SINGAPORE, May 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ATxSummit 2026, hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, officially kicked off this evening with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam as the Guest-of-Honour at the Opening Gala Dinner at Gardens by the Bay. This year's ATxSummit will bring together government leaders from Asia, the Middle East and the United States of America; International organisations such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as well as industry and academic luminaries including Denise Dresser, OpenAI's Chief Revenue Officer, David Zapolsky, Chief Global Affairs & Legal Officer, Amazon, Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, William Dally, Chief Scientist at NVIDIA, Professor Yoshua Bengio of the University of Montreal, a pioneer in deep learning, and Professor Dawn Song of University of California, Berkeley, known for her work in artificial intelligence (AI) security and trustworthy machine learning.
ASEAN's Youth Showcase AI-Enabled Solutions for Society
The highlight of this year's Gala Dinner was a showcase of 11 youth projects from the inaugural AI Ready ASEAN Youth Challenge. With AI adoption across the region reaching 85% in 2024[1], these projects demonstrated how ASEAN youth are shaping practical AI solutions for public good. Shortlisted from over 600 submissions across all ASEAN Member States, the 11 projects spanned healthcare, education, social inclusion and agriculture, with a common objective of improving lives and strengthening communities.
President Tharman presented the top three prizes to teams from Brunei, Cambodia and Myanmar, whose innovative applications aligned to the Challenge's focus on knowledge, skills and learning, scientific progress, and stronger communities. Overall winner Brunei's ΣHAI developed an AI-powered dementia care platform using speech, language and video analysis to support earlier detection, personalised caregiver guidance, and care coordination. Cambodia's Voha.ai helps hearing-impaired children improve pronunciation through real-time speech recognition and visual mouth-tracking. Myanmar's Future Flux provides an offline AI education platform powered by edge computing to provide rural students with digital learning, adaptive lessons and AI tutoring. These winners received cash prizes of USD 5,000, USD 3,000, and USD 1,000 respectively.
Koo Sengmeng, Director of Talent & Ecosystem at AI Singapore, said, "This is the kind of impact we hope to see from our AI Ready ASEAN effort – our future generations not just knowing how AI works, but knowing where it matters, where it should be used, and how it can improve lives."
ΣHAI, said: "Through Sahabat-Care, we wanted to address the growing challenge of dementia detection and caregiver support in Southeast Asia. This platform has helped us explore how AI can support caregivers with more timely insights, personalised guidance and better decision-making for elderly care."
The AI Ready ASEAN Youth Challenge is a regional ideathon organised by AI Singapore (AISG) with the ASEAN Foundation, supported by Google.org and in collaboration with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). It is part of the AI Ready ASEAN initiative to equip 5.5 million people with foundational AI literacy and capabilities. Themed "AI for an Inclusive and Sustainable ASEAN", the Challenge called on youth aged 18 to 35 to develop AI-based solutions across three priority areas: knowledge, skills and learning, scientific progress and stronger communities. Each proposal had to demonstrate real-world applications, including outreach to at least 1,000 community members.
AI-Powered Healthcare Research and Solutions
Earlier in the day, two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed at the SingHealth AI in Health Symposium held at Capella, Singapore, a pre-event of ATxSummit 2026. These MoU will advance AI-powered healthcare research and accelerate solutions for patients and health systems. They reflect the need for scalable solutions given how ageing populations, rising chronic disease burdens, and uneven access to care place pressure on healthcare systems across Southeast Asia. They also demonstrate how AI is answering this call – sharpening clinical decision-making, supporting healthcare workers and extending quality care to more patients:
- SingHealth and the Gyalpozhing College of Information Technology (GCIT), Royal University of Bhutan, signed an MoU to promote the responsible use of AI in healthcare, with a focus on localised solutions for emerging healthcare systems. At the heart of the collaboration is an AI-assisted Chest Radiograph model powered by MerMED-FM, a multimodal, multi-specialty medical imaging foundation model developed by SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medicine Centre and A*STAR's Institute of High Performance Computing. Published in The Lancet Digital Health, the model has demonstrated good performance in detecting pneumonia, tuberculosis, hepatic masses, and colorectal cancer. Trained on Bhutanese data and expected to roll out in 2027 across Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City Healthcare Hospitals, the model brings specialist-level diagnostic capability to rural communities where geographical barriers and shortages of radiological expertise remain pressing challenges and signals SingHealth's ambition to transform diagnostic care regionally.
- Singapore General Hospital (SGH), SingHealth's flagship hospital, Singapore's largest public healthcare cluster, signed an MoU with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)'s Diagnostics Development Hub (DxD Hub) to accelerate AI-enabled and multimodal precision diagnostics into market-ready solutions. This partnership will fast-track commercially scalable diagnostic tools, from fighting antimicrobial resistance infections to detecting early memory loss in seniors, with the ambition of spinning off investable companies delivering health and economic impact to Singapore and beyond.
For more information on ATxSG, please visit asiatechxsg.com.
Media: atxsg.imda@archetype.co
[1] 11th ASEAN Economic Community Dialogue survey. asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ASEAN-for-Business-Bulletin-Special-Edition.pdf
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ATxSummit 2026 Opens with Shared Regional Ambition to Harness AI for Public Good
HONG KONG, Aug. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Singapore Good Soil Foundation successfully concluded the third edition of its Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program at The University of Hong Kong, marking the program's first international edition since its launch.
