Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched the GenAI Sandbox for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on Wednesday (February 7), to help companies in gaining hands-on experience with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) solutions.
As per an official news release, this is a first step in enabling local SMEs greater access to GenAI and builds on both agencies’ ongoing efforts to strengthen AI development and ecosystem in Singapore.
What sectors will this benefit and how?
The GenAI Sandbox is expected to benefit some 300 SMEs from sectors, including retail, F&B, education, and hospitality, which will be able to tap on a range of GenAI solutions to elevate marketing and sales, and customer engagement efforts.
Solutions in the Marketing and Sales category will enable SMEs to generate varied and unique marketing content such as customised emails and social media posts that are tailored to individual campaign strategies. These solutions allow SMEs to shorten their marketing preparation process and harness GenAI capabilities to develop engaging content.
With the potential transformative impact of GenAI, SMEs can benefit from experimenting with the technology, as part of their broader digitalisation journey. The sandbox of curated solutions will provide our SMEs greater accessibility to GenAI before deploying it on a larger scale.
Leong Der Yao, Assistant Chief Executive, Sectoral Transformation Group, IMDA.
Solutions in the Customer Engagement category will enable SMEs to better engage customers at scale using GenAI-powered chatbots, which allow customers to easily search for information, browse through personalised recommendations, or make reservations. These solutions enable SMEs to free up manpower to optimise operational efficiency, while concurrently improving customers’ experience.
This latest initiative to make available ready-to-use GenAI solutions to our local SMEs is part of our ongoing efforts to collaborate with public and private sectors to accelerate the growth of the AI ecosystem and developments in Singapore. We strongly encourage SMEs to come onboard the Sandbox to experience how their businesses can benefit from GenAI solutions.
Soh Leng Wan, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Manufacturing & Engineering, Enterprise Singapore.
How will it work?
EnterpriseSG and IMDA have identified 13 GenAI solutions that will be progressively onboarded to the Sandbox by the end of February 2024. These solutions were jointly curated with industry and technical experts from various Institutes of Higher Learning, based on ease of use and deployment for SMEs.
Application to close by May
All local SMEs can apply to participate in the Sandbox. Successful and eligible applicants will receive grant support from IMDA to trial one of the GenAI solutions of their choice for three months, to gain hands-on experience and better understand the functions of GenAI and the benefits to their businesses.
Applications to the Sandbox will close by end of May 2024, or if the maximum capacity for the Sandbox has been reached, whichever comes earlier. Following the conclusion of the Sandbox, EnterpriseSG and IMDA will review the feedback from SMEs to evaluate the suitability of these solutions and explore the feasibility to further scale the adoption of GenAI applications across the local business community.
How to apply?
To know more about the scheme and how to register, please click on https://go.gov.sg/sme-gen-ai.