MDDI 演講稿 · 2026-03-02
張仁寶部長在2026年供應委員會辯論上的致辭
要點
- • 數碼發展及新聞部推出"全國人工智慧影響計劃"，目標在未來三年內協助一萬家本地企業將人工智慧融入業務流程。
- • 目前約15%的中小企業及十分之七的員工已以某種方式使用人工智慧；該計劃將同時扶持尚未起步的企業及希望超越基礎應用的企業。
- • 人工智慧解決方案已佔資訊通訊媒體發展局"中小企業數碼化"平臺工具總數的30%，當局將在補貼支援下擴大預獲批准的低成本工具範圍，助更多中小企業以可負擔的方式整合人工智慧。
- • 數碼發展及新聞部將強化"數字領袖計劃"並推出全新"數字領袖加速訓練營"（DLAB），重點培養企業在變革管理方面的能力，而非僅限於技術層面。
- • 新加坡在批准新資料中心時將評估低碳能源使用情況，對舊資料中心引入能效新要求，並通過"全國人工智慧研發計劃"資助資源高效型人工智慧研究。
- • 數碼發展及新聞部重點關注專業、管理及執行人員與知識工作者，協助他們將例行任務交由人工智慧處理，從而將人類判斷力集中投入更復雜的工作。
完整譯文（繁體中文）
MDDI 英文原文譯文 · 翻譯日期: 2026-06-21
主席先生，感謝各位議員提出的削減動議。請允許我先以華語作答。
主席先生，轉眼間，明天就是元宵節了。過年前，我問媽媽要不要我陪她去買衣服。
沒想到，83歲的老人家竟然說："不用啦！我已經在網上找到自己喜歡的衣服，下了訂單。"
我擔心她受騙，便問她：怎麼知道賣家靠得住？
她自信地回答說："東西到手，我看到滿意後才付錢嘛。"
吃團圓飯那一天，她興致勃勃地拿新衣服給我看，我才放心。
主席先生，數碼科技為我們的生活帶來許多便利，企業也因此創造了新機遇，但它也讓我們面臨前所未有的風險。
同樣的，人工智慧（AI）技術既有利也有弊。多位議員都提到這一點。
有些國人擔心自己會跟不上AI時代的步伐。我自己也有過同樣的感受。
但正如總理所說，我們不能因為懼怕AI而裹足不前。
所謂"逆水行舟，不進則退"，其他國家都正在積極開展AI計劃。如果我們的行動不夠快、佈局不夠廣、紮根不夠深，遲早會落後。
關鍵是，我們的目標要明確、措施要有力。
在AI時代，如何確保國人不掉隊，並協助中小企業保持競爭優勢，是我們密切關注的核心議題。
就像我母親，雖然不是數碼高手，但在適當的幫助下，也能安全網購。
我們不需要刻意勉強自己成為AI大師，因為每個人掌握AI的能力不一樣，受益方式也會不同。
重要的是，我們要保持自信、保住底氣，我國才能在AI時代穩步前進。
今年的撥款委員會辯論，數碼發展及新聞部將朝這個方向，提出各項計劃，確保國人不僅不掉隊，還能從中獲益。
主席先生，AI已成為今年財政預算案辯論及撥款委員會辯論的核心議題。議員們既對各種機遇抱持樂觀態度，也對AI對就業、創造力及自主性所帶來的影響表達了擔憂。
Sharael Taha議員就新加坡在AI領域的獨特定位提出了一個戰略性問題。我們很幸運：
國際夥伴認可我們跨行業、跨企業、跨勞動力全面應對的能力，背後依託的是一系列支撐條件——從研發與基礎設施，到安全與治理。
在全球舞臺上，新加坡頻繁出席各類重要場合。
我們對AI採取漸進、深思熟慮的方式，使我們成為值得信賴的合作伙伴和有價值的參照標杆。
這使我們得以設定更高的目標。
