Singtel, NTU and A*STAR to enter public-private partnerships focused on emerging technologies

As part of the signing ceremony for the two agreements a robot from NCS had to first authenticate the signatories with facial recognition technology. From left: Professor Tan, Chang, and Professor Lam. Watch the Instavideo of the launch ceremony.

Singtel has signed agreements with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to spearhead R&D efforts in emerging technologies that will support Singapore’s transformation into a Smart Nation and help enable the country’s digital economy.

Under a five-year partnership, Singtel, NTU Singapore and the National Research Foundation  (NRF) Singapore will establish a S$42.4 million corporate lab, to be called Singtel Cognitive and Artificial Intelligence Lab for Enterprises (SCALE@NTU), to develop applications for use in the areas of public safety, smart urban solutions, transportation, healthcare and manufacturing. The partners, through their collective expertise and resources, aim to accelerate innovation in the fields of AI, advanced data analytics, robotics and smart computing.

Teo Chee Hean, Deputy PM and Coordinating Minister for National Security, who is also the Chairman of the NRF, painted the big picture in his opening remarks. "The digital economy in ASEAN alone is expected to be one of the top five globally by 2025*," he said. "ASEAN Member States have drawn up the ASEAN ICT Master Plan to help realise this potential and are implementing various initiatives for our ASEAN community to be more digitally enabled, inclusive and integrated**."

"The two master research and collaboration agreements (MRCAs) that Singtel is signing today with our public research institutions are further examples of how public-private partnerships can deliver more impactful outcomes," he said. "Our public researchers will have a better gauge of market demand for their research domains, while our large local enterprises can develop a good pipeline of products and services for the future," he said.

Over the next five years, the partnership is expected to expand the product range of Singtel and its regional ICT subsidiary NCS. Teo said the SCALE@NTU lab will leverage the smart city expertise of Singtel subsidiary NCS, and the artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities of NTU to develop solutions in anticipatory analytics and services, edge intelligence and condition-based maintenance. The joint laboratory is expected to contribute at least 10 new product lines to NCS' portfolio, he said.

"These solutions have the potential for cross-domain applications, particularly in digital services and urban solutions. For instance, businesses can better analyse and anticipate customer behaviour in real time, and provide smart solutions in resource management," he said.

The research by SCALE@NTU aims to resolve various challenges faced by cities in keeping their infrastructure facilities in top condition. With the use of smart sensors embedded with AI, city governments can analyse data from infrastructure facilities and can decide to conduct maintenance works only when necessary to achieve optimal performance for these assets. This would help cut operating costs for cities that currently spend significant amounts on routine maintenance, whilst not compromising on infrastructure quality and performance standards.

Bill Chang, CEO, Group Enterprise at Singtel, said that Singtel is moving from the traditional role of a service provider to becoming a technology player, with investments in cloud and security. Singtel's vision is to be the leading trusted enabler for the Smart Nation and smart cities and for helping businesses to digitalise, and a provider built on deep technologies and capabilities, he said. 

“This collaboration marks a significant step for Singtel to develop intellectual property in emerging technologies to support enterprises in their digital transformation and Singapore’s Smart Nation objectives. As businesses face the rising threat of technological disruptions, companies are constantly seeking innovative ways to gain deeper insights through data analytics, better engage their customers and transform their operations through digitalisation. To help companies address these challenges, we are stepping up our R&D efforts to develop deep capabilities in these focused areas,” he said. 

Chang added that Singel's extensive market access is a plus point for the research institutes. "We probably have the largest market access outside Singapore, and deep vertical capabilities on many fronts," he said.

Professor Lam Khin Yong, NTU’s Acting Provost, Chief of Staff and Vice President (Research) said, “For Singapore to achieve its Smart Nation vision, we have to keep pushing the frontiers of AI and develop innovative ways to process, analyse and utilise big data. This is how the collaborative effort between Singtel and NTU on cognitive computing will make a huge impact, improving productivity for businesses while making our cities smarter and more efficient.” 

Some 100 researchers from Singtel and NTU will work at SCALE@NTU, while another 200 research engineers, graduate and undergraduate students will also be trained in the lab. The collaboration builds on NTU’s strong expertise in AI and data science, with the university ranked highly for AI research citations for example.

George Loh, NRF Singapore’s Director (Programmes), said, “This latest collaboration between Singtel and NTU underscores the significance of developing research expertise and capabilities in advanced analytics for Singapore to be a leading provider of smart city solutions. The lab will provide a platform for researchers and engineers from both academia and industry to work together to translate cutting-edge research into digital solutions and offerings by our companies, while nurturing a pipeline of digital talent who can drive Singapore’s Smart Nation journey.”

Singtel and A*STAR will also work together on projects around manufacturing 4.0, including additive manufacturing, smart building automation systems, robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) applications that could help boost operating efficiencies in various industries, such as healthcare, urban sustainability and airport services. 

Robots can be deployed to handle biohazardous waste, allowing companies to deploy their employees to undertake higher value-added jobs. Such technologies can be tested on Singtel’s NarrowBand-IoT and 5G mobile network in the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre Model Factory to be set up by A*STAR next year. 

Professor Tan Sze Wee, Executive Director of the Science and Engineering Research Council at A*STAR, said that small and medium sized businesses could benefit from technology that is developed locally, so that it is customized for Asian environments, “Public-private partnerships and open innovation pave the way for successful projects that could benefit the Singapore economy and lives of Singaporeans. In this age where disruptions are emerging rapidly, such joint collaborations are all the more valuable. A*STAR is happy to partner with Singtel to drive R&D in the latest technologies towards applications across industries.” 

He also noted that Singtel has the international networks to help commercialise the solutions developed.

"Singtel embarked on our digital transformation journey a few years ago to stay relevant in the face of disruptive technologies and how these were rapidly changing the preferences of our customers. To future-proof our business, we started investing in new digital ventures ranging from cyber security to geo-analytics and digital marketing. This partnership with NTU and A*STAR is another step in this critical journey of transformation," said Chua Sock Koong, Singtel Group CEO. 

Chua said R&D work has become important as the devices used at home and in the office are increasingly connected. "Industry research expects rapid growth for the Internet of Things (IoT) in the next three years, with connected devices climbing to 21 billion globally by 2020 from about 6.4 billion this year. While this presents significant opportunities for the telecommunications and technology industries, this also means that we need to fast-track our innovation initiatives so that we can deploy more applications to power these devices. 

"To achieve this, we are also constantly building our talent pool so that we have sufficient manpower to work on these new growth areas. We are recruiting fresh graduates and retraining our existing employees in our Cyber Security Institute and the 5G Centre of Excellence that we recently set up with Ericsson," she said. The NUS-Singtel Cyber Security R&D Lab was launched last year to develop digital solutions to protect individuals, businesses and public agencies against cybersecurity threats. 

Teo also noted that the Singapore government is working on the Smart Nation initiative at the national level, and introducing Industry Transformation Maps at the sectoral level. "We are also prepared to invest up to S$400 million over five years for the services and digital economy domain under the 2020 Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE2020) Plan. These investments will strengthen and deepen our digital capabilities and advance our Smart Nation initiative," he said.

Under RIE2020, NRF is committed to create greater value in Singapore from investments in research, innovation and enterprise through closer integration of research thrusts, a stronger dynamic towards the best teams and ideas, a sharper focus on value creation, and better-optimised RIE manpower. 

*AT Kearney, The ASEAN Digital Revolution

**ASEAN ICT Masterplan