To manage the impact of such disruptions, the EU, Germany and Australia have already introduced regulations to enhance the security and resilience of digital infrastructure, such as cloud services and data centres. While we cannot fully eliminate disruptions, we will do more to minimise their occurrence. An inter-agency task force led by MCI has been reviewing the evolving landscape and developing mitigating measures.

We are looking at two key moves. First, we will enhance our regulatory levers. The upcoming amendments to the Cybersecurity Act will raise the cybersecurity of foundational digital infrastructure and other systems as well as entities, beyond the Critical Information Infrastructure it covers today. The expanded coverage will include data centres, cloud services and key entities that may hold sensitive data or perform important public functions.

I am pleased to update Members that public consultations on the amendments were completed in January. We plan to introduce the amendment Bill in Parliament next week and will share more details then. [ Please refer to " Clarification by Minister for Communications and Information ", Official Report, 1 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 128, Correction By Written Statement section. ]

While enhancing our cybersecurity posture is important, it is not enough. Past outages in Singapore and elsewhere have shown that disruptions can occur due to non-cyber reasons. These include misconfigurations in cloud architecture or the outage of data centres due to fires, water leakages and cooling system failures.

The task force is, therefore, also studying the introduction of a new Digital Infrastructure Act (DIA), to address broader security and resilience concerns of key digital infrastructure and services, beyond cybersecurity. The DIA will focus on digital infrastructure that can cause significant impact on the economy and society if disrupted.

For example, large cloud service providers and data centres are crucial to the functioning of a wide array of digital services that enterprises and consumers use daily. These operators may, therefore, need to meet higher security and resilience standards, to reduce the likelihood of systemic disruptions.

The task force is conducting further studies to properly scope the DIA and develop its proposals. The challenges are complex and include the cross-border nature of digital infrastructure operators, like cloud service providers. We will also need to balance trade-offs between mitigating risks and increasing compliance costs. We will continue to consult industry players and relevant stakeholders, and ensure coherence in requirements between the DIA and the Cybersecurity Act.

Second, the task force is exploring non-regulatory measures that will complement our laws and regulations. These could include providing guidance to digital infrastructure and service providers on best practices for security and resilience. While the Government does our best to ensure that digital infrastructure and services are secure and resilient, enterprises and consumers also need to play their part.

For example, enterprises must have robust business continuity and incident recovery plans. Smaller enterprises can refer to resources like the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore's (CSA's) Cyber Essentials programme; larger enterprises should adopt CSA's Cyber Trust mark. Consumers should also be prepared to use alternatives if a digital service disruption occurs. This creates a strong incentive to service providers to buck up.

5.30 pm

Mr Xie asked about the risks associated with quantum computing – especially in our data and communications networks.

Last June, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the launch of the National Quantum Safe Network Plus (NQSN+). Singtel and SPTel, together with another local company, SpeQtral, have since been appointed to build Singapore's first quantum safe network – the first of its kind in Southeast Asia as well. The network is expected to be ready by end 2024.

We are also building capabilities to develop solutions that enable safe and trusted data sharing – something that Ms Mariam Jaafar talked about. In July 2022, we launched the Privacy Enhancing Technology Sandbox Initiative to support businesses in piloting technological solutions that allow them to safely extract value from data whilst protecting personal data and commercially sensitive data.

Mastercard was one of the participating businesses which piloted a solution to share information on financial crime across international borders while complying with prevailing regulations. Mastercard is now studying the implementation of this in a commercial setting.

I now turn to the third and final theme in my speech: safeguarding our infrastructure of fact to uphold social cohesion. This infrastructure has several pillars.

Internationally, we have witnessed how deepfake technology has been misused to spread falsehood and manipulate public opinion on gun violence in the US; the Israel-Hamas conflict and even undermine election integrity. Their realism makes them a particularly dangerous weapon, as pointed out by Mr Christopher de Souza, Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Eric Chua. We take a strong stance against malicious AI-generated content. Targeted legislation to deal with them swiftly is thus one pillar in this infrastructure.

This includes the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, which enables us to issue corrections and label AI-generated misinformation with the correct facts. We can also consider disabling directions if the content poses serious harm to public interest.

Another pillar is public education initiatives to equip Singaporeans to be discerning consumers and producers of information. Our libraries play a key role in this effort. Last year, NLB introduced resources and workshops on GenAI as part of its S.U.R.E programme to educate Singaporeans about the benefits and perils of AI, as well as impart skills to verify and fact-check online content that may be AI-generated. These efforts have reached over 66,000 people.

Later this year, NLB will roll out new programmes and learning packages to educate Singaporeans about the risks that AI-generated misinformation can pose to society. We also recognise the need to grow new capabilities.

We previously announced that MCI and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research will launch the Centre for Advanced Technologies in Online Safety (CATOS). Among other things, CATOS will develop tools and measures to detect harmful content, including deepfakes.

In a fragmented media landscape awash with AI-generated content, audiences are finding it very difficult to separate truths from falsehoods. We therefore also need trusted news media to inform and engage our people, to keep us all on the same page. This is a critical pillar.

Mr Pritam Singh asked about Government funding to SPH Media. As a public service media entity, SPH Media plays a crucial role in: informing Singaporeans of issues of national importance; reflecting Singapore's values and way of life; reporting international events with a Singapore eye; and projecting Singapore's perspectives to the rest of the world.

SPH Media is also an institution and repository of our shared memories. Last year, Lianhe Zaobao celebrated its 100th Anniversary whilst The Straits Times is approaching 180 years of publication. Both Berita Harian and Tamil Murasu are also well-established, catering to the needs of our Malay and Tamil language communities.

