The Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies (CSIT) and Google Cloud will be piloting the use of Google Distributed Cloud Hosted (GDC Hosted) in Singapore.
The solution will enable CSIT to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to address Singapore’s defence and security challenges, while ensuring data sovereignty and operational control.
GDC Hosted is a cloud platform that can run in the customer’s data centre without requiring any connectivity to Google Cloud or the public internet. It offers the functionality, flexibility and scale of cloud services, as well as the ability to form clusters across multiple zones for added resilience and performance. It also includes Google Cloud’s advanced AI and database services, such as Vertex AI and AlloyDB Omni, which can process sensitive data with pre-trained machine learning models.
The collaboration will support CSIT’s effort to harness AI for various applications, such as cyber defence, surveillance and analytics. CSIT will trial the use of GDC Hosted on-premises, tapping on the solution’s built-in data management and pre-trained machine learning capabilities to process sensitive data.
CSIT will trial the use of GDC Hosted on-premises, tapping on the solution’s built-in data management and pre-trained machine learning capabilities. CSIT will also have access to familiar developer tools and industry-leading open source components, such as Kubernetes, to operate GDC Hosted and its applications with minimal retraining.
GDC Hosted requires no connectivity to Google Cloud or the public internet for its operation and continued management, meeting the stringent security requirements of organisations in the public sector and highly regulated industries. This gives such organisations the ability to run workloads in their data centres with the functionality, flexibility and scale of cloud services.
Organisations can even form clusters across multiple GDC Hosted zones for added protection against system failures, and more flexible, modular options for adding extra compute resources such as the graphics processing units (GPUs) designed for running demanding AI workloads.
Updates to GDC Hosted, including Google Cloud’s pre-trained AI models, are accessed through secure hardware and installed by the customer itself. As a user of GDC Hosted, CSIT retains total operational control over all data and software, ensuring the safety and security of mission-critical workloads.
Built using industry-leading open source components such as Kubernetes, GDC Hosted also provides access to familiar developer tools, enabling CSIT’s technical personnel to operate GDC Hosted and its applications with minimal retraining.
“CSIT develops digital capabilities for defence and security, such as in cyber defence. The collaboration with Google Cloud on GDC Hosted allows us to tap on its expertise in data management, cloud technologies, and AI while keeping sensitive data secure,” said Darren Teo, Chief Executive of Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies.
“By offering full isolation alongside integrated AI services and access to an open ecosystem, GDC Hosted combines the benefits of fully managed and scalable infrastructure for running mission-critical workloads with operational flexibility. By working together with CSIT to meet its unique specifications for processing sensitive data, we look forward to further contributing to its efforts to remain at the forefront of the evolving cyber defence landscape,” said Mitesh Agarwal, Managing Director of Technology and Solutions in Asia Pacific at Google Cloud.
Entelechy Asia 