CEO of new government tech arm all fired up to take on challenge ahead

Singapore

JACQUELINE Poh, chief executive officer designate of new government technology agency GovTech, has her work cut out for her.

To create a national operating system for not one or 10, but 100 million "smart objects" in the next five years is just one of her undertakings, outlined last week by Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation initiative, at tech conference InnovFest UnBound.

GovTech is expected to also deliver Singapore's Smart Nation aspirations, lead efforts to digitise the public service, and spearhead the government's drive to use technology to better serve citizens and businesses - after it is formally legislated in Parliament later this year.

For all that, Ms Poh is unfazed, and is instead excited, passionate and raring to go. Now is a great time for a woman to "be in tech", she told The Business Times in a rece…