While AI adoption is a top priority in Singapore’s public sector, 83% of agencies need a complete or substantial overhaul of their IT infrastructure before they could deploy AI, according to research from Pure Storage.
This is based on a survey conducted across Singapore’s public sector, including government agencies, essential services, health, and education from February to April 2024. The study involved 40 business leaders, including key IT decision-makers and those with the authority to influence IT purchasing decisions.
Many of the respondents said that they lacked an understanding of the IT requirements needed for their AI projects.
Findings show that 97% of Singapore’s respondents have already adopted AI or are running trials.
The majority of organisations surveyed are already leveraging AI to drive innovation, productivity, and better citizen experiences – for use cases such as virtual assistants, personalized service delivery and AI operations.
IT infrastructure is a key challenge in AI deployment as 83% of respondents said they needed a substantial revamp of their IT infrastructure to support AI deployment, reflecting a significant gap in the sector’s AI preparedness.
In addition, half of organisations have underestimated the impact of AI deployment on data storage – with 99% reporting at least a 50% increase in data storage demand.
Besides data storage (73%), organisations also found that they had to upgrade computer infrastructure (60%) and networking infrastructure (60%) following AI implementation.
“To sustain Singapore’s national AI strategy rollout, public agencies must ensure that they have set up their foundational infrastructure in a way that optimizes both AI-scale data demands and energy efficiency,” said Nathan Hall, Pure Storage VP in Asia-Pacific & Japan.