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.