However, SPH Media is facing its biggest challenge yet. The entire media industry has been severely disrupted by digitalisation and social media. Readership is declining as audiences have a multitude of choices. Traditional sources of revenue are also falling dramatically, with advertising shifting to social media and other online platforms. These problems are not unique to SPH Media.

Even an established media company like The Washington Post lost US$100 million last year and had to cut 10% of its headcount, despite extensive efforts to transform. Digital-only platforms are not spared either. The Pulitzer Prize-winning BuzzFeed News shut down last April, despite hiring top journalists and opening bureaus around the world.

According to The New York Times, one out of four newspapers that existed in 2005 no longer does.

Prior to restructuring into a company limited by guarantee, SPH posted its first ever loss. Left to market forces and commercial stresses, it would likely have gone the way of The Washington Post and BuzzFeed. This is particularly so with its vernacular titles, which have naturally smaller audiences and which members like Mr Sharael Taha and Ms Tin are rightly concerned about.

The Government decided to step in to give SPH Media a fighting chance in this new media landscape. Thus far, around $320 million has been disbursed to SPH Media across financial years (FYs) 2022 and 2023. Anticipating a more challenging environment, as outlined earlier, we have budgeted to provide SPH Media with around $260 million in funding for FY2024.

This is reflected in MCI's Budget Book, as part of MCI's overall grant disbursement provided to other organisations.

As I shared previously in the House, funding for SPH Media is targeted at three main areas: talent, technology and vernacular capabilities. They reflect the importance the Government has placed on quality journalism, digital transformation and upholding multiculturalism.

To ensure public accountability and fiscal prudence, SPH Media Trust is structured to comprise members representing different segments of society – from commercial entities like DBS, UOB and OCBC; to local institutes of higher learning like the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University and Singapore University of Technology and Design. But ultimately, SPH Media is accountable to Singaporeans. The news industry is a people-centric business and SPH Media has a crucial public service media role.

Therefore, KPIs are set to track reach and engagement across all communities, including specific targets for the vernacular outlets, youth and digital reach. MCI also requires SPH Media to report regularly on their performance in these areas and comply with relevant audits to ensure oversight of how funds are spent, as well as ownership and accountability of public service media outcomes.

So far, the funding disbursed has been put to good use. SPH Media has been strengthening its digital systems to improve its outreach, in line with what other global publications have done. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, for example, have pivoted from print to digital-first models, adopting multimedia formats to increase their readership.

Likewise, SPH Media recently adopted a new digital content management system to support its online coverage and launch mobile apps across its English and vernacular news titles. It has also made extensive efforts to improve retention and quality of its newsrooms through training, scholarships and fellowships with overseas institutions, such as the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. However, there is still considerable catch-up for SPH Media.

While it has maintained its overall reach and achieved a modest increase in its digital subscriptions, it did not meet all its KPIs on digital reach, youth reach, vernacular reach and average time spent on its websites and apps. Accordingly, it did not receive the full funding that was committed.

More importantly, these results show that the efforts made thus far are just the beginning. SPH Media will need to do more to maintain its relevance in this challenging media environment and will need continued support as it strives to get onto firmer footing.

Mr Chairman, I hope Members agree that in an information landscape where truths have to compete with falsehoods, public service media is a critical pillar in our society's infrastructure of fact. On matters deserving public attention, such as critical global events, community news in the vernacular; or indeed, Parliamentary proceedings, profit-driven platforms may have no interest except to sensationalise or add their own spin.

We also need public service media to tell Singapore's stories and project Singapore's voice. We cannot expect media organisations elsewhere to do so for us. At stake is our ability as a people to have a shared understanding of issues of the day, to know where our national interests lie and what we must do to ensure our continued success.

Sustained investment in our public service media entities is therefore, not a nice to-do; rather, it is a have-to-do if we are to uphold quality journalism that supports the public good. I therefore seek Members' support to sustain public investment in public service media entities to preserve our infrastructure of fact and maintain the high trust that our public has in public service media today.

Mr Chairman, with your permission, please allow me to conclude my remarks in Mandarin, returning to the topic of AI which I started with.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] AI will continue to permeate various regions and sectors worldwide including Singapore's society and economy. We must seize the opportunities to help our people and businesses prepare. To this end, I have announced several initiatives today.

First of all, we will launch a new programme to attract the world's top AI creators to come to the Lion City and collaborate with local experts and scholars to establish cutting-edge technologies in our country. In order to strengthen our country's AI workforce, we aim to increase the number of professionals in this field to 15,000 over the next five years. The Government will also invest $200 million to cultivate local talents, providing them with scholarships and opportunities for overseas internships.

However, while digital technology brings opportunities, it also brings risks. Therefore, we will introduce new guidelines governing use of personal data in AI systems. The Government is also exploring a new law to enhance the security of our country's digital infrastructure and services, ensuring that people can use digital technology with greater peace of mind.

I have always been advocating for "digital first, but not digital only". The Government will continue to provide non-digital options for citizens who are not yet ready to go online. However, the momentum of AI development will not slow down. The Singapore Government will uphold our forward-looking governance philosophy, and adopt a people-centric approach in implementation of the said programmes.

The Chairman : Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How.

The Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information (Mr Tan Kiat How) : Mr Chairman, we have made good progress in digitalising our economy. Singapore's digital economy generated value added of $106 billion in 2022, or about 17% of our nominal GDP; up from $58 billion or 13% of our GDP in 2017.

More enterprises are going digital. For example, more than nine in 10 enterprises are using e-payment today, compared to just six in 10 in 2018. Enterprises are also deploying more advanced digital solutions, such as cloud computing and data analytics. Importantly, I am heartened that our SMEs are doing so too.

In 2023, 95% of SMEs adopted digital solutions, compared to 74% in 2018. Even hawkers are coming onboard. As of November last year, 60% of our hawkers accept SGQR digital payments. The platform has facilitated an average of 5.1 million transactions or $42 million per month.