黃總理、甘副總理及貿工部（MTI）同僚概述了培育AI卓越企業（AI Champions）並推進國家AI使命（National AI Missions）的相關計劃。
稍後，人力部（MOM）及教育部（MOE）同僚將探討如何賦能當前及未來的勞動力，使其充分發揮AI的潛力。
我將重點闡述這對我國廣大企業群體意味著什麼。
簡而言之，我們希望充分發揮AI民主化的潛力——或者更直白地說，讓AI的惠益廣泛普及，因為那些曾經過於昂貴或複雜的解決方案，如今已變得更加觸手可及。
但如果AI走的是以往技術浪潮的老路，只有少數處於前沿的企業才能脫穎而出、拉開差距。
規模較小、資源往往更為有限的"長尾"企業，追趕的時間則要長得多；然而從整體來看，它們僱用了我國大多數勞動者。
一旦這些企業落後，受損的不僅僅是GDP，更有創業者的希望與夢想、勞動者的生計，以及整個社群的發展程序。
AI：深化企業與勞動力的能力
正因如此，MDDI 正在建立全國AI影響計劃，將AI的可能性轉化為現實，惠及大眾，而非少數人。
目前，15%的中小企業以及約十分之七的工作者以某種方式使用AI。
我們希望鼓勵尚未起步者邁出第一步。
並幫助已在使用AI的人超越基礎應用。
在未來三年內，全國AI影響計劃旨在支援10,000家本地企業將AI融入其業務流程。這將形成相當規模的早期採用者群體。他們可以在社群中發揮乘數效應，通過潘麗萍女士向總理詢問的中介機構分享經驗與知識。
小型企業獲益最大。以Durian Memories為例，這是一家位於宏茂橋的單店零售商。他們無力專門安排員工處理顧客諮詢。可想而知，當飢渴的榴蓮愛好者得不到及時回應時，他們便白白流失了銷售額。
但Durian Memories通過實施一套配備聊天機器人的AI賦能客戶關係管理系統，自動回答顧客諮詢，從而成功應對了這一挑戰。結果，高峰期銷售額提升了30%。
目前已有許多AI工具能以簡單、有效的方式改善業務運營。如今，這些工具佔IMDA「中小企業數字化」平臺上數字解決方案總數的30%。
我們將在資助支援下擴大AI賦能解決方案的範圍，以滿足不同業務需求。屆時，更多中小企業可獲取這些經預先審批、具成本效益且經市場驗證的工具，便捷、經濟地融合AI。
與畢丹星先生和穆哈敏先生一樣，我們希望這些解決方案兼具變革性與以人為本的特質。與此同時，李馬克先生就"AI洗白"問題發出了警告。我們將為資助和激勵措施設立保障機制，同時儘量不讓規則過於繁瑣。
部分企業已準備好藉助AI實現更多突破。
以Mocha Chai Laboratories為例。他們是一支才華橫溢的多媒體創作團隊，專注於提升電影的視覺與聲效。
鮮為人知的是，電影音效至今仍由人工新增，往往需要4至8周時間。在加入IMDA的數字領軍計劃（DLP）並積累技術能力後，Mocha Chai開發了一款全新的GenAI工具，能夠分析影片素材並自動生成匹配的音效，將數週的工作量壓縮至僅需一天。
這項創新不僅讓公司節省了成本，更開闢了潛在的新收入來源！它為企業及員工雙方都創造了新的機遇。
我們希望看到更多像Mocha Chai這樣的成功案例。
但正如傑西卡·陳女士、李馬克先生和沙拉爾·塔哈先生所指出的，AI的更復雜應用需要多重因素共同支撐才能成功。往往技術已經就緒，但人員尚未準備好。
正因如此，我們正在提升DLP並推出全新的數字領軍加速訓練營（DLAB），以培養變革管理方面的技能與信心，而不僅僅是技術能力。
