S'pore's NCS to invest $130m in AI development, adoption

Home-grown tech services firm NCS will invest $130 million over the next three years to develop AI intellectual property, pilot sector-specified AI projects and train its workforce.

- Lee Li Ying

NCS can also help smaller firms benefit from artificial intelligence, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said on July 10 at its flagship forum NCS Impact 2025 held at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

"Besides offering AI-enabled solutions, they can partner companies to co-develop use cases, redesign their workflows and even transform their business models. "I am glad to note that NCS will invest $130 million over the next three years to support its clients in scaling AI adoption, through its proprietary suite of tools, methodologies and accelerators," said Mr Gan.

As Singapore pushes ahead with innovations, it must ensure that the benefits of AI are shared broadly, he said, adding that there is a need to institutionalise the use of AI within firms big or small, even though larger companies tend to use AI more than smaller ones.

Based on the Singapore Digital Economy Report released in 2024, AI adoption has more than doubled among large enterprises over the past five years, to 44 per cent in 2023 from about 17 per cent in 2018.