5.45 pm

IMDA's programmes like SMEs Go Digital and Hawkers Go Digital have moved the needle. At the same time, the pace of technological advancements, especially in AI, is picking up pace. We want to equip our enterprises and workers with the capabilities to ride this new wave.

We are developing a Digital Enterprise Blueprint to chart the next bound of our effort, which Mr Xie Yao Quan has asked about. We have been consulting extensively with sector partners and industry. We are refining the Blueprint, based on their feedback, and will put out a consultation paper in the coming months to seek views from the wider industry and from the public.

But let me take the opportunity to outline the broad contours of the Blueprint.

The Digital Enterprise Blueprint aims to "Uplift our enterprises and workers in the Age of AI". We will do this through three thrusts: first, we will empower enterprises to be smarter through using AI-powered digital solutions; second, we will support our enterprises to scale faster through adoption of integrated digital solutions; third, we will equip enterprises to be safer by improving their cyber resilience. So, smarter, scale faster, safer.

The Digital Enterprise Blueprint is a live document, which will be continually updated. Hence, we have started to implement some "no regrets" moves that received broad support. Let me elaborate.

Ms Jessica Tan, Ms Tin Pei Ling, Mr Sharael Taha and Mr Mark Lee and others asked how we are supporting SMEs to benefit from AI.

We will help enterprises and workers access benefits from AI capabilities through IMDA's SMEs Go Digital programme. First, for the vast majority of SMEs, IMDA curates a list of pre-approved digital solutions suitable for broad-based adoption. We have started working with the technology industry to incorporate AI capabilities in their digital solutions. I am glad to share that as of today, around 20% of these pre-approved solutions are already AI-enabled.

For example, AI capabilities are integrated seamlessly into customer relationship management solutions which help enterprises analyse customer interactions and data to suggest personalised marketing campaigns for customers. In 2023, over 3,000 SMEs have adopted and benefited from these AI-enabled pre-approved solutions. So, that is for the broad base of SMEs.

Second, at the sector level, IMDA has worked with sector leads to co-develop industry digital plans (IDPs) which serve as roadmaps for enterprises, highlighting solutions which meet specific needs of the sector. We started with five IDPs in 2018. Today, we have 22 IDPs for various sectors, including sectors like wholesale, construction, retail and food services, and these IDPs cover a broad swathe of our economy.

IMDA will refresh the IDPs to incorporate AI-enabled solutions that would be relevant to meet the needs of the enterprises in that sector. We have started doing so in the four IDPs that we either launched or refreshed last year, namely legal, tourism, retail and security sectors.

One good example, I met a company, Ghows LLC. It is a law firm that has been using an AI-enabled proofreading tool to help check their draft contracts for conflicts and inconsistencies. I understand from lawyers that this process used to be done manually and was tedious, time-consuming and error-prone. After adopting this AI-enabled tool, Ghows saw a 50% productivity improvement and less errors. We will progressively refresh all IDPs to include sector-specific AI solutions so that enterprises can benefit from these useful solutions.

Ms Tin asked about the CTO-as-a-Service, over 92,000 users have accessed resources from the CTO-as-a-Service platform and over 1,600 SMEs have benefited from the digital consultancy services. One example is food services company, Xi Men Jie (西门街). The company was overwhelmed by the numerous technology solutions in the market. The team turned to a digital consultant under the CTO-as-a-Service scheme for help to integrate their digital systems. The company achieved 15% in both manpower savings and sales growth. So, I encourage all SMEs to tap on these schemes.

For enterprises who want to do more, we are supporting them through our Advanced Digital Solutions (ADS) scheme, which brings together the technology ecosystem to curate solutions for key problems identified by the sector leads. We launched two new schemes under the ADS for enterprises to gain experience using GenAI. [ Please refer to " Clarification by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information ", Official Report, 1 March 2024, Vol 95, Issue 128, Correction By Written Statement section. ]

The first scheme is a programme by IMDA and EnterpriseSG to provide a pilot group of SMEs with access to 13 specially curated GenAI solutions for common business functions like marketing and sales. If these GenAI solutions prove useful, we will include them in the SMEs Go Digital pre-approved list of digital solutions to benefit others.

And for the second scheme, it is for larger and more digitally-mature enterprises who are looking to develop and deploy their own GenAI digital solutions in their businesses. IMDA is launching a new initiative called Generative AI for Digital Leaders, where tech partners, including tech giants, will work with participating enterprises to help them develop and implement innovative GenAI solutions. We are heartened to see early interest from enterprises and we welcome more to sign-up for these initiatives.

Sir, let me move on to the second thrust of supporting our enterprises to scale faster.

In our consultations, SMEs shared that as they started to grow, they realised that they were constrained by lack of interoperability and scalability of their digital solutions.

For example, Bread Createur, a food services SME, had adopted various sales channels and delivery platforms over time. However, they found themselves unable to collate orders automatically and track sales figures across their third-party delivery platforms and sales channels. What was an inconvenience for a small operation, quickly turned into a showstopper when they grew. Such stove-piped solutions also prevent enterprises from harnessing the full potential of digital, including deriving business insights from data analytics.

So, we will step up our effort to: (a) include more integrated digital solutions under the SMEs Go Digital programme; (b) stipulate interoperability requirements where possible for these solutions; and (c) encourage more of these solutions to be cloud-native for greater scalability.

Where integrated solutions are not available in the market, we will curate such solutions through the ADS scheme. One example is the Connected Business Suite solution available to Food Services SMEs. It enabled these SMEs to operate their frontend and backend functions in an integrated manner. With this integrated solution, Bread Createur, which I mentioned earlier, can easily track all their sales and transactions across different sales channels, including from third-party orders that are routed directly to the kitchen.

