Salesforce announced the second edition of its Asia Pacific AI Readiness Index, which sees Singapore retain the top spot for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Readiness, compared to ten other countries in the region.
Commissioned by Salesforce and prepared by Access Partnership, the Index assesses the readiness of governments, businesses, and consumers across eleven APAC economies in their adoption of AI technologies. Singapore leads all three indices with an overall score of 65.7, followed by Japan (60.0) and Hong Kong (59.3).
Globally, AI is expected to contribute approximately USD$15.7 trillion to the world’s GDP by 2030, a USD$2 trillion increase from 2019. In Singapore, the AI market is projected to reach US$960 million in 2022, and US$16 billion by 2030.
Singapore rated most highly in government readiness; showed improvement in consumer readiness
Singapore comes up top in all three indices, and holds the most significant lead in the government AI readiness component.
- Government readiness: Singapore scored 81.5 points, up from 76.4 in 2019. Australia trailed in second place (74.2), followed by Japan (71.6). Singapore’s strong commitment to AI, and its robust policy and regulatory framework is allowing it to successfully maximise the impact of AI on its economy.
- Business readiness: Singapore scored 49.7 points, followed closely by Japan (48.4) and India (47.3). Indicators measured include digital adoption by businesses, business sophistication as well as knowledge and creative outputs. Companies in financial services, healthcare, tourism, and transport and logistics sectors in Singapore were found to be well-equipped to adopt AI.
- Consumer readiness: Singapore scored 65.9 points, up from 61.3 in 2019. This is followed by Thailand (63.9) and Hong Kong (63.1). Indicators measure consumers’ awareness, understanding and adoption of AI products and services.
Yeong Zee Kin, Assistant Chief Executive, Data Innovation and Protection of Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and Deputy Commissioner of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) in Singapore, said, “This year saw more economies increasing their rate of digital adoption, amidst an upward trend in AI-enabled products and services. Accordingly, trustworthy AI needs to also transit from principles to practice. The development of standards for trustworthy AI will sustain a progressive environment for the benefit of consumers. The report mentions that international cooperation on AI frameworks, principles, and standards is growing. Singapore will continue to actively support the adoption of AI while balancing both innovation and public trust through a multi-stakeholder approach.”
