Speech by SMS Tan Kiat How at Launch of the DBS Spark GenAI programme

Keynote Address by Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information, At the Launch of the Spark GenAI Programme (29 November 2024)

Mr Koh Kar Siong, Head of Corporate and SME Banking, DBS

Distinguished guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

A very good afternoon

1. It is a pleasure to join all of you here today.

2. As Mr Koh mentioned, we see a significant advancement in technology, especially in AI and GenAI in recent years. It has been transforming the way we do our work, transforming industries, jobs and different roles. Over the past year, we have observed interest from global enterprises seeking to harness the potential of AI. Our local enterprises too, must be prepared to adapt to the changes in order to take full advantage of the opportunities to improve productivity and business outcomes.

3. The Government has been taking steps to foster the adoption of AI among our businesses and workers. This was a key focus area in the Digital Enterprise Blueprint (or DEB in short) that we launched earlier this year. Our plans are underway: First, we are refreshing our sector specific Industry Digital Plans (IDPs) which provide SMEs with step-by-step guides on the right digital solutions to adopt. Second, we will AI-enable all pre-approved solutions under our SMEs Go Digital programme, where possible.

4. I am very heartened to see many SMEs stepping up to the challenge and being more open to experimenting with GenAI solutions. More than 150 companies participated in the first GenAI Sandbox launched by IMDA and EnterpriseSG in February this year. The Sandbox gives SMEs hands-on experience with curated GenAI solutions for Customer Engagement and Marketing Content Creation. Close to 80% of the companies have continued using the solutions after the 3-month sandbox period. This is encouraging. These solutions have since been made available on CTO-as-a-Service to all SMEs.

5. Let me cite some inspiring examples. Many of us know Far East Flora as one of Singapore’s largest nursery and retailer of flowers and plants. They initially faced challenges in providing adequate customer support online. Although a chatbot was already in place at their storefront, it was non-GenAI-powered and was not able to resolve complex customer queries, such as plant maintenance and care tips. This resulted in many queries being redirected to live agents, clocking up to 21 man-hours weekly. To address this, Far East Flora implemented a GenAI chatbot that enabled a remarkable 67% reduction in man-hours, and a 50% boost in productivity.

6. Another example is Jan&Elly, an English enrichment centre in Singapore. They found it difficult to curate and maintain an effective social media presence. Through the GenAI Sandbox programme, Jan&Elly adopted a GenAI-powered solution that could generate social media content based on their requirements. They achieved 50% time savings in content creation, increased website traffic and improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO) performance.

7. We are not stopping there. We are constantly assessing the evolving needs of our businesses and workforce and ensuring that our efforts continue to be relevant and beneficial. This includes undertaking new initiatives as well as scaling-up successful existing ones. Given the GenAI Sandbox’s success, IMDA will be launching the GenAI Sandbox 2.0 next week.

8. In this next iteration, SMEs can look forward to GenAI-enabled solutions in new business areas. First, web design tools that can quickly build professional websites. Second, HR tools that can accelerate hiring and onboarding processes by automating routine tasks. I urge all SMEs to participate and leverage these tools and solutions available to grow your business and boost productivity, like the many successful examples we cited earlier. SMEs can apply on IMDA’s CTO-as-Service platform from next Monday onwards.

9. To fully realise the transformative impact of AI on our businesses and workers, the Government cannot do this alone. The whole ecosystem needs to come together to uplift SMEs’ capabilities. Through the Digital Enterprise Blueprint, we brought together various stakeholders, including Government agencies, trade associations, and industry players, who have pledged their commitment to support our businesses and workers with various initiatives. In the next bound of our DEB partnerships, we want to amplify outreach and drive scale in AI experimentation and adoption.

10. Therefore, I am very happy to announce the launch of the partnership programme between DBS, EnterpriseSG and IMDA. This public-private partnership aims to facilitate wider GenAI solution adoption and help businesses supercharge their productivity and improve their quality of work and businesses.

11. The partnership with DBS will allow us to reach out to more than 50,000 local SMEs through their extensive network. Over the next two years, SMEs can benefit from this structured programme through DBS’ facilitated access to:

a. Online resources, workshops and events organised by DBS, and these activities are designed to build deeper understanding of GenAI; and

b. Secondly, SMEs can benefit from recommendations on GenAI solutions to address specific business needs.

12. I am very pleased to welcome DBS onboard as a pledge partner under the DEB, and thank DBS for their commitment in accelerating digital transformation among our SMEs. Please give them a round of applause. Thank you for being part of this journey.

13. Ladies and gentlemen, we stand on the precipice of a new technological era that is powered by GenAI technologies. It has immense potential to transform our industries and enhance human capabilities. It supports what we do. So I invite more businesses, especially many business leaders in this room to take that next step towards embracing AI and GenAI in your businesses to stay ahead of the competitive curve.

14. Technology, especially general-purpose technologies like AI and Gen AI, can allow us to overcome many of our constraints here in Singapore that many of our businesses, especially SMEs, face, such as a small domestic market, manpower constraints, outreach constraints, and the ability to scale quickly. So please make full use of the different initiatives that we have rolled out over the last few years, and more recently, through the Digital Enterprise Blueprint, to scale up your business, transform it and continue to be competitive and create many opportunities for Singaporeans.

15. To realize these opportunities, strong partnership is critical, and I welcome many more partners like the DEB pledge partners to join us together to build this ecosystem, continue to support our businesses and our workers in the next phase of digitalisation.

16. It's an exciting opportunity and has a lot of potential. As long as we continue to stay focused on leveraging technology wisely, responsibly and safely, I think we can all continue to benefit the technology that we adopt. I look forward to many more partnerships and working together with different partners to give our digital economy a wonderful, strong boost as we adopt technology in next phase of our economy development.

17. Thank you very much, and I look forward to wonderful partnerships moving forward.