Going forward, we will work closely with sector leads and associations to introduce more pre-approved integrated digital solutions and cloud-based solutions to support our enterprises to scale quickly as they grow. Sir, at this juncture, I must stress that technology is not the silver bullet, as mentioned by others earlier. And integrated and scalable digital solutions would also require the sectors and enterprises to redesign their processes and operations.

Let me now move on to the third thrust of keeping our enterprises safer. I am heartened to see that in CSA's latest cybersecurity survey findings, 75% of organisations were aware of the importance of cybersecurity. However, while enterprises are taking steps to improve their cyber hygiene, there is still much room for improvement.

The same survey found that over eight in 10 enterprises in Singapore encountered at least one cybersecurity incident in a year and almost all of them suffered negative business impact. CSA also found that only one in three organisations implemented more than half of the five categories of cybersecurity measures under CSA's Cyber Essentials Certification Scheme. Lack of knowledge on how to implement cybersecurity solutions, was commonly cited as a challenge.

Ms Tin and Mr Xie asked how are we helping SMEs to then improve their cyber resilience. While we will flesh this out in the Digital Enterprise Blueprint, let me give Members a broad sense of our three-tier approach.

First, we will support SMEs in taking steps to improve their cyber hygiene. We will launch a cybersecurity health check tool for enterprises so that they can assess their cyber hygiene, benchmark themselves against their industry peers and access resources for them to plug the gaps.

Those who require more support can tap on the CISO-as-a-Service scheme to engage cybersecurity consultants to develop tailored cybersecurity health plans. Enterprises that are eligible can receive co-funding support to defray the cost for this service. Thus far, 55 SMEs have benefited from this scheme.

Second, we will go upstream and raise the cybersecurity standards of the digital systems used by our enterprises. This will especially benefit SMEs with no inhouse cybersecurity resources. We will start with the pre-approved digital solutions under IMDA's SMEs Go Digital programme.

Third, we will also work with sector leads to develop industry-specific guidelines for cybersecurity. In healthcare for example, CSA worked with the Ministry of Health to develop cybersecurity guidelines to improve the cybersecurity posture amongst healthcare providers.

So, Mr Chairman, I spoke briefly about the three thrusts of the Digital Enterprise Blueprint to uplift enterprises and workers in the Age of AI by being smarter, scale faster and becoming safer.

Let me now turn to how we are developing tech capabilities within our workforce.

At the broader workforce level, more of us will need to be equipped with the right skills to effectively use digital tools in our work. With more rapid technological changes, we need to see reskilling and upskilling as part of our workplace culture and see this as a continual investment in ourselves.

Employers must also view the reskilling and upskilling of their employees as investments, so as to fully benefit from the digital systems that have been put in place. An analogy would be like having a very powerful car but not being able to go beyond the first gear. We need to upskill our employees, so that we can make full use of that more powerful engine.

That is why each IDP does not only include a suite of curated digital solutions for enterprises, but also comes with a comprehensive list of relevant training courses for these digital tools. For example, the retail IDP includes courses for employees to learn how to make good use of social commerce solutions to generate more sales – including how to sell items on livestreams.

IMDA has also worked with SkillsFuture Singapore to provide funding support for many of these courses. So, I encourage employers and workers to make full use of these schemes.

Sufficient quality and quantity of tech talent is also crucial to realising our ambitions. Understandably, there have been concerns about prospects in the technology sector, given the layoffs by technology companies, as mentioned by Ms Tin.

Technology companies across the world have been right-siting and right-sizing their operations to prioritise new areas of growth, amidst a more challenging economic climate. Unfortunately, this sometimes results in layoffs which can be very painful and distressing for those involved. Singapore is no exception and has similarly seen some layoffs by technology companies which have largely impacted those in non-technology roles.

Fortunately, Singapore remains a key node in many of these technology companies' global strategies. As they deepen and expand their involvement in the region, demand for technology talent in Singapore will continue to grow. Currently, the demand for technology talent remains strong with technology jobs across the economy account for a rising share of total employment: from 4.5% in 2018 to 5.2% in 2023.

This was driven by demand from both the information and communication sector and non-information and communication sectors, with the latter accounting for around 57% of technology jobs in 2023.

As more companies adopt digital, including using more advanced digital solutions like AI, we expect that this will also fuel demand for tech talent. And these are good jobs for Singaporeans. A case in point, university graduates of information and digital technology courses continue to take home the highest median monthly starting pay at $5,500 a month.

6.00 pm

Ms Jessica Tan, Ms Tin Pei Ling, Mr Alex Yam and Mr Sharael Taha have asked about how we will ensure a steady pipeline of tech talent. Minister Josephine spoke earlier about our efforts to develop a pipeline of AI talent and AI-equipped workforce, including efforts to enhance the existing TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) initiative which, to date, has placed more than 17,000 locals into tech jobs and upskilled and reskilled more than 231,000 professionals.

We are also working hard to strengthen Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and polytechnic graduates' employment outcomes in tech and provide more development pathways for them throughout their careers. We set up TeSA for ITE and Polytechnics Alliance (TIP Alliance) in 2022 to bring together like-minded partners – school leadership, tech industry associations and leading employers of tech manpower like NCS, Accenture and ST Engineering – to come together to drive change.

I am heartened that employers are changing their mindset and human resource (HR) practices. Instead of just looking at academic qualifications, employers are giving sufficient weight to the applicants' skills and capabilities to assess their suitability.

To push for change across the industry, IMDA and the TIP Alliance launched the Skills-Based Hiring Movement, together with a handbook providing practical guidance for firms to attract, assess and develop tech talent based on competencies. Within three months, I am glad to share that the number of companies pledging their support for skills-based hiring has doubled from 100 to 200.

