Singapore’s Enterprise Singapore, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has unveiled the Standards and Conformance 2035 roadmap, highlighting AI as a key focus for standardization and compliance assessment.
The agency has also formalized five memorandums with international and regional partners, covering areas from AI and quantum technologies to carbon projects and credits.
The document aims to strengthen Singapore’s role in standards development, international certification recognition, and the evaluation of new technologies before widespread adoption. The AI section emphasizes early standard development—establishing approaches before formal rules are set internationally.
Three Pillars
The roadmap is based on three pillars:
- supporting growth through early standard adoption;
- developing a testing, inspection, and certification ecosystem;
- enhancing Singapore’s role in regional and global standards and compliance networks.
The key idea is to embed standards into products, services, and processes early, rather than retroactively. EnterpriseSG has prioritized AI, precision medicine, clean energy, and offshore wind energy as new focus areas.
A specific focus is on sectors where rules are still being formed, including AI, carbon services, and precision medicine. EnterpriseSG plans to launch regulatory sandboxes to test new approaches before formalization and simultaneously build local expertise in testing, inspection, and certification.
“Standards and compliance are not just about meeting requirements but are strategic levers for growth. With the S&C 2035 roadmap, we accelerate early standard adoption by Singaporean businesses, helping companies innovate faster and access global markets more easily,” said Choy Sau Kuen, Director of the Quality and Excellence Group at EnterpriseSG.
Five Memorandums: AI, Quantum Technologies, and Carbon Credits
EnterpriseSG has formalized five memorandums with international and regional partners.
The AI section includes a multilateral memorandum with the British Standards Institution, Korea Agency for Technology and Standards, Standards Australia, and Standards Council of Canada. The goal is to bridge the gap between rapid AI development and the slower formal standard-setting process.
Separately, Singapore signed an agreement with the American National Standards Institute on critical and emerging technologies, including AI and quantum technologies.
Two more agreements involve cooperation with Southeast Asian countries—Vietnam and Indonesia—to strengthen regional capabilities in AI standards and compliance.
Additionally, EnterpriseSG has partnered with the Gold Standard Foundation and Verra to enhance sustainability verification frameworks for carbon projects and credits.
Progress on AI Standards
On April 20, 2026, IMDA and EnterpriseSG announced that Singapore proposed the international standard ISO/IEC 42119-8 to unify testing methodologies for generative AI systems. The release described it as the first international standard of its kind for testing generative AI systems (GenAI).
Previously, IMDA and AI Verify Foundation released a Starter Kit for Testing LLM-Based Applications for Safety and Reliability. The document outlines voluntary guidelines for testing LLM applications before launch and highlights five key risks:
- hallucinations and factual errors;
- bias;
- undesirable content;
- data leaks;
- resilience to malicious prompts.
Separately, AI Verify Foundation launched an accreditation program for AI testers. It aims to establish requirements for third-party companies testing GenAI applications and develop the market for independent AI system assessments.
In 2024, the European Parliament adopted the EU AI regulation. ForkLog asked participants at the Privacy Day 2024 conference to discuss its overall impact on the industry.
