M3S Discusses the Future of Innovation, Collaboration and Urbanisation at ATxEnterprise (ATxE)

On 27 May 2025, SMART Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) Mens, Manus and Machina (M3S) was proud to participate at the ATxEnterprise (ATxE) event, part of Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG), a leading platform for technology innovation and collaboration. The premier event brought together tech industry leaders to explore breakthrough technologies and key topics, including AI & Robotics, Quantum Computing & IoT, Cybersecurity, Smart Cities, Future Mobility, Sustainable Development, and more. 

Dr Alok Prakash, Scientific Director at SMART M3S, took the stage and contributed his insights and expertise across two panel sessions at ATxE. 

In the panel session titled ‘Charting the Future of Innovation and Collaboration’, Dr Prakash joined an esteemed lineup of industry leaders from Jenkongklai Public Company Limited (JPARK), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Verizon Business, and a moderator from the Information Technology Industry Council. Dr Prakash highlighted M3S’ collaboration-by-design setup, where researchers from Singapore and MIT come together to work on diverse AI-related topics, including fundamental AI research, and study the impact of AI on the future of learning and work. He emphasised that collaboration is crucial not only for human interactions but also for working together with robots and AI agents of the future. He concluded the panel by advocating for lifelong learning as a fundamental goal for everyone.

Together, the panellists delved into the evolving role of technology in transforming industries and society, emphasised how collaboration is key to driving progress, and shared their predictions on the next big tech opportunities and challenges that will shape the future of the industry and smart cities.

Dr Alok Prakash, Scientific Director, SMART M3S (second from right), with fellow panellists from the ‘Charting the Future of Innovation and Collaboration’ panel session

In the panel discussion titled ‘The Future of Urbanisation: Smart Cities in Asia’, Dr Prakash, alongside fellow panellists from Village Island Co Ltd, NTU Centre of AI in Medicine and SCCCI, and a moderator from AllThingsConnected, dove deep into the current state of smart city developments across Asia, including the key drivers of smart city adoption in the region, the role of technology in addressing urban challenges such as congestion, pollution, and resource management, as well as predictions for the next decade of urban innovation.

During this session, the panellists also highlighted the need for AI governance, safety and interpretability as one of the requirements for the widespread use of AI in designing smart cities. Dr Prakash shared that efforts can be better focused based on domain-specific needs. He cited the example of using AI in healthcare, where interpretability should be non-negotiable to ensure accurate decision-making and positive outcomes for the patients. In contrast, strict interpretability might not be as critical for a traffic camera using computer vision to detect accidents; instead, reliability and subsequent actions taken are paramount in such cases.

Dr Alok Prakash, Scientific Director, SMART M3S (second from left), at ‘The Future of Urbanisation: Smart Cities in Asia’ panel session

SMART M3S was honoured to have the opportunity to actively engage in discussions with industry leaders on the technological development of intelligent systems and smart cities. This event also provided an excellent platform to showcase M3S’ cutting-edge research work in AI and machine learning and highlight its potential real-world impact and transformative applications.