Oracle is an example of a company that has pledged its support for skills-based hiring and has been recruiting based on skills for their openings. As part of their commitment, their recruitment team has chosen not to highlight the education requirements in their job postings for all technical roles in Singapore.

Accenture is another company that has adopted skills-based hiring. They adopted a rigorous multi-stage assessment, focusing on skills, competencies and growth potential which proved to reduce time to hire by 75% and increased quality talent pipelines by 40%. The skills-based hiring approach aligns with the shifts that we are making as part of Forward SG to embrace learning beyond grades and create diverse pathways.

Schools are playing their part. For instance, in respond to industry feedback, the Information and Digital Technologies (IDT) schools in our ITE and polytechnics have lengthened internship durations from six to 12 months. Last year, more than 400 of such polytechnic and ITE students undertook year-long internships to gain greater industry experience. I have met many of them. We will support companies which provide these year-long internships, by providing co-funding to cover the cost of training.

Ms Queenie Ng is a beneficiary of this programme. While at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, she embarked on a year-long internship with OCBC as a full stack developer, working on dashboards and architecture projects to improve operational efficiency. Queenie found the scale of the projects to be an eye-opener. In contrast to the smaller-scale school projects, the internship exposed her to more complex systems and their interconnections. This experience expanded her understanding of the dynamic tech industry and the many exciting career options it has to offer. Sir, let me speak a few words in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Sir, AI is taking us further down the digitalisation path. Besides bringing competitive advantages to our businesses, it also enhances the productivity of our workforce. Therefore, the Government will assist businesses, especially the SMEs and their employees, to harness AI for their benefit.

So far, IMDA has collaborated across various sectors to launch 22 Industry Digital Plans (IDPs). In the upcoming updates of these IDPs, the authority will also incorporate sections on AI. Furthermore, under the SME Go Digital Programme, the IMDA will collaborate with the tech industry to incorporate AI technologies into the pre-approved digital solutions. Presently, 20% of digital solutions are driven by AI, benefitting over 3,000 SMEs. More importantly, we will collaborate with various industries to plan relevant training courses and assist workers in mastering skills, staying updated and seizing the new opportunities brought by AI.

( In English ): Sir, Singapore does not have the natural advantages of many other economies. We do not have a sizeable domestic market, large local workforce to tap on, natural resources. But we can well punch above our weight by being agile and making full use of technological enablers like digital and now AI, to continue enlarging market opportunities for enterprises and creating good and exciting jobs for Singaporeans and we are building on a very strong foundation.

The Government will be a steadfast partner for enterprises and workers in the next phase of our digitalisation journey to uplift enterprises and workers in the age of AI. It will be an exciting journey. So, I welcome more like-minded partners to work together with us and invite all our enterprises and workers to join us on this exciting journey ahead.

The Chairman : Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary.

The Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Health (Dr Janil Puthucheary) : Mr Chairman, I thank Members for their cuts and their questions.

Today, I would like to take the opportunity to explain MCI's approach towards Digital Government: how we need to create and are creating effective digital products, being citizen-centric by looking at Singaporeans' needs by experimenting and embracing experimentation and how we are investing in digital infrastructure and research and development. All these, so that Singapore is well-equipped to realise our Smart Nation ambitions.

Sir, good Digital Government begins with understanding what citizens need and solving the problems that matter to them. Our most successful products are the result of asking the same question: what challenges do Singaporeans face?

One example is RedeemSG. This lets residents claim and spend Government-issued digital vouchers, including the CDC vouchers. It has been a key enabler in our shift away from paper vouchers. The drawbacks of paper vouchers for the consumer are obvious. Merchants have faced challenges, too. The paper vouchers received had to be bundled together daily, then collected, manually processed. Reimbursement took days or weeks. RedeemSG provided a better way. Households have claimed over $1 billion in digital vouchers since 2020. Simple effective digital products can have a tangible impact on people's lives.

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked how the Government can facilitate greater citizen participation in identifying problems and co-creating successful digital solutions. Mr Sharael Taha also asked how the Government can continue to better Singaporeans' lives through new digital products.

Build For Good is a good example of how we do both. This brings together volunteers to build digital solutions for fellow citizens. We adopt a problem-first approach. Ahead of Build For Good 2023, the organisers collected over 700 problem statements from the public. One of the teams tackled the problem of student counsellors having to spend time writing case notes. Their solution is a product called the NoteFlow. It is a tool for transcribing and summarising case interviews and counsellors can then focus on caring for their students. NoteFlow and other promising ideas coming out of Build For Good are prototypes and we are hopeful that some of them will mature in time and make their own contribution to the public good.

Having identified the problem, we explore different solutions to tackle it: build prototypes quickly; test them out with real users; and scale the ideas which show promise. The problems the Government has to tackle are challenging, and trying different things to figure out what works best is our best bet to solve these problems for Singapore.

The ideas that we experiment with, as I have described, multiple approaches to a single problem means that some of the ideas that we experiment with will not work out. Let me provide one example. This was a product called MoneySound. The team had observed that it is sometimes difficult for hawkers, especially elderly hawkers, to visually check for proof of an e-payment on a customer's device. So, having identified this problem, within a couple of months, a small team from GovTech had built a "proof-of-concept" prototype for MoneySound. It is a device which reads out incoming digital payments so that the hawkers' hands are not occupied and they do not have to look to then check this digital payment.

We tested it with the hawkers but we found out that they were not keen. Their feedback was negative. They had some concerns about the installation, the maintenance of the device and also about how it worked. So, after considering these insights, the team has paused the development on MoneySound three months after it began. Come up with an idea, move quickly, establish through "proof-of-concept" whether it is likely to be well-received and, if it does not, we have to press pause.

