Ant International and NTU Singapore Collaborate on Privacy-Enhancing Technologies to Strengthen Digital Economy Growth in the Region

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 17, 2024--

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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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 proofs 1 and federated learning 2. 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 models 3 (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.

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)

Among the last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible headed for the wreck of the Titanic were “all good here,” according to a visual re-creation of the journey of the Titan before it imploded, killing all five on board.

The U.S. Coast Guard presented the animation Monday on the first day of what is expected to be a two-week hearing on the causes of the implosion. Crew aboard the Titan were communicating via text messages with staff aboard the support ship Polar Prince, according to the presentation.

The crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the submersible's depth and weight as it descended. The Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display. One of Titan’s final responses, which became spotty as it descended, was “all good here.”

The Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, setting off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

The Titan was left exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023, Coast Guard representatives said in their initial remarks Monday. The hull was also never reviewed by any third parties as is standard procedure, they said. That and the submersible's unconventional design subjected the Titan to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard's commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation.

“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Office of Investigations, who led the hearing. “But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again.”

Among those killed was Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, the Washington state company that owned the Titan. The company suspended operations after the implosion.

The hearing's first witness, OceanGate's former engineering director, Tony Nissen, testified Monday that Rush could be difficult to work for and was often very concerned with costs and project schedules, among other issues. Nissen also said that initially, he had “no idea they wanted to go to the Titanic.”

Nissen said Rush would fight for what he wanted, which often changed day to day. He said he tried to keep his clashes with Rush behind closed doors so that others in the company wouldn't be aware.

“Most people would eventually just back down to Stockton,” he said.

Also scheduled to speak were the company's former finance director, Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson.

Some key OceanGate representatives are not scheduled to testify. They include Rush's widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company's communications director.

The Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations, said Melissa Leake, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard. She added that it's common for a Marine Board of Investigation to “hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases.”

Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein; former operations director, David Lochridge; and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, Leake said.

OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began, the statement said.

The implosion also killed veteran Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood; and British adventurer Hamish Harding.

The Titan lost contact with its support vessel about two hours after it made its final dive later. When it was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

The search for the submersible attracted worldwide attention, as it became increasingly unlikely that anyone could have survived the implosion. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.

The time frame for the investigation was initially a year, but the inquiry has taken longer. The Coast Guard said in July that the hearing would delve into “all aspects of the loss of the Titan,” including both mechanical considerations as well as compliance with regulations and crewmember qualifications.

This story has been edited to clarify that “all good here” was one of the last things heard from the submersible, not necessarily the very last thing heard.

Coast Guard's Thomas Whalen, left, speaks with Nicole Emmons, right, during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard's Thomas Whalen speaks with another Coast Guard member during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Jason Neubauer, board chairman, of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pauses for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pause for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing take an oath inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

FILE - This undated image provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)