Speech by Minister Josephine Teo at SupercomputingAsia 2025

Dr Terence Hung, CE, NSCC
Dr Su Yi, Professor Satoshi, Mr John Lim
Your Excellencies
Distinguished guests from all over the world
Colleagues and friends

Introduction

1. Thank you for inviting me to join you at the opening of Supercomputing Asia 2025.

2. In my capacity as Digital Minister, I’m often asked by international colleagues: “How does SG think about digital governance?” and “what are your priorities?”.

3. My response usually has two different aspects.

4. The first is that governance must be in service of some objectives. For our Smart Nation aspirations, our objectives are to create opportunities for our people and businesses, to strengthen the sense of trust and safety in the digital domain, and uphold the values that bind our communities together, even with the challenges that we will inevitably face when we go more digital. These objectives guide our strategies and plans.

5. The second part of my answer consists of specific actions that we put in place to fulfil these objectives. We will always need to ask if our infrastructure is adequate, and if we are building the right capabilities. From time to time, we need new legislation or regulations. We have also learnt over the years that in new and emerging areas, it is useful to foster partnerships with the private and people sectors, as well as internationally.

6. With this as the backdrop, you may see why I took an interest in SCA 2025. It is very much about making sure we have the right infrastructure and capabilities to help Singapore and Singaporeans make the best of the opportunities in the digital age.

7. Since we started on our Smart Nation journey, we have steadily built up more advanced digital infrastructure and capabilities.

a. In high performance computing, you heard Dr Terence Hung speak about two supercomputers launched by NSCC last year.

b. It was also in 2024 that we invested a further $270 million to boost NSCC’s supercomputing capabilities because we believe in it.

Building compute resources, developing talent

Building compute resources

8. We build supercomputers not as badges of honour, but to support our objectives. In our updated National AI Strategy, for example, we hope to contribute to AI for the Public Good, for Singapore and the World. One area that excites us is how AI can be used to address challenges in climate change.

9. In this regard, NSCC’s supercomputers are already being put to good use in the Cooling Singapore 2.0 research project. For context, buildings contribute significantly to greenhouse-gas emissions. Singapore, being a city state with a lot of high-rise buildings, has both the duty and opportunity to do something about it.

a. Supercomputers at NSCC have been used to create the Digital Urban Climate Twin, which integrates vast amounts of data for wind flow, traffic patterns, and industrial emissions, among other data.

b. Researchers can simulate scenarios to study how Singapore’s climate will evolve and design better urban cooling solutions in tropical settings.

c. Such research is clearly important to us, but we believe it can also be useful to our neighbours and friends in other countries.

10. To make the most of this infrastructure, partnerships are useful. I am therefore pleased that NSCC will add two more to its current networks.

a. With leading chip manufacturer AMD, NSCC will establish a Centre of Excellence that will give researchers access to AMD’s latest Instinct accelerators and expertise.

b. With its Finnish counterpart CSC Finland, NSCC will share best practices and knowledge, to develop HPC capabilities in AI, digital twin technologies, and green data centres, among other areas.

Developing talent

11. Besides infrastructure, we need to nurture human capabilities.

a. There are many programmes offered by agencies like IMDA and CSA in partnership with a whole range of companies. I spoke about them last week in Parliament.

b. I’m also glad that among the many talent development programmes, NSCC has started the Young Investigator Seed Project, where you partner with universities here to identify promising young researchers to lead projects. They will have access to supercomputing resources, build HPC expertise and apply their minds to solve real-world problems.

Broadening businesses’ access to compute resources

12. Beyond academia, businesses are also keen to access compute resources for AI and

supercomputing.

a. We are supporting this with up to $150 million for the Enterprise Compute Initiative for Singapore-based enterprises with the ambition to anchor AI mandates and grow AI teams here.

b. NSCC has another pilot initiative with DISG to support SMEs and local start-ups with access to their supercomputers.

13. These initiatives, together with the enthusiasm of the commercial service providers, help to ensure that compute resources in Singapore fully support the breadth and depth of enterprise innovations here to make an impact beyond our shores.

Looking ahead: hybrid quantum-classical computing

14. Still, we must still keep an eye on the future. Part of the challenge in governing technology development is speed and the cone of uncertainty. But we can also think of this as an opportunity. In strategic areas, the ability and willingness to invest for the long term is an advantage.

a. For example, this approach has allowed Singapore to build a strong base in quantum computing and engage meaningfully with leading players today.

b. There are also synergies to tap. The National Quantum Computing Hub draws on NSCC infrastructure, as well as middleware and software development expertise from the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing, and the NUS Centre for Quantum Technologies.

15. We will take a further step forward today to seed capabilities in hybrid quantum-classical computing through the new HQCC 1.0 initiative.

a. As experts in this room know, HQCC marries the capabilities of classical HPC for large-scale data processing with quantum computing’s capacity for solving highly complex problems.

b. Through this initiative, we aim to:

i. Develop HQCC infrastructure;

ii. Build a critical mass of engineering and scientific talent; and

iii. Foster industry collaborations to apply HQCC in sectors such as computational biology, finance, and logistics, all of which have the potential to scale new heights and to become peaks of excellence.

Conclusion

16. I hope I have been able to share Singapore’s approach to leading-edge technologies such as HPC, quantum, and AI. The initiatives I spoke about—developing infrastructure, nurturing talent, and building partnerships—are part of the holistic efforts that draw on the best of the research community and industry members.

17. We welcome like-minded partners to work with us. I’m also confident that SCA 2025 will be successful in promoting further collaborations across sectors and beyond national boundaries.

18. I wish you all a fruitful and inspiring conference.

19. Thank you.