Most popular stories, August 2025

By Sol Gonzalez

This month we share stories that shed light on how governments around Asia are advancing technology for the improvement of public service.

Most popular stories, August 2025.

As part of our guest column, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Digital Technologies, Sherzod Shermatov wrote how the Uzbek government is investing in digital government and information technology to establish itself as a digital hub in Central Asia.

In line with AI advancements, Singapore’s legal sector is leveraging AI to summarise lengthy documents, streamlining a process that used to take hours into just a few minutes.

This month we also covered how Singapore is fostering a more elderly-friendly society, the introduction of new benchmarks for data centre IT equipment, and Indonesia’s move to implementing AI into the school curriculum.

Enjoy reading.

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1. Three ways that Singapore is building an elderly-friendly society

Singapore continues to launch strategies and practices from healthcare to infrastructure in order to foster a more caring environment for seniors and their communities as the population ages. Click image to access article >>>

While healthcare remains a core area of consideration, physical infrastructure is as equally important to fostering a caring environment for seniors. These are some of the strategies that Singapore has launched recently to address the needs of seniors and their caregivers, for today and tomorrow.

2. Singapore introduces new benchmark for data centre IT equipment

To be part of the government’s bulk tendering process, the new standard mandates that IT equipment, especially those meant for data centres, should be able to operate at temperatures up to 35°C, thus reducing energy demand for their cooling. Click image to access article >>>

The Energy Efficiency of Data Centre IT Equipment standard specifies that the equipment should be able to run safely at temperatures up to 35°C.

This is part of Singapore's Green Data Centre Roadmap, which charts the sustainable, continued growth of data centres in support of Singapore’s ambitions to grow the digital economy.

3. Establishing the premier digital hub in Central Asia

Uzbekistan’s Minister of Digital Technologies, Sherzod Shermatov writes about how the country is investing in the future of digital government and information technology. Click image to access article >>>

“One thing we have understood is that, to have a thriving private sector, we need to lead by example by creating a government that is technology-based and responsive to the needs of our citizens and our business community,” said Uzbekistan’s Minister of Digital Technologies, Sherzod Shermatov.

4. From hours to minutes: Speeding up legal research with an AI assistant

GPT-Legal has been designed to summarise lengthy judgments with a high degree of accuracy using the standard format used by the legal fraternity in Singapore, says IMDA’s Deputy Director (Incubation), Janet Chiew. Click image to access article >>>

“This unique legal landscape presents both opportunities and challenges for legal practitioners and technology developers. For AI models like GPT-Legal to be effective, they must be intimately familiar with the specific terminologies, legal principles, and formatting conventions that arise from this complex mix of legal sources,” said IMDA’s Deputy Director (Incubation), Janet Chiew.

5. Teaching the teachers about AI

Indonesian Education Ministry’s decision to introduce artificial intelligence as an elective subject in schools is a promising leap forward but it also raises a critical question: are the country’s teachers truly AI ready? Click image to access article >>>

By introducing artificial intelligence (AI) as an elective subject in primary and secondary schools, the country hopes to develop a generation of AI ready citizens for the new age digital economy that is being shaped around us.