MDDI 演講稿 · 2023-07-24
楊莉明部長在「AI 先鋒」計劃啟動儀式上的演講
要點
- • 「AI Trailblazers」由 Google + MCI + SNDGO + DISG 合作啟動——20 支公私團隊首批參與。
- • 新加坡 AI R&D 基礎：4,000+ 名 AI 研究者；之前 R&D 已經做出來——但「翻譯為跨行業有意義用例」還有距離。
- • Trailblazers 與 AGCC（AI Government Cloud Cluster）合作——給政府機構與新加坡私企各一個「Innovation Sandbox」——目標：100 天內識別並回應 100 個生成式 AI 用例（千、萬級是後續目標）。
- • 案例：人力部團隊希望用 AI 為求職者提供定向職業輔導（不只是匹配，還要給「差距如何縮小」的干預建議）；GovTech「Build for Good」駭客松的獲獎隊伍——幫學校輔導員更高效寫完整的個案記錄、把時間還給學生福祉。
完整譯文（繁體中文）
MDDI 英文原文譯文 · 翻譯日期: 2026-05-03
本文已從早期版本的網站遷移過來——格式可能有不一致之處。
Google Cloud 亞太區副總裁 Karan Bajwa 先生、各位同仁與朋友——早安。
我很高興出席「Trailblazers」倡議的啟動。這是 Google、新加坡通訊及新聞部（MCI）、智慧國與數碼政府辦公室（SNDGO）、新加坡數碼產業局（DISG）之間——一次及時而激動人心的夥伴關係。感謝各位與我們一起推進這件事。
駕馭 AI 的變革潛能
「Trailblazers」（開拓者）這個名字很貼切——不只是對今天工作坊裡參與的 20 支公私部門團隊——也對「希望進入新疆域、為新加坡 AI 開闢新路徑」的所有人。
AI 本身不算很新的技術。它已經存在幾十年。在這裡設展位的幾家公司——其中一些在新加坡做 AI 已遠超 10 年。
過去 20 來年——機器學習的創新已經在塑造我們的日常體驗——從找最快與朋友碰面的路、到挑下一部 Netflix、Disney+、YouTube 的劇。AI 在背後工作——影響我們的選擇——希望服務我們更好。
這種創新不只在私營部門——在公共部門——我們也找到借力機器學習改善生活的方式。比如——新加坡警察部隊（SPF）與銀行合作——部署 AI 監測交易、檢測欺詐。新加坡國立大學醫院等公共健康機構——使用 AI 提前 2 周預測床位可用性——以最佳化容量、縮短等待時間。我們這些偶爾得把家人送醫的人——會理解這有多有用。
技術繼續以光速發展——還伴隨有趣的轉折。不久前——元宇宙（Metaverse）還正當紅——人人都在談。最近——大語言模型與影像擴散模型的進展——把聚光燈打到生成式 AI 上。這些模型既能作為「點狀方案」用於提升生產力——也能深嵌入業務模型與技術棧中——為消費者與公民交付新種類的價值。以生成式 AI 為新的「灘頭堡」——我相信我們會在客戶運營、市場與銷售、軟體工程，以及研發的許多應用上——看到非常激動人心的進展。這會提升研究質量——因為我們能更好地把目標對準「能產出結果」的路徑。
結果——AI 的變革潛能——對更多人來說——似乎觸手可及。可能性擴大——「為公共利益借力 AI」的「速度與規模」也相應放大。
新加坡對「AI 驅動價值創造」的雄心
這些機會——可以通過「在新加坡確保穩健的 AI 創新支撐環境」來實現。自 2019 年啟動《國家 AI 戰略》以來——我們在培育本地 R&D 生態上已經取得重要進展。
新加坡今天有 4,000 多位發表 AI 論文的研究者——他們的總產出相當可觀。其中一些（比如今天在場的 A*STAR 首席 AI 科學家 Ong Yew Soon 教授）位列其領域頂尖；而 Google 校友 Yi Tay 等新生代——正在開發前沿產品。
我們仍有距離要走的——是把這種研究轉化為「跨行業廣泛而有意義的用例」。
這種努力很重要——因為它推動我們「把疙瘩撫平」。這些疙瘩可能是資料問題——也可能是安全問題。負責任地落地 AI——要求我們「不留這些問題懸而未決」——而是開發出令人滿意的回應。這才能讓我們解鎖 AI 在新加坡的「全部潛能」。
今年早些時候——我分享了 AI 能用來回應當代重大挑戰的若干領域。
在教育、物流、金融等行業的國家級 AI 專案之外——AI 也能幫新加坡——通過「預防性照護與精準醫療」回應老齡人口的醫療需求——或通過「能效與負載最佳化」幫我們達成淨零承諾。
我們應當增強 AI 生態——使它更有能力為這些重大挑戰生成方案。這意味著——在 R&D 基礎上——把關鍵能力以更大規模在這裡紮根。
在所需的眾多努力中——我們必須以「吸引世界最好人才在新加坡發展想法、構建產品」為目標——並把創新社群聚攏在他們周圍。
我們也必須確保——支援 AI 快速開發與測試的容量——讓算力對開發者可獲得——並培育「AI 就緒」的企業去試用與採用新方案。
這些只是我們追求雄心的幾項前置條件——培育有活力且具競爭力的 AI 格局——並最終——提升新加坡人的生活與生計。
與私營部門的夥伴關係與 Trailblazers 倡議
政府內部的緊密協調——會幫助確保所有要素到位。但同樣重要的是這種夥伴關係——它讓我們能借力私營部門的活力與能力。
今年早些時候——政府與 Google Cloud 宣佈了一項戰略合作——「AI Government Cloud Cluster」（AGCC）。Trailblazers 倡議——在這一合作的基礎上——幫助公私部門的組織——識別真實世界挑戰、構建 AI 方案原型、並把方案推到生產環境。
參與的公共部門機構——能在 AGCC 中獲得專屬的「Innovation Sandbox」（創新沙盒）——借力 Google 的生成式 AI 工具——構建與測試方案。新加坡的私企——也將受益於由「新加坡數碼產業局」（DISG）管理的類似沙盒——在雲端環境中開發產品。
