Alibaba Cloud Partners with National University of Singapore to Support the City’s Smart Nation Initiative

Launched innovation incubator programme to focus on nurturing Singapore’s data science talents

Singapore, August 15, 2018 – Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, today announced it has partnered with National University of Singapore (NUS) to push forward Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative and technology research under the innovation incubator programme.

The project aims to equip young science and technology talents with knowledge from Alibaba Cloud Academy, and to give startups opportunities to present their ideas to venture capitalists around the world. With the launch of the project, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Alibaba Cloud and NUS.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister-in-Charge of the Smart Nation Initiative witnessed the signing ceremony at the Alibaba Cloud Summit-Infinity 2018.

Under the MOU, NUS’ business analytics students will be able to participate in internships at Alibaba Cloud and gain first-hand knowledge in the technological developments in big data, cloud computing, business analytics and artificial intelligence. During the internships, NUS students will be guided by mentors from Alibaba Cloud. Through innovation challenges co-hosted by NUS and Alibaba Cloud, NUS students will also benefit from opportunities to use data to solve real-world problems.

Alibaba Cloud will offer an education certification programme to students from the NUS Master of Science in Business Analytics programme to enable them to be adept in the application of technologies in the areas of big data, cloud computing, business analytics and artificial intelligence. The programme is offered by the NUS Business Analytics Centre (BAC), which is supported by the NUS Business School and NUS School of Computing. Researchers from NUS BAC will also work with Alibaba Cloud to identify potential research projects for collaboration.

Raymond Ma, Head of ASEAN, Australian and New Zealand, Alibaba Cloud, said: “We are very excited to partner with NUS, Singapore’s leading academic institution in science and technology to help nurture the next generation of data scientists. The partnership reinforces Alibaba Cloud’s ambition of building a sustainable ecosystem where young science talents can learn, develop and flourish.”

“NUS is fully committed to developing local talents in the areas of big data and AI to advance Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative. Our partnership with Alibaba Cloud expands students’ horizons by giving them the opportunity to learn under mentors from Alibaba Cloud, and gain access to cutting-edge technological developments. In this way, NUS students could pursue their interests beyond their curriculum. We are also very excited to conduct joint research with Alibaba Cloud to push the frontiers of data science,” said Associate Professor James Pang, Co-Director of NUS BAC.

About Alibaba Cloud

Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com), the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, is among the world’s top three IaaS providers according to Gartner, and the largest provider of public cloud services in China, according to IDC. Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to businesses worldwide, including merchants doing business on Alibaba Group marketplaces, start-ups, corporations and government organizations. Alibaba Cloud is the official Cloud Services Partner of the International Olympic Committee.

About National University of Singapore (NUS)

A leading global university centred in Asia, the National University of Singapore (NUS) is Singapore’s flagship university, which offers a global approach to education and research, with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise.

NUS has 17 Faculties and Schools across three campuses. Its transformative education includes a broad-based curriculum underscored by multidisciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. Over 38,000 students from 100 countries enrich the community with their diverse social and cultural perspectives. NUS also strives to create a supportive and innovative environment to promote creative enterprise within its community.

NUS takes an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to research, working with partners from industry, government and academia, to address crucial and complex issues relevant to Asia and the world. Researchers in NUS’ Faculties and Schools, 30 university-level research institutes and centres, and Research Centres of Excellence cover a wide range of themes including: energy, environmental and urban sustainability; treatment and prevention of diseases common among Asians; active ageing; advanced materials; risk management and resilience of financial systems. The University’s latest research focus is to use data science, operations research and cybersecurity to support Singapore's Smart Nation initiative.

For more information on NUS, please visit www.nus.edu.sg.