How Singapore’s public service can stay ahead of faster disruption

Make GenAI part of the game plan

GenAI is not only a technological innovation but also a socioeconomic one that impacts organizations and citizens. It can potentially have far-reaching impacts across economies and societies, well beyond changes driven by social media or the web.

For organizations that embrace superfluidity, GenAI can play a big role as it offers speed to insight and potential productivity gains. This can be enabled by different modes (e.g., text, images, audio and video) of internal and external data from multiple sources that are readily combined and accessed to create insights by large language models.

As organizations embark on GenAI initiatives, they also need to develop and implement an ethical artificial intelligence (AI) governance framework from the start to maintain safeguards aligned to their specific needs.

Nurture talent to work alongside intelligent machines

AI is expected to help workers think differently and reshape intelligence in fundamental ways.  Employees need to acquire new skills to effectively augment their potential with GenAI. To help realize the full potential of the technology, organizations need a clear strategy while bringing a holistic, people-centered perspective to an increasingly digital working world.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023, employers expect 44% of workers’ skills worldwide to be disrupted in the next five years. The EY 2023 Work Reimagined Survey revealed that while 94% of employers in Southeast Asia are already using GenAI or planning to use it within the next year, only 25% intend to provide GenAI-related skills training.

To prepare their workforce for the adoption of emerging technologies, government leaders need to prioritize the closure of talent gaps and alignment with employees on new, preferred ways of working. They need to assess their workforce for not only technical skills in fields like GenAI but also soft skills like critical thinking and resilience — and how the overall talent strategy supports organizational goals. Investment in upskilling and re-skilling is essential for the successful implementation of emerging technologies.

The deeper integration of AI into the working world means that for every employee, some tasks can be potentially supported by AI tools. This would free up the employee to focus on higher-value tasks fueled by innovation and creativity, increasing the overall resource capacity of the public sector.

Co-create for public-service innovation

In the past, many key public-service decisions may have been made through formal, internal bureaucratic consultation processes, rather than an outside-in perspective involving key stakeholders and the wider public. In today’s complex environment, organizations need a deliberate and collaborative approach to expand opportunities to reinvent for the future.

Innovation and agility are necessary to adapt to the dynamic environment, which translate into fresh approaches to public engagement. The Singapore Government Partnerships Office is expected to catalyze a citizen-led approach in broadening and deepening government-citizen collaboration for the public good.

Likewise, the Centre for Digital Citizens in the UK takes an inclusive, participatory approach to designing and evaluating new technologies and services. This involves working with citizens and partners to create technology applications with long-lasting social value and impact. In particular, the initiative focuses on four critical community challenges: encouraging lifelong learning, fostering an environment for citizens to remain digitally connected to the community, establishing an ecosystem to support secure and equitable societies and leveraging digital to increase citizens’ quality of life.

In today’s world where people are communicating, organizing and demanding services faster than before, such platforms enable the government to engage with citizens on a deeper and more meaningful manner. New technologies available to civil servants, such as AI and big data, have great potential and present opportunities to reimagine public services.

Technology is only one aspect in addressing societal challenges. Enhancing its potential will require collaborative and iterative approaches to problem solving and service delivery. To better meet the needs of citizens, governments need to take a human-centered approach to transformation while fully recognizing the opportunities and risks of technologies.