It is disappointing when these ideas do not work out as expected. But this is the process of experimentation that our Digital Government engineers are working through. But the insights from such an approach are useful and they will help us to tackle the next problem or the next iteration of the product.

This experimentation approach also allows us to try multiple strategies at the same time to tackle big problems. For instance, GovTech teams have been exploring how to help citizens access relevant information from Government websites. Providing the right information for citizens in the right way is a big problem. Instead of searching for a single silver bullet, we have launched several products. Each targets a different segment of users to address different needs.

Singaporeans in need of assistance can use SupportGoWhere. It is a one-stop portal to find Government schemes or funded services. One of its key features is the Care Services Recommender for caregivers to find care services, financial support schemes and future planning tools suited to their circumstances. This enables them to find support conveniently, instead of having to navigate various Government websites in search of relevant information. They do not need to know where to go to find the relevant information. They just have one portal.

But sometimes, if there is a need for more general information, so we produced another product, SearchSG, which is a search engine that uses AI to provide citizens with relevant up-to-date search results scrapped from a variety of Government sources.

So, multiple strategies and try to solve the same problem. In doing so, we are able to learn about the needs and experiences of our users as they engage with our digital products. And the faster we learn, the faster we improve.

Ms Jessica Tan asked how the push for digitalisation has improved Singaporeans' lives as the Smart Nation initiative enters its 10th year. Between 2014 and 2023, citizen satisfaction with Government services has improved from 73% to 83%. Over the same period, business satisfaction with Government services has also risen, from 69% to 83%. Allow me to share some of the key strategies that we are applying, that we think have resulted in this improvement. There are three strategies.

One is that we have to work to improve the day-to-day lives of Singaporeans. Secondly, in doing so, we have to offer better and more integrated Government services. Third, in doing so, we have to be more inclusive. If I could, perhaps, share some examples in each of those categories.

There are many digital services available through websites, app stores or other channels. There are also needs that the market does not address or finds it difficult to address.

One example of this and it keeps Singaporeans safe from scams is ScamShield. It is difficult for there to be a market solution that can adequately protect Singaporeans in quite the same way. It is a difficult problem that affects us on a day-to-day basis. And now, we have a product, ScamShield, and it appears to be well-received – 850,000 downloads. It is one of our most wide-reaching tools in the fight against scams and I would encourage Singaporeans to use it.

Second, is offering better and more integrated Government services and a couple of examples here. One is the Health Appointment System (HAS). Users can easily make appointments for vaccinations, for screenings, such as mammograms. This product is available in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. Again, that is an aspect of the service that is difficult for the market to solve in the way that we need it to, in multiple languages. This product also allows users to see what subsidies are applied to their health appointments from schemes, such as the Community Health Assist Scheme and MediSave.

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And so, we are bringing together two or three different aspects of the service the market is unlikely to do – an appointment scheme provided in multiple languages and so that you can see the subsidies that you would get for these appointments at the time to help you make your decision.

Another example is MyLegacy@LifeSG. This goes a step further. It brings together reliable information and digital services related to end-of-life planning as well as post-death matters in a convenient portal. Because navigating such matters can be difficult. It is difficult, even for those of us who have thought ahead. These times of our lives do not happen very often; a lot of stress, a lot of uncertainty and a lot of things to get done, a lot of services and transactions that we need to get done. So, every bit of support helps at a time like this.

One example of this sort of experience is Mr Christopher Hamzah. He is married, he has got a four-month-old daughter. And back in 2021, Mr Hamzah saw first-hand the challenges his close friend faced in settling his late father’s affairs in the midst of grieving. Learning from this experience, Mr Hamzah and his wife decided to start planning early and turned to MyLegacy for help. With the MyLegacy product, Mr Hamzah could easily record important details – his various accounts, his insurance policies – and share that information with trusted persons. He describes the portal’s dashboard as intuitive, very easy to use and navigate, and he takes heart from the assurance that this information would not be used for third-party marketing, and he has become an enthusiastic advocate for MyLegacy among his friends and family. Again, I would encourage Members to look at the MyLegacy product and encourage their residents and constituents to consider signing up for it.

The third part of our strategy is to be more inclusive. Mr Eric Chua had some questions about this and brought up some points. He asked about the mobile phone access of our seniors.

Chairman, 89% of seniors aged 60 years and above own a smartphone in 2022 and this has increased from 74% in 2017. And our Mobile Access for Seniors' scheme has approved more than 16,000 assistance packages for low-income seniors since the launch of the scheme in 2020. Mr Chua also spoke about the need to better support seniors in general to navigate the digital space. And to do this, we launched the Seniors Go Digital programme, and over 280,000 seniors have been trained so far.

At the same time, we also have to take efforts to be inclusive in our design and development; take the process to our seniors. We test our digital services with a wide range of users, including seniors, to ensure that their needs are met. We have also built tools specifically to support those with differing needs.

One example, and Members can try this out for themselves at Level 1, is a product called “ReadLiao”. This is one of the prototypes that emerged from our recent Hack For Public Good hackathon. Today, seniors sometimes struggle with long and complicated letters and often have to rely on caregivers, including children, to summarise the information for them. Those with older relatives might be familiar with the experience of looking at these letters, explaining such letters to them. It is often not just the language but also how the material is presented.

So, ReadLiao uses Optical Character Recognition together with an AI platform, repackages and displays documents in a clear and comprehensible format to better communicate the content to seniors. We intend to pilot ReadLiao within the community in the coming months and hopefully build it into a full-fledged product. It is literally only a few weeks’ old, at the prototyping stage.

