The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has released a statement announcing the details of the new $27 million Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (AIDA) grant under the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) Scheme. MAS’ managing director, Ravi Menon, has announced the launch of the grant at the Singapore FinTech Festival yesterday.
The AIDA grant’s focus will be on two tracks – financial and research. Singapore-based finance firms will be able to use the grant to receive a backing of 50 percent for the project costs that leverage AI and data analytics techniques to create insights and assist with the decision-making. These techniques could include machine learning, natural language processing or text analytics and deep learning.
The report said that the key criterion to receive the AIDA grant is that financial institutions will need to validate the impact of the AI or data analytics project on their workforce and develop training programmes. This could include up-skilling staff with new data analytics capabilities, or re-skilling staff who may be redeployed into new roles.
The AIDA grant will also co-fund up to 70 percent of research institutions’ AI or data analytics projects, which have clear applications for Singapore’s financial sector. To strengthen the research ecosystem and facilitate stronger industry applications in Singapore, the projects should demonstrate local knowledge transfer and industry sharing.
The grant will also provide funding for research projects submitted through periodic calls for proposals on specific AI or data analytics topics that benefit the industry, which will be published on the MAS website.
David Hardoon, chief data officer, MAS, said, “Data analytics can help to enhance processes, unlock stronger insights, and facilitate better decision making. People are at the crux of this transformation. MAS is working with the Institute of Banking and Finance on a study of the impact of data analytics and AI on the financial sector workforce. We must take proactive steps to equip our people with the skills they will need for new roles and tasks that they may have to take on. The AIDA grant will help financial institutions do that.”
Even locally, we have seen an increased interest by the UAE government to fund projects in the fintech space. The country has also recently appointed the world’s first Minister of Artificial Intelligence.
