Singapore & the Netherlands: Trust Technologies

The Dutch Blockchain Coalition, in collaboration with the Innovation Attaché Network (IAN) at the Dutch embassy in Singapore, CWI Cryptology research group, and Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, is exploring the possibility of a mission to Singapore during the Singapore International Cyber Week in the field of Trust Technologies: 17 – 20 October. This mission is potential stap towards multi-year collaboration programme between our respective countries to strengthen digital trust. The next information session on the upcoming mission will be held on 5 July 2023. Deadline for registration and participation is 17 July. If you would like to participate, please send an e-mail to Mark van Staalduinen.

Workshop Singapore & the Netherlands

On the way to this mission and the multi-year collaboratoin program, a workshop was organized on June 8, 2023: Singapore & the Netherlands: Trust Technologies. During the workshop, more than 30 experts on trust technologies discussed and identified opportunities for collaboration between Singapore and the Netherlands. This workshop took place at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam. The session began with an introduction by Prof. LAM Kwok Yan, cybersecurity expert and Executive Director of the National Center for Research in Digital Trust (DTC) in Singapore, hosted at Nanyang Technological University, where he is also Associate VP Strategy and Partnerships. After its kick-off, several Dutch companies and organizations presented in a pitching format solutions and new ideas, and several public-private partnerships were highlighted in areas that may be relevant in this cross-border collaboration.

Panel discussion Digital Trust

Prior to the workshop, on 7 June, theme lead Trust and Safety Mark van Staalduinen participated in a panel discussion at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Singapore, which was co-organised with SGInnovate. The panel discussion about our digital future was organized on the occasion of the visit of Minister Alexandra van Huffelen and the delegation from the Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties (the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands). Central to the lively discussion was the need for trust in our digital ecosystem, which is open to everyone and where everyone has control over their own digital data. Foreseeable factors enabling the transition to digital trust are decentralized technologies. After the opening speech by the minister, the panel discussion started and the joint ambitions in the field of trust, inclusion and control were discussed. Various initiatives have been proposed and the foundations have been laid to work towards this multi-year program to realize the shared ambition by Singapore and the Netherlands of digital trust through Trust Tech.

Panellists:
Alexandra van Huffelen, Dutch Minister for Digitalisation
Francesco Pessolano, CEO and Co-Founder, Astrape Networks
Howie Lau How Sin 刘浩新, Managing Partner, Corporate Development and Partnerships, NCS
Jing Yi Chan, Head of Operations and Business, Entropica Labs
Thomas van Oortmerssen, Spokesman to the Dutch Minister for Digitalisation
Astrid Seegers, Head of Innovation at Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Singapore
Mark van Staalduinen, Trust and Safety lead for the Dutch Blockchain Coalition

Background: Smart Nation Singapore

Singapore and the Netherlands are highly digitalized countries, both with governments that actively support the continuous development of their digital economy and smart cities. And both are aware of the importance of international collaboration in progressing technology, but also in setting standards and with international use cases. With the Smart Nation initiative at its core, Singapore aims for a digital-first country, focused on digital government, digital economy and digital society. The Netherlands is one of the digital front-runners in Europe with strong focus on value driven digitalization. One of the key components of a successful transformation to a digital economy is trust. In the Netherlands this is underlined in the National Digitization Strategy and the Value-Driven Digitalization Work Agenda. Singapore is internationally recognized for their work on trust technologies in the National Digital Trust Centre. This center was established in June 2022 to work on the fundamentals of trust in the digital economy.