我們還感謝安德烈·劉先生、丹尼斯·陳先生、法德里·法茲先生和沙拉爾·塔哈先生認識到提前規劃的必要性——正如政府已做到的那樣——以管理AI廣泛應用所帶來的能源影響。
我們通過多種方式實現這一目標。
我們審慎地擴充套件數字基礎設施。
在分配新資料中心時，我們評估其利用低碳能源的程度。
我們正在引入新的可持續發展要求，以提高舊資料中心的能源效率。
此外，通過全國AI研發計劃，我們將支援資源高效型AI領域的公共研究，以更好地瞭解我們的選擇。
隨著更多企業採用AI，提升勞動力素質、幫助員工保持競爭力的機遇也隨之而來，無論是入門級別還是職業生涯後期階段。
除總理的承諾和MOM的計劃外，我想向阿都·穆哈敏先生、卡珊德拉·李女士和朱佩玲博士等議員保證，MDDI正全力專注於此。
我們深知，專業人士、經理及執行人員（PME）和知識型工作者所感受到的壓力更為迫切。
但許多人已找到藉助AI更有效工作的方法。
以審計專業人士Geraldine Lau為例，她在畢馬威（KPMG）已任職27年。每次審計，Geraldine都要翻閱大量檔案以評估風險。在僱主提供的培訓支援下，她建立了一個AI智慧體，能自動整合公司公告中的關鍵資訊，用於審計複核。
該AI智慧體整理資訊的速度快於Geraldine，但她的領域知識是確保其查詢方向正確的關鍵。節省了數小時的人工工作後，她現在可以專注於更深入的風險評估，並將自身的人類能力——智慧、審慎判斷與職業素養——運用於更復雜的工作。
Geraldine 和許多 PME 正在證明，AI 專業知識、領域專長與人文關懷是一種強大的組合。我們並非人人都能成為 AI 工程師。但我們可以在 AI 與自身專業領域做到"雙語兼通"，從而解決各自領域中的問題。
作為起點，政府將支援10萬名工人成為 AI 雙語人才。他們將成為有實質意義的 AI 技能提升的先行者，供他人效仿。
我們最初的重點將放在高度受 AI 影響、且服務於多個行業的職業群體上。IMDA 將與相關機構和專業團體合作，擴充套件其科技技能加速器（TeSA）計劃，在關鍵領域培養 AI 雙語人才。
我們將從會計和法律專業起步，並將覆蓋範圍擴充套件至人力資源等其他領域。
正如郭亨利議員所指出的，AI 也在改變科技行業——如今許多人藉助 AI 便能編寫程式碼、構建原型。
因此，我們將增強 TeSA 的課程與服務，幫助科技工作者在價值鏈上向上躍升，從編寫程式碼，到統籌由 AI 代理驅動的端到端系統。
AI：我們的治理方針
隨著 AI 快速演進，我們的治理也必須與時俱進。我們認同陳慧玲女士和朱佩玲博士關於基於風險、務實推進 AI 治理的觀點。與 Christopher de Souza 議員一樣，我們認為 AI 不應取代具有判斷力的人類思維。
我們新推出的《代理式 AI 模型治理框架》將幫助各組織管理能夠更獨立行動的系統，同時確保人類監督。我們是全球首個推出此類指引的政府。
對於前沿模型等高風險、高影響的系統，我們將逐步加強安全保障措施。
然而，正如陳佩玲女士所指出的，僅靠本地的努力是不夠的。最先進的 AI 模型僅在少數幾個國家開發，但這些國家在 AI 安全領域的合作尚不深入。
近年來，新加坡舉辦了多場重要的 AI 會議，以促進國際合作。
去年，我們主辦了新加坡人工智慧會議：AI 安全國際科學交流會。
此次交流匯聚了來自研究界、政府與公民社會的世界級思想者，形成了關於全球 AI 安全研究優先事項的《新加坡共識》。
