IMDA and Amazon Announce Strategic Collaboration to promote digital inclusion and safe online shopping under Digital for Life movement
- Joint initiatives under the Digital for Life movement include community workshops with non-profit organization partners to increase Singaporeans' awareness about how to shop online safely and protect themselves against scams, as well as getting familiar with new technologies such as Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI).
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach Newswire - 27 June 2024 - Today, Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Amazon announced a strategic collaboration under the national Digital for Life movement to help advance Singaporeans' essential digital skills - including safe online shopping and Gen AI - through the organization of community workshops. These educational initiatives will be led by corporate volunteers from Amazon.sg, Amazon Payments and AWS, supported by IMDA.
From Left - Melody Xu, Senior Executive, Club Rainbow; Richard Goh, Head of Strategic Initiatives, Public Sector Singapore, AWS; Shirley Tay, Head of Finance and Administration, Club Rainbow; Peter Li, Director, CN & SG, International Stores, Amazon; Doreen Tan, Assistant Chief Executive, Strategic Planning & Digital Readiness, Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA); Josen George, General Manager for Amazon APAC; Sujit Misra, Director, Amazon Payments; Dr Shang Gao, Regional Director for Global Education, AWS; Eleanor Tan, Senior Executive (Outreach and Development), Children's Wishing Well
Building on IMDA's Digital Skills for Life (DSL) competencies of "Transact Online" and "Be Safe, Smart and Kind Online" content, Amazon and IMDA have co-curated community workshop to teach Singaporeans of all ages, from kids to their grandparents, on how to shop and make payments safely and confidently online. Community workshops with family-oriented non-profit organization partners such as the Children's Wishing Well, Club Rainbow, and Glyph Community will be conducted in September to promote and boost competency in essential digital skills among vulnerable and underprivileged communities.
According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), scams and cybercrime continue to be a key concern. SPF revealed in their 2023 brief that the number of scam and cybercrime cases increased by 49.6% in 2023 compared to the year before. The report also shared that 73.0% of scam victims were youths, young adults and adults aged below 50, making it a priority to educate these demographics about how to protect themselves against bad actors and learn about safe online shopping and new technologies.
Amazon and IMDA's collaboration comes after Amazon.sg achieved the highest rating possible for a third year running in April 2024 in Singapore's E-Commerce Marketplace Transaction Safety Ratings (TSR). More recently, Amazon Singapore has joined the newly launched Global Anti-Scam Alliance's Singapore chapter as Vice-Chair to work across industries to help protect Singapore consumers against bad actors. Amazon believes that by working together across industries and with governments around the world, we can build a world where consumers navigate their lives confident that they will not fall victim to scams. Amazon is keen to work together with others to chart a course to achieve it.
In addition to community workshops around safe online shopping and safe online transactions, Amazon's collaboration with IMDA under the Digital for Life movement will see workshops conducted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to educate Singaporeans about Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) and new technologies, highlighting their functional benefits in our daily lives and encouraging responsible use. The first AWS community workshop on Gen AI was conducted in June 2024 with Singapore's National Library Board, which taught attendees - ranging from primary school children to retirees - about how to use AI models to create an application. These initiatives support the AWS AI Spring Communities program which focuses on community development with AI, as part of AWS's recently announced flagship program, AWS AI Spring Singapore. Under AWS AI Spring, AWS will train 5,000 individuals annually on AI skills from 2024-2026.
To further support the Digital for Life movement, Amazon has donated S$100,000 to the Digital for Life Fund, which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Singapore Government, in order to support digital literacy and wellness, as well as digital technology and inclusion initiatives for vulnerable communities.
Ms. Doreen Tan, Assistant Chief Executive (Strategic Planning and Digital Readiness) of IMDA, said: "As the digital space evolves, we recognise the importance of equipping Singaporeans with the tools and skills to stay safe online. Our collaboration with Amazon builds on IMDA's Digital Skills for Life competencies, which cover learning to transact securely and being savvy and kind online. We welcome more partners to join us in the Digital for Life movement, to build a more inclusive society where no one is left behind and everyone can enjoy the benefits of the digital age."
Mr. Josen George, General Manager, Amazon APAC, said: "Widespread education and collective action are critical armors in our fight against scams. As technology advances, bad actors will continue to find new ways to take advantage of communities. We must strive to be a few steps ahead of them by working together, sharing our knowledge, and creating a safe environment for day-to-day activities online. Amazon – including teams from Amazon.sg, Amazon Payments and AWS, is proud to work closely with IMDA to further educate Singaporeans about safe online shopping and safe transactions using digital payment methods such as PayNow, as well as sharing the benefits and responsible use of new technologies such as Gen AI. Safety is the top priority in everything we do at Amazon."
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