Keppel Ltd.'s Connectivity Division (Keppel) and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) are collaborating to develop and deploy applied artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, robotics applications and future-ready AI data centre capabilities.
The collaboration will bring together Keppel's expertise in digital infrastructure and operations with NTU's strengths in AI, robotics, data science and systems engineering.
Through joint research, pilot projects and testbed deployments, both parties aim to translate research into practical solutions that can support Singapore's ambition to harness AI as a strategic advantage.
The planned collaboration will focus on applied AI solutions in selected sectors where Singapore and Keppel have strengths, such as smart cities, data centres and infrastructure.
Mr Wong Wai Meng, CEO, Data Centres of Keppel, said: "This collaboration reflects Keppel's commitment to advancing future‑ready digital infrastructure through innovation and applied research. By working closely with leading research institutions such as NTU, we seek to translate advances in AI and robotics into practical applications across our digital infrastructure platform, including both our new and existing data centres, to support productivity, operational resilience and sustainability."
Professor Lam Kwok Yan, NTU Associate Vice President (Strategy and Partnerships), said: "Through this upcoming collaboration with Keppel, NTU aims to apply and translate our advanced AI and robotics capabilities to support more efficient, resilient and sustainable digital infrastructure."
Both parties will identify and prioritise industry use cases, test AI solutions in real-world environments, and explore how AI can be integrated into enterprise systems and operations. These may include AI systems that can carry out complex tasks more reliably, run within an organisation's secure computing environment, and interact with people through natural conversation.
The collaboration will also explore robotics and autonomous systems for high-impact sectors. Areas of applied research include AI-driven autonomous systems, physical AI security and safety, human-robot collaboration and robot-robot collaboration.
Another area of focus is the development of future-ready AI data centre capabilities, such as developing high-power-density data centre technologies, green energy, advanced cooling and high availability, as well as modular AI data centre experiments.
The parties will also explore distributed AI data centre models, power profiles, cooling designs and network designs that can be optimised at the system level.
This could include the use of digital-twin technology and physics-based simulation to improve data centre operations, as well as testbeds that can support faster deployment timelines for GPU manufacturers. These testbeds may potentially be carried out at a future Keppel data centre.
Both parties will also explore talent development, including internships, industrial attachments, mid-career skills upgrading, joint curriculum development and knowledge exchange.
The collaboration aims to strengthen Singapore's AI and robotics ecosystem by building practical technologies and industry-ready talent for the country's growing digital economy.
