Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to invest an additional S$12 billion into its existing cloud infrastructure in Singapore from 2024 to 2028 to meet growing customer demand for cloud technology and services in the country.
AWS has invested S$11.5 billion in the AWS Asia Pacific (Singapore) Region through 2023 and with the new investment, the firm’s total planned investment into its existing cloud infrastructure is set to double to more than S$23 billion by 2028.
According to a new AWS Economic Impact Study (EIS), this new planned investment in addition to previous investment commitments is estimated to contribute S$23.7 billion to Singapore’s GDP by 2028, and support an estimated average of 12,300 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs in local Singapore businesses each year.
“This investment will create a ripple effect across Singapore by increasing economic growth and cloud adoption,” said Priscilla Chong, country manager of AWS in Singapore. “It also brings additional contributions to the local economy by AWS, such as upskilling the local digital workforce, developing renewable energy projects, and creating a positive impact in the communities where AWS operates.”
There are six strategic pillars in this comprehensive AI programme, including Spring Public Sector to collaborate on driving AI initiatives within the Singapore government and agencies to benefit industries and citizens; AI Spring Workforce, a series of AI skilling and professional certification programmes; and AI Spring Enterprise to drive AI adoption in local enterprises;
Others are AI Spring Startups to nurture core AI startups in Singapore; AI Spring Communities to contribute to community development with AI; and AI Spring Research and Development to drive R&D for and with AI.
“By leveraging AWS’s broadest and deepest set of artificial intelligence and machine learning services, cloud infrastructure, and network, AWS will empower local organisations and students with technology and skills to tackle unique challenges, unlock new opportunities, delight customers, and scale in a secure, resilient, and sustainable manner,” said Elsie Tan, AWS country manager of worldwide public sector in Singapore.
As part of AI Spring Enterprise, AWS signed a memorandum of intent (MoI) with the Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA), to leverage Amazon Bedrock, Amazon SageMaker, and Amazon Q to develop an AI adoption programme for local enterprises to identify and scale AI for the most impactful use cases across their businesses.
This MoI is a part of IMDA’s GenAI x Digital Leaders initiative to help digitally mature local companies innovate, develop, and deploy their own customised generative AI digital solutions.
Through AI Spring Workforce, AWS will upskill Singapore’s workforce by offering its latest and most robust skilling and professional certification programmes in cloud and AI.
As part of this commitment, and to help advance the Singapore government’s goal to triple the pool of AI practitioners to 15,000 over five years, AWS will collaborate with institutes of higher learnings (IHLs) like universities and polytechnics, and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) on AI learning, with an aim to train 5,000 individuals across these learning institutions on AI skills yearly over three years, from 2024-2026.
AWS will also leverage its generative AI services to empower teachers and students in IHLs, facilitating their learning, exploration, and experimentation with the technology.
Thus, AWS signed an MoU with ITE to incorporate AI education into ITE’s curriculum. Since 2017, AWS has trained more than 400,000 individuals in Singapore in cloud skills.