We have another tool which is more mature. This is called “Purple A11y”, GovTech’s open-source, automated testing tool. It scans webpages and it identifies potential accessibility issues. Developers can use it to identify improperly labelled buttons or images. For most of us, these are things we do not notice. These are not necessarily errors that we pick up and we do not see the difficulty that such a design might present. But if you are visually impaired, if you use a screen reader to navigate digital services, getting this type of design correct makes a huge difference. Since 2023, we have used Purple A11y to make Government digital services more accessible, and it has been directly integrated into the development for websites like MyCareersFuture, to ensure that they are accessible.

Sir, I have so far focused on digital products. But there is another aspect to the work that we have to pay some attention to – the infrastructure, the interconnected systems that must work together to make such products even possible. I would like to now explain how we are strengthening Singapore’s digital infrastructure and investing in research and development so we can continue to have a conducive environment for digital innovation.

Mr Sharael Taha asked how MCI is equipping Singapore to make the most of latest technological developments, especially in AI. Ensuring Singapore has the foundational infrastructure to power AI activities is vital. To that end, we will be investing up to $500 million to ensure that Singapore can have sufficient high-performance compute to support our ambitions in AI innovation and capacity building.

We envisage that these resources will support use cases across sectors, such as financial services, healthcare, transport and logistics. And over time, we hope for this seed funding to catalyse greater development and the use of AI in Singapore and spur additional industry investment in compute infrastructure.

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked about plans to implement the Digital Connectivity Blueprint. Launched last June by MCI and IMDA, the Digital Connectivity Blueprint (DCB) outlines Singapore’s strategy for building the next generation of our digital infrastructure. It covers various infrastructure components – the hard infrastructure like submarine cables which connect us to the world; the middleware that links diverse systems, applications and devices for them to work together; and many other factors. The DCB is about integrated master planning to ensure we have what we need, when we need it.

And over the next few years, we can look forward to seeing the DCB’s bold ideas come to life. This has already begun.

For example, one of the DCB’s strategic priorities is to enable seamless 10 giga bits per second (10G) domestic connectivity within the next five years. We are setting aside funds to enhance the capacity of our Nationwide Broadband Network (NBN) to make such 10G broadband a reality. IMDA will be investing up to $100 million to support operators in upgrading their infrastructure and offering innovative services at competitive prices.

Like with the NBN back in the 2000s, we are investing ahead of demand. This is to cater for upcoming opportunities in areas, such as AI, immersive digital experiences and autonomous solutions, which will require higher bandwidth connectivity. We target to complete the upgrade to the 10G NBN by 2026 and expect more than half a million households to sign up for and benefit from higher-speed broadband in the next five years.

Mr Xie Yao Quan asked how we can power our digital future more sustainably. As mentioned in the Budget Speech, the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) will be extended to the data centre industry. With the rollout of the EEG to the data centre industry by the end of 2024, we hope more data centre operators and end-users will adopt energy-efficient equipment. EEG is just one of several efforts to grow our data centres sustainably under the Green Data Centre Roadmap, which IMDA will be launching later this year.

Beyond the products, beyond the infrastructure, we also need to make sure we have access to the right technologies. This is vital. Singapore needs strong research and development capabilities to develop and tailor technologies for our local context.

For cybersecurity, we have established a CyberSG research and development (R&D) Programme Office at the Nanyang Technological University, with allocated funding of $62 million to support cybersecurity research. Launched last September, the Programme Office serves as a coordinating body to spearhead Singapore's efforts in translating research into commercial solutions for Government agencies and the industry. It is a key enabler to both strengthen our digital security and grow our digital economy.

Mr Sharael Taha also asked how MCI is building Singapore’s research capabilities in AI. Over the last five years, we have invested more than $500 million on AI research, and our investments have borne fruit. We rank among the top 10 countries based on publications at top AI conferences. Our researchers have won international accolades, such as the Google AI PhD Fellowship, which recognises about 50 graduate students worldwide each year for their exceptional and innovative research work. In addition, we have supported close to 150 research collaborations with Government and industry partners. Some big projects, some small, some in areas that you do not expect, such as AI Singapore working with a dental chain, Q&M, to help dentists detect diseases from X-rays, perform automated dental charting and recommend dental treatment plans. I recommend all Members to have their teeth regularly checked, with AI, if necessary.

With access to the newest technology becoming increasingly necessary to attract investments, we must continue to invest in R&D to maintain our competitive edge in the global market.

Sir, allow me to conclude. Digital technology is one of our most powerful tools to meet the needs of citizens and businesses. We embrace bold development and agile experimentation so that we can wield this digital technology to create the greatest possible impact for Singaporeans and for Singapore. At the same time, we have to look ahead to the horizon and invest in digital infrastructure, research and development so that we can facilitate ahead of time our goals for digitalisation. So far, this approach has been successful, and there is much more that this approach can deliver for Singapore as we enter the second decade of our Smart Nation journey. [ Applause .]

The Chairman : We have reached the clarification time. Ms Jessica Tan.

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo : Thank you, Mr Chairman. I would like to ask Senior Minister of State Janil on the upgrade of the NBN. When we saw the upgrade happening in 2006, we did see quite a few residents not signing up. So, as you talked about the half a million expected to sign up, I hope that there will be good communication to residents and businesses to ensure that they do sign up for it and not miss the cycle. And we just saw so much logistic challenges there. So, I hope that there will be a lot of communication to ensure that people understand what to do and when to sign up, so that we do not see a repeat of that.

Dr Janil Puthucheary : Sir, I thank Ms Jessica Tan for making that point. Indeed, a new product and a transition to a new – it may or may not be a new business model, depending on what the operators do – and we have to make sure that we adequately communicate this to the consumer base. So, her point is well taken and we will certainly follow up on that.

