AWS invests $12 billion in Singapore, unveils new AI program

Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to invest an additional $12 billion into its existing cloud infrastructure in Singapore by 2028 to meet growing customer demand for cloud technology and services.

This is in addition to AWS’s existing investment of $11.5 billion in Singapore in 2023, which contributed $18.3 billion to Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year.

During the AWS ASEAN Summit, Minister of State for Communications and Information Tan Kiat How highlighted the Singapore government’s commitment to strengthening partnerships with organizations like AWS to harness the next wave of digitalization and take the digital economy from 1.0 to 2.0 .

“AWS is doubling its cloud infrastructure investments in Singapore from 2024 to 2028 to support customer demand and help reinforce Singapore’s status as an attractive regional innovation launchpad and global leader in digital competitiveness,” the company said. AWS Singapore Country Manager, Priscilla Chong.

AWS has several customers in Singapore, including public sector entities such as GovTech, National University Health System, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and Synapxe; financial institutions such as Banking Computer Services and Singlife, digital native companies such as Endowus, Razer and Grab; and local businesses such as Arth Design Build and Castlery.

“AWS has been deeply committed to helping Singapore grow its economy, workforce and digital prowess with cloud and advanced technologies since launching its first Asia Pacific infrastructure region here more than a decade ago,” Chong added. .

This investment in the region will create a ripple effect through increased economic growth and cloud adoption, supporting Singapore’s Smart Nation goals.

Additionally, it will boost local investment in technology employment and renewable energy, boosting digital transformation and productivity growth, and creating opportunities for Singaporeans and local businesses.

According to a new Economic Impact Study (EIS) from AWS, this new planned investment will support an estimated average of 12,300 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs in local Singapore businesses between 2024 and 2028.

These jobs are part of the AWS data center supply chain in Singapore, which includes construction, installations, maintenance, engineering and telecommunications.

In 2023, AWS investment supported more than 4,800 jobs at local businesses.

In addition to boosting tech employment in Singapore, AWS underlines its commitment to supporting Singapore’s Smart Nation goals and National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0) by launching the artificial intelligence (AI) programme, AWS AI Spring, at the summit.

“With AWS AI Spring, we look forward to embarking on this collaborative AI journey with the government and customers to unlock the potential of AI and accelerate Singapore’s Smart Nation vision and goal of becoming a beacon in the international arena. of AI,” said AWS Singapore. said global public sector manager Elsie Tan.

This is aligned with the S$1 billion investment in NAIS 2.0.

There are six key pillars in this program that aims to benefit customers, partners and the AWS community: AI Spring Public Sector to collaborate in driving AI initiatives within the Singapore government and government agencies to benefit industries and to the citizens; AI Spring Workforce, a series of AI skills and professional certification programs; AI Spring Enterprise to drive AI adoption in local businesses; AI Spring Startups to foster top AI startups in Singapore; AI Spring Communities to contribute to community development with AI; and AI Spring Research and Development (R&D) to boost R&D.

Under AI Spring Public Sector, Singapore HealthTech agency Synapxe signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AWS to develop an application for healthcare providers to use data analytics and artificial intelligence across healthcare systems. medical attention.

“Signing the MOU with AWS reflects our mutual commitment to providing our public healthcare users with cutting-edge, cloud-native analytics tools. It will catalyze more efficient analytics into actionable insights and transform the way we improve the quality of healthcare in Singapore,” said Synapxe CEO Ngiam Siew Ying.

Other examples include SEA-LION from AI Singapore, Analytics.gov from GovTech Singapore, Maritime AI-ML Digital Hub from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, and StoryGen from the National Library Board.

As part of AI Spring Enterprise, Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA) signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) with AWS to develop an AI adoption program for local businesses to identify and scale AI in their businesses. This MoI is part of IMDA’s GenAI x Digital Leaders initiative to help digitally mature local businesses innovate, develop and deploy their own customized generation AI digital solutions.

“Earlier this year, we also launched the GenAI Sandbox for SMBs and GenAI x Digital Leaders initiatives to enable our SMEs to adopt generative AI technology to drive greater business value. We are also working with AWS to incorporate AWS training and certification programs into polytechnic and ITE curricula. IMDA will continue to collaborate with AWS to upskill and reskill professionals in roles such as AI and analytics,” said IMDA deputy chief executive of sector transformation group Leong Der Yao.

For AI Spring Workforce, AWS helps Singaporeans develop digital skills and adopt cloud technologies through partnerships with SkillsFuture Singapore and local institutions such as the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the Singapore Management University (SMU) and the five local ones. polytechnics. AWS aims to train 5,000 people in AI skills annually between 2024 and 2026.

The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) also signed an MoU with AWS to incorporate AI education into its curriculum at the summit.

“ITE intends to equip all its students with knowledge and competencies on AI and Gen-AI to ensure they are industry, job and future ready. “AWS’s expertise and programs will accelerate ITE’s plans for students and staff to learn engineering quickly and start using Gen-AI and LLM in their learning, projects and work,” said ITE CEO Low Khah Gek. .