Personal Data Protection (PDP) Week 2025 may have drawn to a close, but there’s much ground to cover in its impacts on data & AI governance for organisations. The event, held from 7-10 July 2025, saw new initiatives unveiled and dialogues that illustrated a budding ecosystem for responsible data use while fostering innovation.
Here is a summary of key announcements at this year’s PDP Week:
1. Expanded Global AI Assurance Sandbox: Building upon insights from the Global AI Assurance Pilot launched earlier this year, this initiative will allow more companies to test real world applications, making AI safer
2. Published IMDA Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) Adoption Guide: Based on insights from real use cases in the existing IMDA PET Sandbox, the guide is designed to simplify how organisations evaluate and implement PETs.
3. New Singapore Standard for Data Protection Trustmark (DPTM): The Singapore Accreditation Council will elevate the DPTM to a new Singapore Standard (SS 714:2025), bringing it on par with global data protection benchmarks and international best practices.
Expanding Safe Spaces for Responsible AI
True to Singapore’s business-friendly ethos on data protection and AI governance, Singapore continues to maintain a balanced approach that offers practical guidance and testing environments for organisations to address ethical and governance concerns when deploying AI solutions.
Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information and Minister-in-charge of Cybersecurity and Smart Nation Group, announced the expanded Global AI Assurance Sandbox, a continuation of the pilot launched at the Paris AI Action Summit earlier this year. The sandbox aims to help companies systematically test Generative AI applications before deployment, thereby addressing growing concerns around safety, bias, and data leakage.
Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information and Minister-in-charge of Cybersecurity and Smart Nation Group, speaking at PDP Week 2025 on 7 July 2025.
This expansion includes guidance on emerging risks such as prompt injection attacks and data vulnerabilities, supported by IMDA’s newly launched Starter Kit for Safety Testing of Large Language Models (LLMs).
By providing businesses with tools and structured methods for testing, the sandbox moves beyond governance frameworks and into operational best practices, closing what Mrs Teo described as “a serious gap” in AI deployment.
Driving Secure, Data-driven Innovation with PETs
To support broader industry adoption of PETs, Mrs Teo also announced the launch of a new PETs Adoption Guide, developed based on insights gathered from use cases in IMDA’s existing PET Sandbox. Targeted at business and innovation leaders, the guide includes a PETs Use Case Evaluation Tool to help organisations select and deploy the right PETs solutions for their needs, as well as an Implementation Checklist that features key areas of consideration in assessing and operationalising PET solutions securely and sustainably in organisations.
“Our experience with organisations in the Sandbox has allowed us to better understand the technologies, their ability to protect personal data and comply with legal obligations when such data is shared,” she explained. “It has also given us a good sense of the growing interest from technology providers in offering PET solutions, as well as companies who are keen to use PETs.”
Intended as a “living document”, the PETs Adoption Guide would be constantly refined as new use cases join the PET Sandbox, as well as from industry feedback.
Real-World Applications Highlighted
Now entering its third year, the PET Sandbox continues to demonstrate how such technologies can unlock business value for data-driven enterprises without compromising personal data. Several business use cases that have emerged from the PET Sandbox were highlighted during the PETs Summit at PDP Week 2025, illustrating the ability of PETs in enabling cross-sector innovation.
Ant International, SPH Media and Tiktok - heavy weights from fintech, media and social media industries - leveraged one or more techniques spanning Federated Learning, Multiparty Computing, Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and Differential Privacy to maximise data insights in collaboration with other organisations, without exposing sensitive information to either party. Companies like Kajima also employed synthetic data to run privacy-preserving behavioural simulations of human occupants in built environments, thereby ethically contributing to research in construction and civil engineering.
In his opening address at the PETs Summit, Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive of IMDA, remarked how far PETs have come. Once a niche field known only to cryptographers, it is now a practical and increasingly mainstream technology enabling secure data collaboration across sectors. He emphasised that PETs are no longer just compliance tools, but competitive differentiators in the digital economy.
Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive of IMDA, delivering his opening address for the PETs Summit at PDP Week 2025 on 8 July 2025.
Lew also noted that solution providers are making PETs more accessible, with no or low-code platforms and APIs that shorten time-to-market even for non-technical teams. Meanwhile, partnerships with research institutions like the Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) Digital Trust Centre (DTC) are pushing the boundaries of research in trust technologies and its real-world applications, including the use of PETs for financial institutions to collaboratively address the risks of financial crime in the Mastercard-NTU Joint Lab.
As the ecosystem matures, Singapore is also working with ASEAN member states and international partners such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to encourage regional PET adoption and the enablement of better cross-border data flows.
Raising the Bar with a New National Standard for DPTM
The IMDA has set new benchmarks for data protection excellence with the elevation of the Data Protection Trustmark (DPTM) to a new national certification - Singapore Standard SS 714:2025. This upgrade reflects alignment with globally-recognised data protection norms and offers companies a clear path to demonstrating accountable data practices. This move not only harmonises trust standards with business operations, but also strengthens consumer confidence.
“The Trustmark will assure consumers that certified organisations adopt world-class practices in protecting their personal data,” affirmed Mrs Teo.
Organisations will now undergo assessments conducted by certification bodies under the oversight of the Singapore Accreditation Council, with a streamlined, single point-of-contact process from application to certification.
On 29 August 2025, we will be sharing more about what the elevated DPTM entails and how organisations can achieve and sustain the certification under the updated framework. Interested parties may sign up here.
Charting the Next Phase of Digital Governance
As new technologies reshape industries, the emphasis on privacy, safety, and trust will be the foundation for long-term digital resilience. Organisations that build these capabilities today will be more advantageously positioned in the long-term.
PDP Week 2025 reinforced Singapore’s pragmatic approach to data and AI governance: equip organisations with structured tools and testing for responsible AI, promote trusted data-sharing between organisations through PETs, and scale privacy standards through internationally-aligned certifications.
“We believe there is much for businesses and people to gain when AI is developed responsibly and deployed reliably,” said Mrs Teo. “It is up to us as leaders in corporations and the government to understand how we can do so, and to put in place the right measures.”