近期，在印度 AI 影響力峰會上，我表示新加坡將舉辦第二屆國際科學交流會，以更新《新加坡共識》。
儘管面臨挑戰，我們將繼續為國際社會在 AI 安全領域的討論作出實質性貢獻。
維護網路空間的信任
接下來，談談網路安全。議員們對於我們的關鍵基礎設施能否充分抵禦惡意威脅行為者（尤其是國家支援的行為者）感到憂慮，這是可以理解的。
我希望向 Sharael Taha 議員和 Gerald Giam 議員保證，CSA 與國內外合作伙伴緊密協作，以偵測和遏制網路威脅。
在外交層面，新加坡近期完成了擔任第二屆聯合國 ICT 安全及使用安全問題開放式工作組主席的職責。
現實而言，國家支援的威脅行為者是不可避免的常態。
儘管如此，就何為網路空間中負責任的國家行為凝聚國際共識，仍然至關重要。
然而，我們不能指望這些努力替代更強的網路防禦能力。在這方面，CSA 將聚焦三個關鍵領域：
第一，我們將審查關鍵資訊基礎設施所有者（CIIO）的網路安全標準和要求。
第二，我們將為 CIIO 提供先進工具，使其具備應對高階威脅的能力。
第三，我們將與合作伙伴攜手，提升網路安全人才隊伍的能力。
59. SMS 陳將就上述工作作進一步闡述。
維護資訊基礎設施的信任
我們面臨的另一風險是虛假資訊與錯誤資訊的傳播，而 AI 等技術更助長了這一趨勢。作為一個多元社會，我們尤其容易受到網路謠言的侵害，這些謠言會侵蝕社會與機構之間的信任。
幸運的是，我們一直在加強圖書館和檔案館的建設。它們通過培養閱讀習慣和資訊素養，幫助塑造具有辨別力的公民。政務部長 Rahayu 稍後將作進一步分享。
我們的公共服務媒體（PSM）機構同樣在維護我們資訊空間的公信力方面發揮著重要作用。感謝郭海威先生和陳佩玲女士對此的認可。
我們的PSM機構覆蓋逾90%的新加坡人。
它們持續獲得公眾的高度信任，信任度高於具有良好聲譽的國際媒體及網路媒體機構¹。
因此，我們的PSM機構在打擊虛假資訊方面已成為不可或缺的力量。
為此，MDDI將繼續與我們的PSM機構密切合作，維持其覆蓋範圍並強化其事實核查能力。
例如，CNA將成立一支數字核查團隊。
政府機構亦與《海峽時報》（ST）合作推出AskST系列，以應對虛假資訊。
郭海威先生就在受眾注意力和廣告資源向數字平臺轉移的背景下，如何幫助PSM保持關聯性、可發現性及財務可持續性詢問了相關舉措。
我們的PSM機構除了提供及時、可信的新聞資訊外，還製作能夠強化我們作為同一民族認同感的內容。它們亦通過定期出版學生刊物及舉辦校際競賽，在培養年輕一代的新聞素養方面發揮積極作用。
鑑於我們的PSM所承擔的關鍵角色，MDDI將支援相關舉措，確保公共服務媒體內容保持可見性並易於被發現。
我們正在研究其他國家的做法，並將諮詢業界意見，以確保相關舉措得到合理且有效的落實。
政府將繼續對我們的PSM機構進行投入，協助其隨著媒體格局的演變發展新能力。
結語
主席先生，總結而言，我們今天所作的投入將決定我們明日是引領潮流還是落於人後。通過加速人工智慧的應用、強化技術治理，以及培養國人的辨別力，我們正在幫助新加坡人把握機遇，攜手共進。
英文原文
MDDI 官網原始記錄 · 抓取日期: 2026-06-21
Mr Chairman, I thank the Members for their cuts. Let me start my response in Mandarin please.
