Singapore's public sector more ready than most for the digital future
WITH the Smart Nation agenda well-established - and now prominently parked under the Prime Minister's Office as the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, Singapore has put in place a strong foundation to harness emerging technologies that will define public services of the future.
However, attracting digitally savvy workers to the public sector is a continuous challenge, which needs to be addressed not only in Singapore but globally. Stubborn issues like replacing legacy IT systems, updating infrastructure and improving citizen services are all the more difficult to solve without skilled professionals who understand the potential of emerging technologies.
A new Accenture survey of almost 800 technology leaders in nine countries, including Singapore, shows that government leaders feel an urgent need to develop in-house skills and recruit technology specialists that can bring them closer to the digital interactions that citizens expect.
But hiring and developing people with the right skill-sets is one of the top three most difficult challenges facing the public sector globally - across all industries and countries included in the research, the survey found.
However, while it remains a challenge, Singapore reports much less of a skills-gap issue than elsewhere. Only 20 per cent of government tech leaders in Singapore believe that a lack of internal skills (or the ability to hire) is among the top three barriers to success with emerging technologies; the figure is 40 per cent in Japan and 35 per cent in the USA.
In addition, the vast majority of Singapore's public-sector agencies (86 per cent) say they have made significant structural changes to their workforce in order to implement emerging technologies. This is more than any other country, and far higher than the global average of 40 per cent.
Talent is clearly sufficient in many areas, but key gaps remain. Singapore's public sector is well-equipped with software engineers (80 per cent), digital developers and designers (68 per cent) and other essential skills.
However, survey respondents also reported that in addition to these skills, their organisations also require their workforce to have other skills in order to succeed, with machine-learning specialists (54 per cent) being the top priority for future recruitment.
TRADITIONAL AND NEW ROLES
Nevertheless, the public-service agency of the future will need to build an organisation that encompasses traditional and new roles. While new skills are needed, agencies also need to retain the deep sector knowledge of their existing employees. But individuals who combine technical skills with an understanding of the relevant public-service agency and citizen needs, are not easy to find - or to keep.
Appealing to tech-talent has its own set of challenges. Government competes with private business, academia and tech startups, all looking to recruit and retain the best workers. Experienced digital developers, data scientists and software engineers who are in high demand may not always view government as an innovator. And workers who combine technical skills with the understanding of the agency or citizen challenge are not easy to find. Half of all respondents globally said they look predominantly to the private sector to hire talent when developing projects using emerging technologies; this is even higher in Singapore at 59 per cent.
The benefits of hiring and retaining top tech personnel in government could be massive. Moving to the new, agencies can embrace the full value of data through the fast-emerging social, mobile and self-service technologies that citizens around the world are demanding. Investing in tech to bring citizen services up to 21st-century standards gives government more opportunities - and power - to change lives.
Fast forward to future years: As emerging technologies augment human roles and enable game-changing innovation in public services, what will Singapore's public-sector worker look like?
While the need for traditional roles will not disappear overnight, public-service workers will increasingly need to collaborate outside their departmental walls, work in interdisciplinary teams and with the private sector. Data analysis and technology skills will, of course, be vital, but must be matched by creativity, an instinct to evolve the status quo and a passion for innovative public services.
The future workforce also needs the right environment to thrive in, particularly one where leaders are supportive and enthusiastic about implementing emerging technologies and allowing experimentation.
This is where Singapore has the leading edge globally. Accenture's research found that senior public-service leaders in Singapore are significantly better informed about the majority of emerging technologies than their American and European counterparts, and appear to be willing and able to adopt implementations.
They are helping create an innovative public sector that appeals to the digitally savvy, who will be the architects and builders of Smart Nation Singapore, helping to revolutionise the way the Singapore government attacks persistent challenges, while establishing next-generation technologies that raise citizen services to a higher level.
