Clifford Chance

Singapore's Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO), and the United Kingdom (UK)'s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) have signed two memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreements to deepen research and regulatory cooperation on the use of data and emerging technologies.

Both the MoUs build on the February 2022 UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement, and the 2020 UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. In particular, the MoU on emerging technologies commits to:

• share both countries’ experiences of building new telecommunications infrastructure, like 5G networks, to improve future connectivity as digital communications technology accelerates
• promote more business partnerships on artificial intelligence (AI)
• identify ‘trustworthy’ use of AI which can be replicated
• align technical standards for use of AI
• new research between the UK National Health Service and Singapore’s National AI Office to understand how AI can improve health services and support for patients.

The MoU on data cooperation commits to:

• increase digital trade between the countries and learn from each other on how use of data is improving public services and government efficiency
• establish a new Strategic Intergovernmental Dialogue to discuss domestic data regulation, protection and international transfer of data
• share research and experimentation on how using data can deliver better public services and economic growth
• work to a new set of standards on publishing anonymised government datasets to improve global cooperation
• share best practice on data management in government and between government and business.