The Chairman : Mr Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh : Thank you, Chairman. I thank Minister Josephine Teo for responding to my cut. Just two quick questions for the Minister.

On the first point with regard to the question I asked on the specific line item in the Budget Book, which would essentially flesh out the funding to SPH Media Trust, and I thank the Minister for pointing out that it is under "Grant Subventions and Capital Injections to other Organisations". In view of the large grant, can I invite the Minister to consider, perhaps in the future, a separate line item for SPH Media Trust? I say this because, in view of the funding framework and how the Government has stepped in into the public service media space, if I can call it that, I think it will be helpful for people to track, on an ongoing basis, how much taxpayer funding goes into the funding of SPH Media. That is just a suggestion for the Ministry.

The second point pertains to some of the KPIs that the Minister shared, certain KPIs that were mapped were not met. At the end of every Ministry in the Budget Book, there is a section on KPIs with key indicators of how the Ministry looks upon what services are rendered to the public and so forth. It would be helpful also perhaps, in view of the longer-term funding of SPH Media, I would suggest, to include some of those KPIs in that KPI section in the Budget Book, so that the public also can be informed of where it is doing well and where it is not. For example, I think the Minister spoke about reach, engagement, vernacular targets. So, that is just something for the Minister to consider and I would be grateful if she could comment on that, please.

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Mrs Josephine Teo : Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Singh for his suggestion.

I think it is not entirely up to MCI to decide how these things are reported in the Budget Book because there is a certain convention that the Government follows. I do not recall exactly, but my impression is that say, you take public transport subsidies, for example. I do not believe it is reflected in the Budget Book as line items that it goes to SMRT; it goes to SBS Transit; it goes to another bus operator. It does not quite work like that.

Certainly, I think if you consider the funding for preschool services, I do not recall that it also goes down to entity level. It is just we provide for a cluster of activities. We do not necessarily reflect in the Budget Book exactly what sums go to which entities. I could be wrong, but it is certainly something that we will look at. But it is not entirely up to MCI how to show these things in the Budget Book.

The same goes for KPIs. In the Budget Book, we report on the KPIs that the Ministry is required to meet. The Ministry interacts with many other stakeholders.

For example, for MCI, we are responsible for IMDA. IMDA has got interactions with telecoms companies (telcos). We may not provide funding to them, but we license them. They are also very critical service providers in Singapore. They also have KPIs to be met in order to continue to hold their licence. It does not mean that we lock, stock and barrel, transport the KPIs into the Budget Book. It is quite a different way of representing the scope of our responsibilities.

I thank the Member for raising these as possibilities. I think his broader point is that the public would benefit from more information about how these entities, the public service media entities are doing.

I think these are very reasonable questions. We will have to find more ways of putting information out that is reasonable. I would, however, add, Mr Chairman, that we can continue to look at things like reach, readership, engagement. But if we come back to the fundamentals of why we are supporting public service media, it goes back to the question of whether Singaporeans have media sources that they can trust. It is trust that is the most important.

I think in that regard, at least the Reuters Institute, which Mr Singh himself mentioned, does have an annual report that is quite useful. It looks at, amongst media organisations, the most trusted brands in Singapore. Mr Singh cited the findings of 2021, where he said that The Straits Times, which is one of the titles belonging to SPH Media Trust, came in at 77%, I believe.

I think, if I could just say how useful that report is in helping us to shape our own thinking. The latest report that has already been made available is of 2023. If you look at the 2023 report, you will find that within Singapore, amongst the top five most trusted brands, all are public service media entities from Singapore, homegrown. If you look at the top 10, then eight of them are our own public service media entities.

If we were to remove our own public service media entities, what we are really left with will be CNN, which is a US company. We are left with the BBC, which is a UK company. Then we are left with Yahoo News. If you then use that as a lens of thinking about why and how we should continue to resource our own public service media, I think in some sense that beats all the indicators that we can put in place.

I am not saying that those KPIs are not important. I think they have to be continuously evaluated together with other kinds of validation which Mr Singh himself highlighted.

The Chairman : Ms Hany Soh.

Ms Hany Soh : I thank the Minister on her earlier clarifications to Mr Singh. On the same note in relation to KPIs, I also strongly urge MCI, in terms of the KPI considerations, we should look at several factors, notwithstanding that certain KPIs are unfortunately not met due to the existing circumstances. We should also focus in terms of other priorities, emphasising perhaps on other KPIs' importance in terms of, for example, what the Minister has said on public trust.

To me, another very important critical factor to also take into account is branding. For example, brands like The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao – how it relates back to our Singapore's brand and identity, reflecting to the outside world of what is exactly happening in Singapore, inviting for more foreign investors to come to Singapore. These are the good avenues and ways where we want to reach out to the outside world. And that should never be forgotten.

Mrs Josephine Teo : Mr Chairman, I fully agree with Ms Soh. It is true. In management speak, we like to say what gets measured gets done. So, there is a certain interest in ensuring that there are KPIs.

But within MCI, we ourselves are fully cognisant that it does not fully reflect what we need our public service media entities to achieve. The standing that they enjoy in the world is not entirely measurable. The identity that they help to foster among Singaporeans, the unity, you also cannot quite put a number to it. It is not so easy to apply a metric.

We are very cognisant of the fact that the set of indicators that we use today is probably going to be very inadequate. So, we are constantly in discussion with our public service media entities on whether there are better ways to reflect their progress. So, Ms Soh's points are very well taken.

The Chairman : It looks like there are no more clarifications for the Minister and the two Senior Ministers of State. Could I invite Ms Tin Peh Ling, if you would like to withdraw your amendment?

Ms Tin Pei Ling : With so much to do, Chairman, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]

[(proc text) The sum of $2,378,410,000 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]

[(proc text) The sum of $327,254,700 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]

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