Singapore’s digital economy grew S$12 billion to hit S$128.1 billion in 2024, outpacing the country’s norminal GDP increase, as businesses quickened their adoption of AI and other digital technologies, the country’s infocomm regulator said today.
AI adoption more than tripled in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), though it climbed from a low rate in 2023 to a still-modest 14.5 per cent in 2024, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) reported. For non-SMEs, AI adoption jumped from 44 per cent to 62.5 per cent.
In a study conducted by the agency, three in four workers said they were using AI tools at work. And for these AI users, a large majority (85 per cent) said they were more productive, saved time and improved work quality.
The Singapore report’s rosy picture contrasted sharply with headlines of high-profile Big Tech layoffs and reports of AI failing to match the hype and deliver value to companies this year.
Despite global uncertainties, the IMDA said demand for technology professionals continued to expand in Singapore in 2024, especially in non-technology companies. In other words, busineses are hiring more technology experts for their digitalisation and AI efforts.
There were 2.7 per cent more technology professionals in 2024 than a year before, according to IMDA, which said median wages for them were higher at S$7,950 a month than overall median wages at S$4,860.
Acknowledging that the outlook for 2025 is difficult to predict, IMDA deputy chief executive for development, Kiren Kumar, said the total stock of technology workers has been growing despite layoffs.
Programmes, such as IMDA’s Tesa, offer on-the-job training to new and existing technology professionals in hiring companies and help develop them for roles that are in demand, he told reporters today in a media briefing.
Across the world, Big Tech companies Microsoft, Google and Amazon have laid off thousands of employees in the past 12 months. Technology consulting group Accenture said last month that it would be “exiting” staff who cannot be reskilled to use AI.
Yet, AI is not fulfilling many of its promises at the moment, according to many companies that have jumped in early. AI is also prone to making damaging errors that make it often unfit to be used without adequate supervision.
Embarrassingly, consulting firm Deloitte today said it would partially refund payment for an Australian government report that contained multiple errors that were produced by AI, reported Financial Times.
In August, a report by MIT revealed that 95 per cent of generative AI pilot trials failed to deliver any revenue impact sought by companies.
Asked about this, IMDA’s Kumar said it was important to separate the hype from reality. While the valuation of some tech companies is off – leading to talk of an AI bubble – the adoption of AI has grown with the reduction of AI hallucinations and generally more stable tools, he argued.
“Value is going to be manifested at the micro implementation level,” he explained, stressing the importance of taking up an enabling technology despite the “ups and downs” of a hype cycle that is beyond Singapore’s control.
IMDA has shortlisted ready-made solutions that SMEs can take up as a first step into using AI, while tapping on government funding. For those further down the road, IMDA offers support programmes customised to create more advanced AI technologies.
Companies that have taken the first step to adopt AI have found it rewarding, said Kumar. Even if the first proof of concept trial didn’t end up in a commercial rollout, the experience could help them take a second or third step through another test, he added.
“It’s like riding a bike,” he noted. “If you don’t get on a bike and fall down a few times, you are never going to learn how to ride a bike.”
