Singapore launches national AI programme in finance
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced on November 8 the launch of the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Programme in Finance at the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) and Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2021.
NovA! was unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat at the sixth edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival on Nov 8. (Photo: Bloomberg/Facebook)
Hanoi (VNA) - Singapore's Deputy PrimeMinister Heng Swee Keat announced on November 8 the launch of the NationalArtificial Intelligence (AI) Programme in Finance at the Singapore FinTechFestival (SFF) and Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2021.
The programme is a joint initiative by the MonetaryAuthority of Singapore (MAS) and the National AI Office (NAIO) at the SmartNation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO). It aims to build deep AIcapabilities within Singapore's financial sector to strengthen customerservice, risk management and business competitiveness.
While delivering an opening address for the SFF andSWITCH 2021, Heng said that the National AI Programme in Finance includesNovA!, an industry-wide AI platform for financial risk insights generation.
NovA! is a collaboration between Singapore-based banksand local FinTech firms. In the initial phase, NovA! will focus on helpingfinancial institutions better assess companies' environmental impact andidentify emerging environmental risks.
Heng said that over the next three decades, an estimated100 trillion USD of climate-aligned funding will be needed to achieve the ParisAgreement targets. NovA! will better enable financial institutions to assessthese investments and their associated risks, and check against greenwashing.
The Deputy Prime Minister also launched the NationalAI Programme in Government at the event, which aims to improve public sectorservice delivery in several ways, such as the use of AI text analytics forbetter sensemaking of the large number of feedback received by the government'sfrontline agencies, and the use of AI for better job-matching on the nationaljobs portal.
The two programmes are part of Singapore's broaderNational AI Strategy, which also involves building a vibrant AI ecosystem forsustained innovation, and a strong commitment to AI research and development.
To further increase its impact, Singapore is settingaside an additional 180 million SGD (about 133.2 million USD) on top of the 500million SGD committed so far, to accelerate fundamental and translational AIresearch.
The SFF and SWITCH 2021 is taking place from November8-12./.
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NovA! was unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat at the sixth edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival on Nov 8. (Photo: Bloomberg/Facebook) 
