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Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
NIE, Amazon Web Services set up AI innovation hub in NTU to boost trainee teachers' tech skills
AWS Singapore country manager Priscilla Chong showing summit attendees on May 25 local enterprises that are using its services. PHOTO: AWS SINGAPORE – Trainee teachers, students and staff at the National Institute of Education (NIE) can get direct access to artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technology from industry giant Amazon Web Services (AWS). The institute has joined forces with AWS to set up a Technology for Education Centre at its Nanyang Technological University campus. Their three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) was announced at the May 29 AWS Summit held at Marina Bay Sands, which drew more than 5,000 attendees. NIE hopes the collaboration – the first for the 75-year-old institute with an industry player – will be the start of more such links so that student teachers will be better equipped in AI and cloud skills. NIE director Liu Woon Chia told a briefing that students will be mentored by both faculty and AWS specialists to apply AI to the real world, such as designing tools for students with special needs. The tech centre, which will be housed temporarily in a converted classroom when the new term starts in August, will eventually have its own premises in a new annex building. AWS training programmes will be included in the curriculum, with students earning credits on completion. There are also plans to co-host hackathons, hands-on workshops and student-led forums to discuss ethical AI in education. NIE director Liu Woon Chia (left) and AWS Worldwide Public Sector Singapore country manager Elsie Tan signed the MOU on May 26. PHOTO: AWS Professor Liu said the centre is 'going to be a space where students, faculty or staff can come in and say, 'Hey, I've got this problem in education that I think we should have a better solution. Now, let's discuss and talk to AWS experts.'' More than 1,000 trainees graduate from NIE each year and go on to teach in Singapore schools. It also enrols master and doctoral degree students. AWS also announced at the conference about its AI Spring Singapore programme, which it launched in 2024 to support Singapore's AI blueprint. The US company, which has operated here for 15 years, has pledged investments and support for the public sector, local workforce, enterprises and start-ups, community and research. Its programme activities over the past year include hosting a sandbox environment for Synapxe, Singapore's national HealthTech agency; providing computing and AI resources to Temasek Polytechnic; and working with AI Singapore to create the Asean Large Language Model League competition. The tech firm, which recorded revenue of US$107 billion (S$138 billion) in 2024, is the world's largest hyperscaler, or large-scale cloud service provider, with an almost one-third share of the market. At the summit, Mr Adrien Desbaillets, chief executive of food chain SaladStop!, demonstrated its AWS-hosted AI assistant LuLu, which it plans to launch in September. The conversational voice bot combines data of popular ingredient pairings, menu availability, customer order history and real-time request to personalise a salad bowl recommendation. It also listed the meal's carbohydrate, healthy fat and protein amounts. When a customer says she does not like edamame, the bot will suggest replacing the green bean with tofu, adding that there is no drop in protein value. SaladStop! plans to go beyond its stores to sell its food direct to organisations such as hospitals and fitness centres. Mr Desbaillets said: 'For us, the chatbot experience is incredible. We believe it's could be so much bigger than our 80 outlets today. We can really take things to a whole new level.' Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
NIE, Amazon Web Services set up AI-focused innovation hub for edtech research
[SINGAPORE] The National Institute of Education (NIE) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Thursday (May 29) announced the launch of the Technology for Education Centre (TEC) – a new initiative aimed at driving applied innovation and research in the space of education technology. A three-year memorandum of understanding was signed between the two organisations for this venture. The partnership is expected to facilitate research and experimentation with emerging technologies in education, including artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. NIE is an autonomous institute within Nanyang Technological University (NTU). TEC will be located on NIE's campus, and is designed as a collaborative hub where student teachers, academics and education researchers can prototype and test new learning tools. It will be housed in a new annex building at NIE, as part of an initiative to refresh the campus, and will be ready around the same time as the opening of Nanyang Crescent MRT station, which will serve the NTU Smart Campus. The centre is fundamentally intended to provide an environment for both the development of edtech and its application in real-world settings. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 3 pm Thrive Money, career and life hacks to help young adults stay ahead of the curve. Sign Up Sign Up The initiative supports Singapore's broader ambitions under the National AI Strategy 2.0 to develop an AI-ready workforce. It also aligns with the community pillar of AWS' ongoing AI Spring Singapore programme, which is designed to equip 5,000 individuals with AI skills from 2024 to 2026. In May 2024, AWS announced that it would be investing S$12 billion in Singapore's cloud infrastructure by 2028, with its expected contribution to Singapore's gross domestic product at S$23.7 billion, while supporting more than 12,000 jobs annually. One of TEC's early goals will be to advance cloud-based learning and upskilling for educators. Resources such as AWS Skill Builder and cloud simulations will be made available to help participants strengthen their digital competencies. Additionally, the centre will support applied research projects that seek to integrate AI and analytics into teaching practices and policy development in Singapore. NIE director Professor Liu Woon Chia said the partnership will help to 'shape the future through ethical and inclusive use of technology' at a media briefing. 'We must teach our teachers differently so they can ensure students learn differently, paving the way for an education that is future-ready.' The venture also includes student-driven service-learning initiatives that leverage generative AI tools such as Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Q Developer to address community challenges. TEC will serve as a training ground through workshops, hackathons and forums that explore ethical issues related to AI in education, such as data privacy and bias, in addition to prototyping and research. When asked about the number of students that will benefit from this initiative, Prof Liu said every student teacher at NIE will have the opportunity to experience the process of learning and solutionising with AI at TEC. 'Not all students may be involved in the creation of prototypes, but we are confident that many will want to be involved.' Elsie Tan, AWS' country manager, public sector (Singapore), said the partnership highlights the role of educators in preparing future-ready workers. 'We are helping to equip the education sector for the digital age by combining NIE's pedagogical leadership with AWS' cloud capabilities,' she said. Position on industry partners While AWS is the first industry partner, Prof Liu noted that it would not be the only one. 'Right now, AWS is a front runner in terms of technology expertise. At NIE, we know the pedagogy and our students, so this collaboration will allow us to accelerate a tech-enabled education we envision,' she said. Prof Liu said 'an experimental space' setting is envisaged for the TEC, where students, faculty and AWS specialists can collaborate in an environment where solutions can be developed to meet the needs of students and society at large. 'We want some student teachers working on certain projects to be able to work with the people at TEC to build their prototypes and create solutions with the technology available,' she said.