Centered on the theme "Art + AI for Social Good," the five-day immersive program brought together 58 in-person Student Fellows and 45 online participants from Singapore, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, the United States, the United Kingdom, Thailand, and Kenya. Through interdisciplinary learning in artificial intelligence, leadership, social innovation, and the arts, Student Fellows explored how technology and creativity can be harnessed to address real-world challenges and create lasting social impact.
Following two successful editions at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, the program continues to grow into an international platform connecting young people who aspire to lead with purpose and create positive change in their communities.
The Singapore Good Soil Foundation believes that education is not simply about transferring knowledge. It is about empowering young people to use knowledge, technology, and creativity in service of humanity. Philanthropy is not merely about giving. It is about expanding human possibility.
A Classroom Without Borders
This year's program welcomed three scholarship recipients from remote rural communities in China.
Coming from under-resourced communities, they received full scholarships covering travel, accommodation, and program expenses, enabling them to learn alongside outstanding students from around the world.
Beyond learning about artificial intelligence, leadership, and social innovation, the Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program aims to equip Student Fellows to become future philanthropic leaders who will one day return to their communities and create opportunities for others.
For the Singapore Good Soil Foundation, philanthropy is about more than transforming individual lives. It is about empowering individuals to become catalysts for positive change within their communities and beyond.
Young People Inspiring Young People
Nine alumni from previous cohorts returned as Teaching Assistants, mentoring student teams throughout the program.
Outstanding university students from Nanyang Technological University, Yale University, and Xiamen University also returned to share their experiences of university life, leadership, and community engagement.
The Singapore Good Soil Foundation believes that some of the most meaningful learning happens when young people inspire one another.
Education Beyond the Classroom
The program featured speakers from the fields of philanthropy, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, design, and communication.
Participants also visited the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Hong Kong Sikh community, M+ Museum, and The University of Hong Kong, gaining first-hand insight into Hong Kong's multicultural society, religious inclusivity, and the role of civic institutions in building a more compassionate and connected community.
One of the most highly praised sessions of the Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program was the Improvisational Speaking Masterclass.
After the session, a first-year Yale University undergraduate shared, "I wish I had taken this class in high school."
For the Singapore Good Soil Foundation, that reflection was more meaningful than any accolade. It affirmed a belief at the heart of the program: education is not only about acquiring knowledge, but about cultivating independent thinking, authentic communication, meaningful collaboration, and the confidence to navigate an uncertain future.
Technology Should Always Serve Humanity
The Charity Pitch Challenge remained the centerpiece of the program.
Working in interdisciplinary teams, Student Fellows designed innovative solutions to real social challenges by integrating artificial intelligence, art, and human-centered design.
Throughout the program, students were reminded of one simple belief:
AI is not the goal. It is a tool.
The future will not be shaped by technology alone, but by the values of the people who choose how to use it.
Five Days. Leadership in Action.
The program also celebrated the continued impact of Silver Sayang, a student-led initiative launched during the Singapore Good Soil Foundation's inaugural Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program.
Today, its members continue organizing visits to nursing homes, bringing companionship and care to elderly residents.
Their journey is a reminder that meaningful education does not end when the program concludes. Sometimes, one conversation, one project, or one act of kindness can shape a lifetime.
Looking Ahead
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the world, the Singapore Good Soil Foundation believes one question has become more important than ever:
What does it truly mean to be human?
The answer is not found in technological progress alone, but in the choices we make, the compassion we show, and the responsibility we take for one another.
This belief is the foundation of the Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program: to equip young people not only with the skills to innovate, but also with the character to lead with integrity, empathy, and purpose.
At the heart of the Singapore Good Soil Foundation's mission is a conviction often expressed by its Founder, Ms Faye Lo:
"Our goal is not simply to help young people succeed. It is to help them become people who expand human possibility."
The Singapore Good Soil Foundation aspires to cultivate a generation of entrepreneurs, scientists, and AI innovators who are equally defined by their compassion, integrity, global outlook, and commitment to the common good. Ultimately, the future will not be shaped by technology alone, but by those who choose to wield it with wisdom and purpose.
For more information about the Singapore Good Soil Foundation, you can follow them on :
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nextgenprogram/
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/@nextgenphilanthropist
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569021872399
Tiktok : https://www.tiktok.com/@nextgen.program
RedNote : https://www.xiaohongshu.com/user/profile/674d2a34000000001c019a59?xsec_token=YBCWYK3cks6q5FeLj14Pu_xyMLoXdw6i35IA08JSiqrB0=&xsec_source=app_share&xhsshare=CopyLink&appuid=674d2a34000000001c019a59&apptime=1736404897&share_id=58b6df5da60d43a4ae3c51356ebf1a19
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Singapore Good Soil Foundation Hosts Third Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program at the University of Hong Kong, Empowering the Next Generation of Global Changemakers
Singapore Good Soil Foundation Hosts Third Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program at the University of Hong Kong, Empowering the Next Generation of Global Changemakers
Singapore Good Soil Foundation Hosts Third Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program at the University of Hong Kong, Empowering the Next Generation of Global Changemakers
Singapore Good Soil Foundation Hosts Third Next Generation Philanthropy Leadership Program at the University of Hong Kong, Empowering the Next Generation of Global Changemakers
