NTU, Alibaba set up corporate lab to help firms go greener

Up to 200 scientists, engineers in public and private sectors to work together

- Sue-Ann Tan

More technology-based solutions will be unlocked to solve real-world problems and help companies be more sustainable with the launch of a new corporate lab that will bring together up to 200 scientists and engineers from the public and private sectors.

The project by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Alibaba Group aims to drive collaboration between industry and public sector researchers.

Called the Alibaba-NTU Global e-Sustainability CorpLab, or Angel, it was launched on Sept 12 by Deputy Prime Minister and National Research Foundation (NRF) chairman Heng Swee Keat. NRF is also supporting the new corporate lab.

DPM Heng said in his speech at the launch: "Corporate labs like this one have an important role in Singapore's research, innovation and enterprise ecosystem.

"By bringing like-minded research and enterprise partners together, they develop new breakthroughs and actionable solutions that can be brought to market." He added: "The work done at the Angel corporate lab sits at the intersection of two of the biggest transformations of our time the digital revolution and the green transition. Just as the future of sustainability will be artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, the future of computing must also be greener."

He noted that AI technologies can help reduce emissions from optimising energy grids to developing sustainable supply chains. AI models can also analyse environmental data, identify areas for improvement, and enable more efficient, data-driven decision making.

However, digitalisation itself could leave a significant carbon footprint, he said.