總體而言——這些「Innovation Sandbox」——將在未來 100 天內——在政府與產業範圍內——識別並回應 100 個生成式 AI 用例。當然——我們的雄心不止於「百」——必須是「千」——並且在不遠的將來——是「萬」。但「千里之行始於足下」。我相信這一倡議——正是這「足下」。
今天參與的團隊中——人力部（MOM）的一支——希望用 AI 給員工提供定向職業輔導（包括崗位與培訓推薦）——讓他們能更有信心地穿行求職市場。這是我們面對的議題之一——我們想做更好的「求職者—崗位匹配」。但我們也知道——這不只是「讓他們彼此聯絡」的問題——更是「深入理解個人與崗位要求」。兩者之間還有一個重要的「縫隙」——即便匹配不是 100%，僅 60%，你能鼓勵個人採取什麼干預去縮小差距？這件事很難做。我們有職業輔導員——但他們的工作量已極大。藉助這一工具——我相信他們能給客戶的建議層級——能戲劇性地改變。
另一個有意思的用例——來自 GovTech「開放政府產品」（Open Government Products）團隊最近舉辦的「Build for Good」駭客松的獲獎隊伍——它的目標是——幫學校輔導員更高效地產出全面的個案記錄——把時間釋放出來聚焦學生的福祉。把最常規的、機械的任務拿走——把記錄工作做得更好——以便更好地幫每位學生——也是一種回應「不平等議題」的方式。
對許多員工與學生而言——這些用例——在合適的資源與發展機會支援下——可能帶來「全部差別」。
我希望各位與我一起鼓勵——已站出來的 Trailblazer 團隊——在 Google 支援下——構建這些有意義的產品。我也呼籲更多組織——充分利用這一夥伴關係——在各自領域開發「能改變規則」的方案。
謝謝——祝大家前路富有成果。
演講 PDF 版本
英文原文
MDDI 官網原始記錄 · 抓取日期: 2026-05-02
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Mr Karan Bajwa, Vice President Asia Pacific, Google Cloud, Colleagues and friends, Good morning.
I’m thrilled to be here for the launch of the Trailblazers initiative. This is a timely and exciting partnership between Google, the Ministry for Communications and Information (MCI), the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO), and Digital Industry Singapore (DISG). Thank you for working with us on it.
Harnessing the Transformative Potential of AI
The name ‘Trailblazers’ is an apt one. Not only for the 20 teams from the public and private sectors who are participating in today’s workshop, but for all of us in Singapore who are eager to enter new territories and chart new paths in AI.
AI itself is not such a new technology. It has been around for several decades. For some of the companies that have set up their exhibits here, they have been doing AI in Singapore for well over a decade.
In the last 20 years or so, innovations in machine learning have come to shape our daily experiences: from finding the quickest way to meet our friends, to picking your next show on Netflix, Disney+ or YouTube. AI is working in the background, influencing our choices, with the hope of serving us better.
Such innovations are not confined to the private sector; in the public sector, we have also found ways to harness machine learning to improve lives. For instance, the Singapore Police Force works with banks to deploy AI in monitoring transactions and detecting fraud. Public health institutions like the National University Hospital use AI to predict the availability of hospital beds up to two weeks in advance, to optimise capacity and reduce waiting times. You and I, who on occasions have had to rush family members to the hospitals, will appreciate how useful this is.