主席先生，转眼间，明天就是元宵节了。过年前，我问妈妈要不要我陪她去买衣服。
没想到，83岁的老人家竟然说：“不用啦！我已经在网上找到自己喜欢的衣服，下了订单。”
我担心她受骗，便问她：怎么知道卖家靠得住？
她自信地回答说：“东西到手，我看到满意后才付钱嘛。”
吃团圆饭那一天，她兴致勃勃地拿新衣服给我看，我才放心。
主席先生，数码科技为我们的生活带来许多便利，企业也因此创造了新机遇，但它也让我们面临前所未有的风险。
同样的，人工智能（AI）技术既有利也有弊。多位议员都提到这一点。
有些国人担心自己会跟不上AI时代的步伐。我自己也有过同样的感受。
但正如总理所说，我们不能因为惧怕AI而裹足不前。
所谓“逆水行舟，不进则退”，其他国家都正在积极开展AI计划。如果我们的行动不够快、布局不够广、扎根不够深，迟早会落后。
关键是，我们的目标要明确、措施要有力。
在AI时代，如何确保国人不掉队，并协助中小企业保持竞争优势，是我们密切关注的核心议题。
就像我母亲，虽然不是数码高手，但在适当的帮助下，也能安全网购。
我们不需要刻意勉强自己成为AI大师，因为每个人掌握AI的能力不一样，受益方式也会不同。
重要的是，我们要保持自信、保住底气，我国才能在AI时代稳步前进。
今年的拨款委员会辩论，数码发展及新闻部将朝这个方向，提出各项计划，确保国人不仅不掉队，还能从中获益。
Mr Chairman, AI has taken center stage at this year’s Budget and COS debates. Members have shared optimism about opportunities, and anxiety over impacts on our jobs, creativity, and autonomy.
Mr Sharael Taha asked a strategic question about Singapore’s unique positioning in AI. We are fortunate that:
International counterparts recognise our ability to respond holistically across industries, enterprises and the workforce, through a range of enablers – from R&D and infrastructure to safety and governance.
On the global stage, Singapore is frequently at the table.
Our progressive, thoughtful approach to AI makes us a credible partner and useful reference point.
This has made it possible to aim higher.
Prime Minister Wong, DPM Gan and MTI colleagues outlined plans to grow AI Champions and pursue National AI Missions.
Later, MOM and MOE colleagues will discuss how we empower the present and future workforce to make the most of AI.
I will focus on what this means for the broader base of our businesses.
In gist, we want to take full advantage of AI’s ability to be democratised, or to put it more simply, for its benefits to spread widely because solutions, once too expensive or complex, are more accessible.
But if AI follows the same path as previous technology waves, only a small group of companies at the frontier will get ahead and pull away from the pack.
The long tail of smaller, and often less-resourced businesses, take much longer; yet collectively, they employ most of our workforce.
When they fall behind, more than GDP is at risk. At stake are our entrepreneurs’ hopes and dreams, workers’ livelihoods, and their communities’ progress.
AI: Deepening Capabilities of Enterprises and Workforce
This is why MDDI is creating the National AI Impact Programme , to turn AI’s possibilities into reality for the many, not the few.
Today, 15% of SMEs and about 7 in 10 workers use AI in some way.
We want to encourage those who haven’t started to take that first step.
And help those already using AI move beyond basic applications.
Over the next three years, the National AI Impact Programme aims to support 10,000 local enterprises to integrate AI into their business processes. This will create a sizable pool of early adopters. They can be multipliers in the community, sharing their experiences and knowledge through the intermediaries that Ms Denise Phua asked Prime Minister about.
Small businesses stand to gain the most. Take Durian Memories for example, a single store seller in Ang Mo Kio. They did not have the luxury of dedicating a team member to handle customer enquiries. Unsurprisingly, they lost sales when hungry durian lovers were not attended to.
But Durian Memories tackled this challenge by implementing an AI-enabled Customer Relationship Management system with a chatbot that automatically answers customer queries. As a result, peak sales went up by 30%.
