SINGAPORE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Rajesh Sreenivasan, Steve Tan, Benjamin Cheong and Lionel Tan, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
Introduction Singapore stands as a regional technology hub, facilitated by a wide range of initiatives to encourage innovation and development and a strong legal framework to provide governance and oversight. In the area of Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT), 2024 has seen the Singapore Government take an active role on both these fronts. The past years have been notable for the swift advancement of new technologies and shifting trends, leading the Government to explore the formulation of law and policy to facilitate con - trolled innovation and address the associated risks. In 2024, Singapore has continued to keep pace with the advancing tides of development, demonstrating a firmer grasp of the shifting cur - rents. In this regard, Singapore has established more forward-looking and comprehensive poli - cies in key areas such as digital enterprise and artificial intelligence (“AI”). Also of note has been the focus on practical measures to tackle rising risks associated with TMT. In the past year, Singapore regulators have issued a number of guidelines for enterprises seeking to utilise emerging technologies, focus - ing on vital issues of security and data protec - tion. Singapore has also introduced several laws to address the growing threat of criminal opera - tors utilising TMT to further their purposes. This article looks back at some of the key devel - opments in the field of TMT that have marked 2024, particularly those outlined below. AI Singapore has developed high-level policies geared towards advancing its role as a leader in AI technology, including the National AI Strategy 2.0 and the Model AI Governance Framework
for Generative AI. Singapore has also launched a number of initiatives to enable enterprises to adopt AI-enabled solutions and guidelines to ensure that enterprises are able to implement
such AI systems in a secure manner. Data protection and cybersecurity
In 2024, Singapore regulators clearly focused on cybersecurity in light of the growing threat of cyber risk actors. In this regard, Singapore launched an updated national Operational Tech - nology Cybersecurity Masterplan and amend - ments to the Cybersecurity Act 2018. The Per - sonal Data Protection Commission (“PDPC”) has also sought to address rising threats to personal data by issuing guidelines dealing with synthetic data generation, AI recommendation and deci - sion systems, and children’s personal data in the digital environment. Cybercrime On the legislative front, much attention has been placed on introducing legislative changes to empower authorities to better deal with the changing face of cybercrime, such as the prolif - eration of digitally-enabled scams and malicious online activities. This includes the implementa - tion of the Online Criminal Harms Act and the introduction of the Protection from Scams Bill. Artificial Intelligence AI has been a potent force driving the reforma - tion of the TMT landscape across the world. It is increasingly prevalent in business and com - merce, as well as in individuals’ daily lives. Singapore has made a great effort to harness AI’s potential while also seeking to alleviate the novel risks associated with it. A comprehensive approach has been adopted for the responsi - ble management of AI development, taking the form of national-level policies, industry-level
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