To strengthen digital economic growth in the Asia Pacific
region, Ant International and Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have announced a
collaboration over the next five years to conduct breakthrough
research to advance digital trust leveraging both Ant
International’s industry experience and NTU Singapore’s research
expertise on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs).
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From left to right: Professor Lam Kwok
Yan, Executive Director of the Digital Trust Centre at NTU
Singapore, Professor Lam Khin Yong, Vice President (Industry) at
NTU Singapore, Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry
of Digital Development and Information, Yang Peng, Chief Executive
Officer of Ant International, Jerry Yin, Chief Technology Officer
of Ant International and Dr. Duan Pu, Head of Data Algorithm and
Technology Department at Ant International (Photo: Business
Wire)
Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How, Ministry of Digital
Development and Information, witnessed the signing of the
Master Research Collaboration Agreement (MRCA) between Ant
International and NTU Singapore, represented by Mr Jerry
Yin, Chief Technology Officer of Ant International and Professor
Lam Khin Yong, Vice President (Industry) at NTU Singapore. The
signing was carried out on 16 July at the Personal Data Protection
(PDP) Week in Singapore.
Under the MRCA, Ant International will collaborate with NTU
Singapore’s Digital Trust Centre to advance the development of PETs
in Singapore and the region. These technologies aim to help
businesses unlock greater value from their data and create more use
cases. Additionally, the development of PETs for Artificial
Intelligence (AI) will enhance digital trust and make AI more
reliable. This will be achieved by minimising the risk of data
leaks, allowing businesses to share data and gain valuable insights
without disclosing confidential information.
Ant International will commit to contribute up to S$20 million
over the next five years to support research on PETs.
Under this MRCA, Ant International will contribute a total
funding amount of S$5 million for the five-year partnership until
July 2029. In addition to providing research funding for the MRCA,
Ant International also intends to contribute a further S$15 million
to strengthen Ant International’s research capacity and subject
matter expertise, to enhance the country’s overall research and
development and drive responsible innovation in Asia by leveraging
PETs.
During the collaboration, which will be based in NTU Singapore,
researchers will have access to real-life use cases from Ant
International for their projects, which will focus on advancing
industry tools and processes for machine learning and secure
insights sharing between businesses. This will be achieved through
the use of advanced privacy enhancing technologies such as
zero-knowledge proofs1 and federated learning2. As researchers
deepen their expertise in PETs through their projects, the aim is
also to develop a team of specialised talents.
Ant International and NTU will also study topics related to
large language models3 (LLMs) that preserve user privacy while
training or querying LLMs. Both parties will present their findings
at leading conferences focused on AI safety.
A joint research committee will also be established to oversee
projects conducted under the agreement. Dr. Duan Pu, Ant
International’s Head of Data Algorithm and Technology
Department, and Professor Lam Kwok Yan, Executive Director
of the Digital Trust Centre at NTU Singapore, will serve as
Co-Chairs of the committee.
The MRCA builds on an existing collaboration on
privacy-preserving computing between NTU Singapore and Ant Group,
which saw the development of a new state-of-the-art Private Set
Intersection (PSI) protocol that allows businesses to carry out
joint database analysis while maintaining the privacy of their
respective data.
Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of
Digital Development and Information, said: “Robust data
protection is important for Singapore’s digital economy. The
Ministry of Digital Development and Information has taken steps to
strengthen our data ecosystem, including by encouraging the use of
privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs). I am glad to see companies
collaborating with our Institutes of Higher Learning to develop
PETs and nurture data protection talent. Such partnerships help us
advance the development and adoption of data protection tools in
Singapore and the region.”
Mr Jerry Yin, Chief Technology Officer of Ant
International, said: “Ant International is pleased to expand
our collaboration with NTU, through this longer-term partnership.
As a global digital payment and financial technology provider, data
privacy is a core part of our business as we aim to provide
merchants with secure, reliable and seamless solutions. By
leveraging NTU’s academic expertise and Ant International’s
industry experience, we look forward to advancing the development
of privacy-enhancing technologies with new innovations that address
real business needs.”
Professor Lam Khin Yong, Vice President (Industry) of NTU
Singapore, said: “Through its Digital Trust Centre, NTU
Singapore has built upon and fostered expertise and talent in Trust
Technologies. The collaboration between NTU Singapore and Ant
International, a leader in global digital payments and fintech,
underscores NTU’s commitment to translating research innovation in
the area of Privacy Enhancing Technologies into practical
applications. Together, both parties will aim to pioneer innovative
solutions that strengthen digital trust and security, empowering
businesses to responsibly leverage data for transformative
outcomes.”
Organised by Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission
(PDPC), PDP Week convenes regional regulators/policymakers,
industry leaders and international think-tanks to connect and
collaborate on data use and technologies, including privacy
enhancing technologies (PETs). For more information on PDP Week,
please visit https://www.pdpc.gov.sg/pdpweek2024.
About Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 35,000 undergraduate and
postgraduate students in the Business, Computing & Data
Science, Engineering, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences,
Medicine, Science, and Graduate colleges.
NTU is also home to world-renowned autonomous institutes – the
National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of
International Studies and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life
Sciences Engineering – and various leading research centres such as
the Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Environment & Water
Research Institute and Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N).
Under the NTU Smart Campus vision, the University harnesses the
power of digital technology and tech-enabled solutions to support
better learning and living experiences, the discovery of new
knowledge, and the sustainability of resources.
Ranked amongst the world’s top universities, the University’s
main campus is also frequently listed among the world’s most
beautiful. Known for its sustainability, NTU has achieved 100%
Green Mark Platinum certification for all its eligible building
projects. Apart from its main campus, NTU also has a medical campus
in Novena, Singapore’s healthcare district.
For more information, visit www.ntu.edu.sg
About Ant International
Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International powers the future
of global commerce with digital innovation for everyone and every
business to thrive. In close collaboration with partners, we
support merchants of all sizes worldwide to realise their growth
aspirations through a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital
payment and financial services solutions.
1 Zero-knowledge proofs allow one party to prove to another that
a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the
validity of the statement itself.
2 Federated learning is a s a machine learning technique that
enables multiple organisations to collaborate on training an AI
model without sharing their actual data.
3 Large language models are models designed to protect sensitive
information while processing training data or user queries,
ensuring that personal or confidential data is not exposed.
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Mr Joseph Gan Manager, Media Relations Corporate Communications
Office Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Email:
joseph.gan@ntu.edu.sg
Ms Kahmun Leong Communications Manager Ant International Email:
kahmun.leong@antgroup.com