Technology continues to develop at light-speed, with interesting twists and turns. Not so long ago, the Metaverse was all the rage. People could not stop talking about it. More recently, advances in large language models and image diffusion-based models have turned the spotlight on generative AI. These models can not only be deployed as point solutions to raise productivity, but also embedded deep within our business models and tech stacks, delivering new kinds of value for consumers and citizens. With generative AI as a new beachhead, I think we will see very exciting developments in customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering, as well as many applications in research and development. This will raise the quality of research because we will be better able to target the pathways that could produce results.
As a result, the transformative potential of AI appears to be much more within reach and for many more people. With the expanding possibilities, the scope to harness AI for public good outcomes – at speed and scale – have multiplied accordingly.
Singapore’s ambitions for AI-driven value creation
These opportunities can be realised through ensuring a robust environment to support AI innovation in Singapore. Since launching our National AI Strategy in 2019, we have made important strides in nurturing our research and development (R&D) ecosystem here.
Singapore has more than 4,000 researchers publishing on AI today, and their combined research output is more than respectable. Some, like Professor Ong Yew Soon – the Chief AI Scientist at A*STAR, who is here with us today – are recognised at the top of their fields, while up-and-coming names such as Google alumnus Yi Tay are developing cutting-edge products.
Where we still have some distance to go, is in translating this research into widespread and meaningful use-cases across different industries.
Such efforts are important because they push us to iron out kinks. These kinks could be data issues, but they could also be issues to do with security. Responsible implementation of AI needs us to be ensure that you do not leave these questions unanswered, but to develop satisfactory answers. This will allow us to unlock the fullest potential of AI for Singapore.
Earlier this year, I shared some areas where AI can be deployed to address the major challenges of our time.
Beyond our existing national AI programmes in sectors like education, logistics, or finance; AI can help Singapore tackle the healthcare needs of our ageing population through preventive care and precision medicine, or meeting our net-zero commitments through energy efficiency and load optimisation.
We should enhance our AI ecosystem to be more capable of generating solutions to these major challenges. This means building on our foundations in R&D, to anchor key capabilities here on a larger scale.
Among the many efforts needed, we must aim to attract the world’s best talents to develop their ideas and build products in Singapore, and gather communities of innovation around them.
We must also ensure we have the capacity to support the rapid development and testing of AI, by making compute accessible to developers, and fostering AI-ready businesses to trial and adopt new solutions.
These are just some of the prerequisites that will allow us to pursue our ambitions: to foster a thriving and competitive AI landscape, and ultimately, to uplift the lives and livelihoods of Singaporeans.
Partnership with private sector and Trailblazers initiative
Close coordination across the Government will help to ensure all the ingredients are in place. But equally important are partnerships like these, which allow us to tap on the dynamism and capabilities of the private sector.
Earlier this year, the Government announced a strategic collaboration with Google Cloud with the AI Government Cloud Cluster (AGCC). The Trailblazers initiative builds on this collaboration, by helping organisations – from both the private and public sector – identify real-world challenges, build AI solution prototypes, and bring those solutions to production.
Participating public sector agencies will be able to access a dedicated Innovation Sandbox, within the AGCC, where they can leverage Google’s generative AI tools to build and test their solutions. Singapore-based private sector companies will also benefit from a similar Sandbox, administered by Digital Industry Singapore, to develop products within a cloud-based environment.
All in all, the Innovation Sandboxes will identify and address 100 generative AI use-cases across government and industry within the next 100 days. Of course, our ambitions don’t stop in the hundreds, our ambitions have to be in the thousands, and in the not-so-distant future – the tens of thousands. But the journey of a thousand miles still has to begin with the first step. I think that’s exactly what this initiative is.
One of the teams participating today, from the Ministry of Manpower, hopes to use AI to provide workers with targeted career guidance, including job and training recommendations, which will allow them to navigate the job market much more confidently. This is one of the issues that we face. We want to do a better job of matching jobseekers to jobs. But we also know that it is not just a matter of putting them in touch with each other. It is about understanding the individuals and job requirements deeply. There is also an important gap in between, which is that even if the matches are not a 100 percent, even if it is mere 60 percent, what kinds of interventions can you encourage the individual to take to close the gap? And this is very difficult to do so. We have career coaches, but they have an immense workload to deal with. With this tool, I think that could dramatically change the level of advice they provide to their clients.
Another fascinating use-case, which was one of the winning teams in the ‘Build for Good’ hackathon organised recently by the Open Government Products team at GovTech, aims to help school counsellors produce comprehensive case notes more efficiently, freeing up time to focus on the wellness of their students. By taking away the most mundane and routine tasks, and doing a better job of documentation so that they can help each student, is also a way in which the issue of inequality can be addressed.
For so many workers and students out there, these use-cases – given the right resources and opportunities for development – could make all the difference.
I hope you will join me in encouraging the Trailblazer teams which have stepped forward to build such meaningful products with Google’s support. I also urge more organisations to make the most of this partnership, to develop game-changing solutions in your respective domains.
Thank you, and I wish all of you a fruitful journey ahead.
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