Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the launch of an S$18 million (US$13.1 million) Supply Chain 4.0 Initiative at the Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific (ITAP) 2021 event.
The initiative aims to integrate more technology to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with any future disruptions to supply chains. This means developing digital and automated solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) that can meet the demands of businesses.
AI could help SMEs spot trends that could cause disruptions to their supply chains and allow them to make the necessary changes ahead of time. Further, the collected data can assist businesses in forecasting demand for new products and building more robust supply and resilient chains.
The investments will spread over two years and are led by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), the government’s research and development arm, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore and the Singapore University of Technology and Design’s Centre for Next Generation Logistics.   Â
