The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the National Artificial Intelligence Office (NAIO) are rolling out an initiative to build artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities within Singapore’s financial sector.
The National AI Programme in Finance was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat at the Singapore FinTech Festival x Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SFF x SWITCH) 2021 on Nov 8.
The programme is part of Singapore’s broader National AI Strategy and seeks to enhance the ability of financial institutions (FIs) to research, develop and deploy AI solutions.
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Under the National AI Programme in Finance, MAS and the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) will provide funding, contribute government data, and convene the necessary expert stakeholders to drive AI adoption in the financial sector.
“The National AI Programme in Finance will help enhance our financial sector’s AI capabilities. Key to this Programme is active collaboration – across financial institutions and relevant government agencies – to build platforms, solutions, and capabilities that serve the financial sector as a whole,” says Ravi Menon, MAS’ managing director.
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Initiatives under the programme are aimed at strengthening customer service, risk management, and business competitiveness. These include NovA!, a technical platform to generate insights on financial risk that will be developed by Temasek company Aicadium, as well as Veritas, a governance initiative to help financial institutions utilise AI and Data Analytics (AIDA) responsibly based on MAS’ fairness, ethics, accountability, and transparency (FEAT) principles.
Other initiatives include a programme focused on enhancing analytics for anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism surveillance, the AIDA Grant A grant support scheme that provides funding support of up to $1.5 million to help FIs adopt AIDA techniques, as well as industry events and panel discussions to promote knowledge sharing in AI adoption.
Photo: MAS