For nearly four decades, leaders in government and business have relied on the concept of VUCA — Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity — to navigate a turbulent world. VUCA 1.0 captured the disruptive forces of globalisation, financial crises, geopolitical realignments, and technological change. Its prescription for leadership was fundamentally pragmatic and grounded in the physical world. Resilience required disciplined resource allocation, diversified supply chains, institutional credibility, and prudent risk management.

Amid global uncertainty, experts question if Singapore's "status quo" budget does enough to tackle inequality, AI disruption, and the pressures families feel. In what has become an annual event, the Social Inclusion Project (SIP) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), held a panel discussion on February 13 to dissect Singapore’s 2026 budget from the perspective of building a stronger and more inclusive society.

Recognised as a leading international financial hub, Singapore boasts deep capital markets, a dense banking network, and one of the world’s most developed defined-contribution pension systems. Yet sophistication at the national level does not always translate into optimal decisions at the household level.

In the dynamic landscape of technology, developing nations face a pivotal challenge: how to transform the extraordinary potential of Artificial intelligence (AI) into tangible national prosperity. The World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2025: AI Foundations proposes a robust framework for AI adoption built around four core pillars.