DPM Lawrence Wong at the US-Singapore Dialogue on Critical and Emerging Technologies

National Security Advisor, Mr Jake Sullivan
Deputy Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology, Dr Seth Centre
My parliamentary colleagues, Vivian, Josephine and Alvin
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning. I am very happy to be here at the inaugural US-Singapore Dialogue on Critical and Emerging Technologies.

It is a very timely dialogue because we are all seeing a new wave of game-changing technologies. 

Advancements in emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology ‒ they promise to expand our capacity to make new discoveries and new breakthroughs.

These advancements will be critical to overcoming our common challenges, and technology will enable us to build a better future and a better world.

There is much to rejoice for and to be optimistic about the future, but there are also many challenges in the road ahead.

We can already see a growing unease over technology in a whole host of areas. People are becoming more worried about their jobs; we are seeing a rising incidence of scams and deep fakes which have eroded trust in digital systems.

Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated; and the use of new technologies like AI and biotech in military applications raises many ethical issues and could potentially make the world a less secure place for all.   

Dealing with these issues will require us to have the right standards and governance frameworks in place. These are complex issues that no one country can deal with alone. It is only by coming together and drawing on our collective wisdom and experiences that can we hope to succeed together.

That is why I am glad that we are launching this dialogue today – to bring our countries together to collaborate on these big questions.  Singapore is a much, much smaller economy compared to the US. We are very aware of our size and our limitations. But we are also natural partners in many ways.

Our economies are deeply intertwined. The US has historically played a major role in our economic development and continues to do so today.

We also play complementary roles in innovation. The US is a global innovation centre, home to many companies and universities which operate at the frontiers of science and technology. Singapore is not quite at that leading edge but we also play a useful role in the global innovation value chain.  We are able to move quickly because of our small size. We are nimble and agile, and can adopt and scale technology solutions across our economy and society very quickly. And we can help to build early consensus on common standards in specific areas, not just for ourselves but for the broader region.

But most importantly, Singapore and the US are like-minded partners when it comes to critical and emerging technologies. We are united in our belief that only by fostering open, accessible, and secure technological ecosystems can we truly leverage power of technology to solve the pressing global problems of our time.

For these reasons, we already collaborate on a wide range of different areas in science and technology, from cybersecurity, to climate, and even outer space. These complement our strong bilateral relationship in the security and economic realms.

Today’s dialogue will take our collaboration to the next level, and strengthen and advance our bilateral cooperation across a whole host of areas. It also has the potential to contribute to a broader consensus on critical and emerging technologies. There are several ways in which we can make this happen.

First, we should accelerate adoption of emerging technologies by focusing on demonstrating positive use cases which can foster greater confidence and trust .

Second, we should aim to create tech ecosystems which push the frontiers of technology and innovation but also uphold safety and security. This will require us to find the right balance, working closely with the private sector to protect consumer and other interests, while also preserving space to push the frontiers of innovation; and finally, we should ensure that our collaboration can be a bridge for other countries. Because only by crowding-in an inclusive group of like-minded countries can we maximise our chances for success.

That is the ambition I hope we can have for the dialogue. I am confident that working together, our bilateral innovation partnership will help to serve the larger common good. We can ensure that emerging technologies work for, and not against, our shared prosperity and security.

On this note, let me wish all of you a successful and fruitful inaugural dialogue. Thank you.