There are now many AI tools that improve business operations in simple, effective ways. They make up 30% of the digital solutions on IMDA’s SMEs Go Digital platform today.
We will expand the range of AI-enabled solutions with grant support to meet different business needs. More SMEs can then access these pre-approved, cost-effective and market-proven tools to integrate AI readily and affordably.
Like Mr Pritam Singh and Mr Muhaimin , we want these solutions to be transformative yet human-centred. At the same time, Mr Mark Lee warns about AI-washing. We will put safeguards in place for grants and incentives whilst trying, at the same time, to not make the rules too onerous.
Some enterprises are ready to do more with AI.
Take Mocha Chai Laboratories for example. They are a talented team of multimedia creators who improve film visuals and sound.
Unknown to most of us, sound effects are still added manually to films, often taking 4 to 8 weeks. After joining IMDA’s Digital Leaders Programme (DLP) and building up their tech capabilities, Mocha Chai created a new GenAI tool that analyses video footage and automatically generates matching sound effects, reducing weeks of work to just a day.
This innovation allowed the company to not only save costs, but create a potential new income stream! It has opened up opportunities for both the business and their employees.
We want more success stories like Mocha Chai.
But as pointed out by Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Mark Lee, and Mr Sharael Taha, more sophisticated uses of AI require multiple factors to succeed. Often, the technology is ready, but people are not.
This is why we are enhancing the DLP and launching a new Digital Leaders Accelerator Bootcamp (DLAB), to build skills and confidence in change management, and not just tech capabilities.
We also thank Mr Andre Low, Mr Dennis Tan, Mr Fadli Fawzi and Mr Sharael Taha for recognising the need to plan ahead, as the Government has done, to manage the energy impact of widespread AI use.
We do this in several ways.
We are judicious in how we expand digital infrastructure.
When allocating new data centres, we assess how well they use low-carbon energy sources.
We are introducing new sustainability requirements to improve the energy efficiency of older data centres.
And, through the National AI R&D plan, we will support public research in resource-efficient AI to better understand our options.
As more businesses adopt AI, there’s also opportunity to uplift the workforce and help them stay relevant, whether at the entry-level or at later stages of their careers.
Beyond PM’s commitments and MOM’s plans, I want to assure Members like Mr Abdul Muhaimin, Ms Cassandra Lee and Dr Choo Pei Ling that MDDI is focused squarely on this.
We know that PMEs and knowledge workers feel the pressure more acutely.
But many have found ways to be more effective with AI’s help.
Take Geraldine Lau, an audit professional who has been with KPMG for 27 years. For each audit, Geraldine pores through reams of documents to assess risk. With employer-provided training, she created an AI agent that automatically consolidates key information from company announcements for audit reviews.
The AI agent organises information more quickly than Geraldine can, but her domain knowledge is key to ensuring it looks in the right places. With hours of manual work saved, she can now focus on deeper risk assessments and applying her human abilities – wisdom, calibration and professional judgement – to more complex work.
Geraldine and many PMEs are showing that AI know-how, domain expertise and human touch are a powerful combination. Not all of us can be AI engineers. But we can be “bilingual” in AI and our own areas of expertise, and to solve problems in our domains.
For a start, the Government will support 100,000 workers to become AI Bilingual. They will be pathfinders for meaningful AI upskilling, for others to emulate.
Our initial focus will be on professions that are highly exposed to AI, and serve multiple industries. IMDA will work with relevant agencies and professional bodies to expand its TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) programme, to develop AI Bilingual workers in key domains.
We will start with the Accountancy and Legal professions, and extend our reach to other fields such as HR.
As Mr Henry Kwek noted, AI is also transforming the tech sector – many people can now write code and build prototypes with the help of AI.
We will therefore enhance the TeSA offerings to help tech workers move up the value chain, from writing code, to orchestrating end-to-end systems powered by AI agents.
