Innovation is a key driver of Singapore’s economy. As the country rapidly moves towards Smart Nation excellence, it has fresh ambitions to set the pace for AI innovation globally. Developers and open source will play a starring role in this journey, but success hinges on Singapore’s tech ecosystem embracing a long-term open-source strategy that enables developers to deliver on the promise of AI.
The Singapore National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0) was launched to propel Singapore forward as a leader in AI and uplift the country’s economic potential. It highlights that AI success depends on operating with a global outlook, and outlines that Singapore must connect to global networks, collaborate with leading AI researchers and institutions, and pool resources among like-minded individuals to overcome the complex challenges surrounding AI today.
Open source, widely recognised as an enabler for innovation, is a seemingly perfect fit for this mission. With a global community of developers working together to build software, it’s easy to see why open source results in better, faster, and more effective software solutions. This culture of collaboration and shared principles not only enables the exchange of code, best practices, and expertise but also presents the ideal catalyst for driving the next era of AI innovation forward.
This journey is already well underway in Singapore. In 2023, a surge of developers started working with open source AI projects while also experimenting with building AI-powered applications. Some popular open-source AI projects coming out of Singapore include Open-Sora for AI-powered text-to-video generation and DragGAN, an AI image editing project. Countless other projects across the country are replicating this same success too. On top of this, Singapore’s developer community is already displaying some seriously outsized AI impact, with the nation ranking tenth globally in terms of contributions to public generative AI projects on GitHub.
There are clear signals that Singapore’s developers are setting the pace for AI innovation. But to fully capitalise on the AI opportunity and become a global leader, Singapore’s tech ecosystem needs to embrace a long-term open-source strategy that elevates the software development process and constantly refines it to deliver innovation.
Here’s how Singapore’s organisations can help enable this mission into reality.
Recognise the value of open source
Considering nearly all of AI is powered by open-source frameworks, unleashing its benefits hinges on first putting in place an open approach to development. This gives developers the framework they need to access the expertise, processes, and tools to focus on tackling big challenges.
However, while most organisations understand the value of open-source software and increasingly recognise their own reliance on it, not all consider themselves in a position to fully bake it into the core of their business model. Barriers such as timing, cost, and change management are frequently cited as reasons not to upset the status quo.
Additionally, although tapping into the open-source community means companies have access to experts worldwide to check for and remedy vulnerabilities, some still do not see it as suitable for developing secure, enterprise-grade software. This reluctance is due to fears around code quality, maintenance practices, and vulnerability management, often referred to as the “security iceberg” associated with open source.
This is exactly why compliance and security should be key drivers for the successful adoption of open source. By implementing a progressive DevSecOps approach, security is baked into the entire development process, meaning business can create more reliable software, faster–all while building a culture of collaboration and best practice sharing. Doing so means the pace of innovation also increases.
This is exactly why compliance and security should be key drivers for the successful adoption of open source. By implementing a progressive DevSecOps approach, security is embedded into the entire development process. This enables businesses to create more reliable software at a faster pace. It also helps build a culture of collaboration and best practice sharing. Doing so increases the pace of innovation.
Fully embracing open source also demands active investment and sponsorship from the highest echelons of the organisation. In the absence of this crucial senior engagement, inefficiencies may creep into the development process, ultimately impeding innovation in AI in the long term. When CEOs grasp and actively participate in the transformative impact developers and open source play, it streamlines the development function, ensuring it receives the prioritisation and investment necessary to unleash its unrivalled ability to drive innovation.
Embracing the open-source ethos with “innersource”
While not all software can be open source, nearly any project can benefit from the collaborative processes pioneered by the open-source community. Organisations around the world are accelerating their development cycles and tapping into new wells of innovation within their companies through “innersource” projects that share code and resources internally, enabling cross-team collaboration and contributions.
Embrace AI-powered software development and open source
Finally, organisations that embrace AI-powered software development and open source will benefit from a winning combination that will supercharge productivity across the board. AI makes businesses significantly more productive, removing much of the dry, mundane work that typically occupies so much of a developer’s time. A GitHub study found that software developers using AI tools are building 55% faster. Combined with the benefits of open source, the pace of innovation naturally follows.
Ultimately, Singapore’s path to global AI leadership hinges on widespread adoption of progressive open-source (and innersource) strategies, particularly in AI applications. Thankfully, Singapore is primed to seize this opportunity with a strong open-source foundation to build on and proactive government support for open source. As we enter the age of AI, it is now critical for organisations in Singapore to integrate open-source principles into their operational DNA. Together, as one open-source community, Singapore’s developers can shape the future of AI and society as a whole.
