Singapore PM Wong says GovTech must renew capabilities, pledges support for 300 affected by restructuring

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has called on the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) to continually renew its technological capabilities while remaining an organisation where employees can develop expertise and contribute to public service, following a restructuring exercise that will see around 300 employees leave over two years.

Speaking at GovTech’s 10th anniversary dinner, Wong acknowledged the impact of the restructuring on affected employees and said the government would continue supporting them as they acquire new skills and explore employment opportunities.

“GovTech has recently gone through a restructuring exercise. I know it has been a difficult period for some officers, and we will continue to support the affected officers as they acquire new skills and prepare for new opportunities, whether within GovTech or outside,” said Wong, who is also Singapore’s Finance Minister.

The restructuring attracted attention as retrenchments within Singapore's public sector are relatively uncommon. Before GovTech, the last publicly reported civil service retrenchments dated back to the 2006–2010 period.

Wong said GovTech's ability to bring technology and policy together, modernise government systems and strengthen cybersecurity would ultimately depend on attracting and developing people with deep technical expertise and a strong sense of public purpose.

“GovTech must remain a place where such people can deepen their craft, take on difficult problems, and do work that matters,” he said.

Beyond renewing GovTech's own capabilities, Wong said Singapore must develop technological expertise across the wider public service rather than concentrating it within a single government agency.

When GovTech was established, technology expertise was deliberately consolidated within the organisation to build a critical mass of talent and capabilities. However, Wong said this expertise must now become more deeply embedded across government agencies.

Over the past year, GovTech has been moving its product and engineering capabilities closer to frontline agencies. The government intends to build on this approach to extend technical expertise across the public sector.

At the same time, GovTech will continue to serve as a centre of excellence, setting standards and addressing complex technological challenges that individual agencies may not be equipped to handle independently.

The broader objective, Wong said, is to build a technologically strong government rather than simply a strong technology agency.

This will require technology to become an integral part of policymaking, with policymakers understanding its possibilities and limitations, while technologists develop a deeper understanding of policy objectives and operational requirements.

Wong also called for a shift in how government technology projects are conceptualised and delivered, arguing that the traditional approach of treating IT as a downstream function of policymaking is no longer sufficient.

Historically, policymakers would determine what needed to be done before technology teams were asked to develop systems to implement those decisions.

Wong said policymakers and technologists must instead work together much earlier and more closely in the decision-making process.

For policymakers, this means developing a stronger understanding of technology and considering its capabilities and constraints when designing policies. Public service leaders, including ministers, are being given dedicated opportunities to deepen their technological understanding.

For GovTech employees, the expectation is to move beyond implementing instructions and become active partners in addressing public policy challenges.

Wong encouraged technology professionals to question established assumptions, challenge unnecessarily complex requirements and propose alternative solutions.

“Sometimes, the best solution is not more sophisticated technology, but a simpler policy,” he said.

Wong also highlighted the need to change how government technology projects are developed, moving away from traditional waterfall models towards more iterative approaches.

Under the conventional model, projects typically move through requirements gathering, approvals, procurement, development, launch and maintenance. While this approach may work for infrastructure projects with clearly defined requirements, Wong said software development requires greater flexibility as technologies and user needs evolve.

He credited GovTech employees with adopting more iterative practices by releasing products earlier, gathering user feedback and continuously improving solutions.

The government intends to expand this approach across public agencies, including changes to project scoping, funding, procurement and accountability frameworks.

Wong also identified artificial intelligence as an opportunity to improve productivity and problem-solving across the public service.

While many government employees currently use AI tools for translation, transcription, drafting, editing and chatbot interactions, he said the government wants to encourage broader adoption of AI agents and tools that can help employees solve operational problems and redesign workflows.

Officers closest to day-to-day operations are often best positioned to identify bottlenecks and areas where technology can improve processes, he added.

However, scaling AI adoption will require stronger data infrastructure, appropriate employee skills, access to the right tools and safeguards to manage potential risks.

The remarks come as Singapore seeks to strengthen its public sector technology capabilities while navigating organisational restructuring and changing workforce requirements. For GovTech, the challenge will be to renew its skills and operating model while supporting affected employees through the transition and ensuring that technological expertise remains central to public service delivery.