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Deputy Director, Centre for Digital Enablement

Scott
Jones

Deputy Director, Centre for Digital Enablement
Senior Lead Professional Officer
Chair, ICT Outreach Committee
Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) (Honors: magna cum laude), California State University, United States
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Biography

As an academic staff of Singapore’s premier applied learning university, I am involved in all aspects of student teaching and curriculum development for various Infocomm Technology related degree programs. Additionally, I serve as Deputy Director, Centre for Digital Enablement (CoDE), tasked with driving the initiatives to elevate digital competencies for students and staff within the university.

Prior to joining SIT, I was co-founder and Managing Director of Six Kin, a Singapore based company specializing in AI in eCommerce. This followed a career in the software industry spanning three decades, during which I was involved with several successful Silicon Valley start-ups, including Netscape, where I helped build the legendary Netscape Navigator web browser. Other notable stops include Microsoft, where I worked on early prototypes of tablet PCs, and teaching & research appointments at Nanyang Polytechnic and Hong Kong Polytechnic University respectively.

I'm very excited to bring my industry and higher education experience to SIT, where our focus on applied learning enables faculty, students and industry partners to work together effectively to create innovative, impactful solutions!

SIT Appointments

  • Deputy Director, Centre for Digital Enablement
    – Present
  • Senior Lead Professional Officer
    – Present
  • Chair, ICT Outreach Committee
    – Present
  • Deputy Head, Design Factory @ SIT
    –
  • Senior Lecturer
    –

Education

  • Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) (Honors: magna cum laude)
    California State University , United States

Professional Certification

  • Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
    Microsoft
  • Certificate in Teaching & Learning (Higher Education)
    Nanyang Polytechnic
  • Android Application Development
    Nanyang Polytechnic

Professional Memberships

  • Singapore Computer Society
    – Present
  • Artificial General Intelligence Society
    – Present
  • Microsoft Alumni Network
    – Present

Industry Experience

  • Six Kin Development Pte. Ltd. (Managing Director)
  • Avatier Singapore Pte. Ltd. (Managing Director)
  • Microsoft Corporation
  • Sagent Technology, Inc.
  • Netscape Communications Corp.
  • NetManage, Inc.
  • Scientific Software, Inc.
  • Central Point Software
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Technical Skills

  • C++ Programming
  • Object Oriented Programming
  • Web Application Development
  • AI and Machine Learning
  • Third Wave AI
  • Neuro-Symbolic AI
  • Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

Research Interests

  • Third Wave AI

    We are currently experiencing the Second Wave of AI, dominated by deep learning and statistical, "big data" approaches to AI. But just around the corner, perhaps sooner than many people realize, is the Third Wave of AI.

    Third Wave AI systems will feature dramatic improvements, most notably in their ability for contextual adaptation. They will understand context and meaning, and be able to adapt accordingly. Third Wave AI will not only recognize the cat, but will be able to explain why it's a cat and how it arrived at that conclusion – a giant leap from today's "black box" systems.

  • Neuro-Symbolic AI

    From the 1970's to the 1990's, the field of AI was driven by heuristic rule-based systems. Known as "Good Old-Fashioned AI" or GOFAI, these systems, which included medical diagnostic applications and chess playing programs, were very good at reasoning, but incapable of learning without reprogramming. By contrast, the last two decades, from the early 2000's to present, have been dominated by statistical machine learning (ML) techniques, which are excellent at learning but have no ability to reason whatsoever. A ML model that's trained to recognize images of cats, for example, can do so with an accuracy level approaching that of humans, yet it has no idea what a cat is. This lack of contextual awareness and inability to explain its results, along with the need for enormous amounts of training data, are major limitations of ML.

    Neuro-Symbolic AI (NSAI) represents an attempt to marry the best of both worlds, combining the reasoning abilities of GOFAI with the powerful, automated learning of ML. NSAI aims to build systems that can learn with substantially less data, and that provide understandable and controllable decisions and actions. Many researchers, including IBM Research, view NSAI as a pathway to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

  • Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

    Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) refers to machines that can perform any intellectual task that a human can. Also called “strong AI” or “real AI,” AGI represents the “holy grail” and the original goal of artificial intelligence research since the 1950s.

Past Projects

  • Applying AI to Predict and Reduce Risk in International Shipping
    –

    Principal Investigator

    • Awarded MOE Ignition Grant, total funding = SGD$129,800
    • Delivered working prototypes of front-end UI and back-end AI engine
    • Ongoing license fees from industry partner (TradeFlow Capital Management)
       

    This project, a collaboration between SIT and TradeFlow Capital Management, aims to apply advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor, measure, analyse, predict, and in turn, help manage the risk that a company will face demurrage on shipments of bulk commodities around the world.

    https://www.singaporetech.edu.sg/digitalnewsroom/sit-and-tradeflow-collaborate-to-enhance-shipping-industry-efficiency-with-ai/

  • SIT Ops Grant – Design Factory @ SIT
    –

    Co-Principal Investigator

    • Total grant amount: SGD$1,912,837
       
  • Powering Interior Design with AI
    –

    Principal Investigator / Project Manager

    • Funded by industry partner (SIXiDES)
    • Delivered fully functioning solution, commercialized as SIXiDES eQuote
  • Media Minds: A Software Toolkit for Creating Intelligent Virtual Agents for Guiding Media Consumption and Browsing
    –

    Collaborator / Project Lead

    • Funded by Hong Kong government Innovation Technology Fund grant totaling HKD$3.687M
       
  • Artificial Intelligence Software Enabling Toy Robots to Learn, Communicate, Emotionally Bond and Display Individual Personalities
    –

    Collaborator / Project Lead

    • Funded by Hong Kong government Innovation Technology Fund grant totaling HKD$2.7M
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Past

  • Web Systems and Technologies
  • C++ Programming
  • Object-Oriented Programming
  • Mobile Application Development
  • Performance Testing and Optimisation
  • Data Structures and Algorithms
  • Design Thinking
  • Career and Professional Development
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Conferences

  • Hwa Chong International School Module United Nations 2025 – Technology and Ethics in a Super-aged Society

  • SGInnovate – Guarding the Creative Frontier: Navigating IP Challenges in Generative AI

  • 22nd Century Today Summit – Ethics, AI and Data Privacy

  • Echelon Asia Summit 2019 – How the Coming Third Wave of
    AI Will Help Revolutionize Education

  • Human X AI – Using AI to Achieve the UN Sustainable
    Development Goals

  • Big Data & AI Asia 2018 – When AI Meets Blockchain:
    Decentralized AI for Everyone

  • De/Centralize 2018 – Blockchain/AI/Data: Synergies in the
    4th Industrial Revolution

  • Blockshow Asia 2018 – Singapore, Another Asian
    Blockchain Valley?

  • SWITCH / EMPIRICON 2018 – Using AI to Achieve the UN
    Sustainable Development Goals

IP / Patents

  • Patent: I/O Co-processor Coupled Hybrid Computing Device – No. US 7,925,900
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