Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo represented Singapore at the recently held G20 Digital Economy Ministers’ Meeting in Bali, Indonesia. She also attended the launch of the Digital Innovation Network (DIN), organised by the Indonesian Presidency, which brings together start-ups, venture capital firms (VCs) and governments in showcasing digital innovations and aims to develop a G20 database of digital entrepreneurs.
As part of the Singapore delegation, several start-ups and VCs from the nation also attended the DIN. The Minister showed a shared commitment to navigating the post-pandemic recovery through a digital transformation during the G20 Digital Ministers’ Meeting.
“Going digital had helped many of our SMEs deal with disruptions in supply chains and manpower shortages during the pandemic, and the challenge now is to keep up this momentum of digital transformation, amidst many other pressing demands,” says Minister Josephine. She has discussed some of Singapore’s initiatives for using digitalization as an engine for development.
To establish a strong and resilient communications network to support business and innovation, the country has consistently invested in digital infrastructure. Singapore will be the first nation in the world to extend public 5G standalone coverage to the sea to promote innovation and real-time data exchanges in the marine sector. Singapore is on target to achieve statewide 5G standalone outdoor coverage by 2025 or sooner.
To enable SMEs to immediately integrate into the digital ecosystem, the country has supported them and created a core set of digital utilities that businesses may utilise, such as e-invoicing and e-payments.
Additionally, the nation has promoted the development of an open and inclusive network of international alliances to open new economic prospects, including by developing the first Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs) to ease digital trade with its partners.
Data is a resource that supports the global digital economy, especially when data flows across borders in terms of data governance and cross-border data flow. It promotes creativity and increases efficiency. To minimise risks and potential harm to citizens and society, it is also necessary to make sure that there are strong data governance norms in place.
Depending on the various systems of administration and societal beliefs, each nation will need to strike its own special balance between these opposing goals. However, even though their data protection or privacy laws may differ, it is crucial that efforts be made to improve system interoperability to create a network that is open to all users and prevent fragmentation between nations and regions.
Additionally, Singapore has been working with partners throughout the world to help transition talks from general concepts to concrete action: The Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system, the ASEAN Data Management Framework (DMF) and other useful tools that permit system interoperability and the safe and secure flow of data were developed and promoted.
The Nationwide Digital Trust Centre is a national initiative to concentrate on important trust technology issues. They are also looking into how Privacy Enhancing Technologies, or PETs, might help firms use data more effectively without disclosing sensitive personal information. For example, the country has just created a PET sandbox, with the intention that the lessons learned would contribute to the development of a more trusted and innovative data ecosystem.
Minister Josephine met with counterparts from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, and South Africa. The Minister underlined Singapore’s commitment to digital cooperation with her counterparts during these bilateral discussions, and they addressed new areas of engagement such as data and AI governance, digital government, cybersecurity, and combating phishing and spoofing schemes.