AI: Our Governance Approach
With AI evolving quickly, our governance must also keep pace. We agree with Ms Jessica Tan and Dr Choo Pei Ling on risk-based, practical AI governance. Like Mr Christopher de Souza, we believe AI should not replace the discerning human mind.
Our new Model Governance Framework for Agentic AI will help organisations manage systems that can act with greater independence, whilst ensuring human oversight. We are the first government worldwide to introduce such guidelines.
For high-risk, high-impact systems like frontier models, we will progressively strengthen safeguards.
However, what we do locally is not enough, a point noted by Ms Tin Pei Ling. The most advanced AI models are developed in only a handful of countries, but their cooperation on AI safety is not deep.
In recent years, Singapore has hosted major AI conferences to promote international cooperation.
Last year, we organised the Singapore Conference on AI: International Scientific Exchange on AI Safety.
The exchange brought together world-class thinkers across research, government and civil society, resulting in the Singapore Consensus on global AI safety research priorities.
Recently, at the India AI Impact Summit, I shared that Singapore will host the second edition of the International Scientific Exchange to update the Singapore Consensus.
Despite the challenges, we will continue contributing meaningfully to the international discourse on AI safety.
Upholding Trust in Cyber Space
Next, on cybersecurity. Members are understandably concerned about whether our critical infrastructure is sufficiently protected against malicious threat actors, especially state-sponsored ones.
I would like to reassure Mr Sharael Taha and Mr Gerald Giam that CSA works closely with domestic and international partners to detect and contain cyber threats.
On the diplomatic front, Singapore recently concluded our chairmanship of the 2nd United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on security of and in the use of ICTs.
Realistically, state-sponsored threat actors are par for the course.
It is nonetheless important to forge international consensus on what constitutes responsible state behaviour in cyberspace.
We must, however, not expect these efforts to be a substitute for stronger cyber defense capabilities. In this regard, CSA will focus on three key areas:
First, we will review our cybersecurity standards and requirements for critical information infrastructure owners (CIIOs).
Second, we will provide CIIOs with advanced tools, so that they are equipped to deal with advanced threats.
Third, we will work with partners to build up capabilities in our cybersecurity workforce.
59. SMS Tan will say more about these efforts.
Upholding Trust in Information Infrastructure
Another risk we face is the spread of disinformation and misinformation, fueled by technologies like AI. As a diverse society, we are particularly vulnerable to online falsehoods that erode trust in our society and institutions.
Fortunately, we have been strengthening our libraries and archives. They help to nurture a discerning population by cultivating reading habits and information literacy. MOS Rahayu will share more later.
Our Public Service Media (PSM) entities too, are important in maintaining trust in our info-space. I thank Mr Henry Kwek and Ms Tin Pei Ling for recognising this.
Our PSM entities reach over 90% of Singaporeans.
They remain highly trusted by the public, more so than reputable international and online media outlets 1 .
Consequently, our PSM entities have become indispensable in countering misinformation.
MDDI will therefore continue working closely with our PSM entities to maintain their reach and strengthen their fact-checking capabilities.
For example, CNA will set up a digital verification team.
Government agencies have also collaborated with ST on the AskST series to address misinformation.
Mr Henry Kwek asked about efforts to help PSM remain relevant, discoverable and financially viable as audience attention and advertising shift towards digital platforms.
Besides delivering timely and credible news, our PSM entities produce content that strengthens our sense of identity as one people. They also play a role in cultivating news literacy among our young, through regular student publications and school competitions.
Given the critical role of our PSM, MDDI will support efforts to keep public service media content visible and easily discoverable.
We are studying approaches in other countries and will consult the industry to ensure that initiatives are implemented reasonably and effectively.
The Government will continue investing in our PSM entities, helping them develop new capabilities as the media landscape evolves.
Conclusion
Sir, to conclude, the investments we make today will determine whether we lead or lag tomorrow. By accelerating AI adoption, strengthening technology governance, and building discernment amongst our people, we are positioning Singaporeans to seize the opportunities and make progress together.