How the Singapore government encourages innovation

24 October 2025

How can innovation thrive in the public sector? Discover how GovTech fosters experimentation, collaboration, and continuous learning to turn ideas into impactful digital solutions.

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Singapore consistently ranks among the world’s most innovative nations, reflecting the nation’s long-term commitment to technology, research, and digital progress.

In 2025, Singapore ranked 5th out of 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) and 9th out of 146 cities in the IMD Smart City Index — both strong indicators of how innovation continues to drive national growth and quality of life. This success stems from more than just technology — it’s about fostering curiosity, adaptability, and systems that turn ideas into meaningful outcomes for citizens.

As part of the GovTech Decoded series, this article explores how a government tech agency drives a balance between innovation and accountability.

The government’s role in promoting innovation

To understand Singapore’s innovation ecosystem, we must start with Smart Nation — the umbrella under which all digital initiatives fall. It aims to transform Singapore into a digitally enabled nation where technology is integrated into every aspect of life, from the economy to citizen services.

As the lead agency driving Smart Nation, GovTech supports citizens, businesses, and government agencies to achieve their digital transformation journeys. Products and initiatives like Healthy 365 and CrowdTaskSG advance national objectives while improving everyday services. GovTech also strengthens public sector innovation by equipping officers with the skills and tools to harness technology, experiments, and build solutions that improve how public services are delivered.

Building a culture of practical innovation in the government

Hear directly from GovTech leaders in the GovTech Decoded episode on YouTube as they share how innovation is cultivated across the public sector.

A mantra to foster an innovative culture

For Dominic, GovTech’s Assistant Chief Executive and Chief Information Officer (CIO), the right culture for practical innovation in the public sector boils down to the mantra “think big, start small, fail early and scale fast”.

This means acknowledging challenges from the outset and viewing failure as a necessary step toward success. As he explains, “innovation exists in that intersection where you have limited resources, and you are able to make the best out of it to solve a problem in the most innovative fashion.”

In other words, true innovation often arises when constraints push teams to be creative and resourceful.

Enhancing psychological safety

Another key ingredient is psychological safety — the freedom to speak up, share ideas, and experiment without fear.

Jeremy, a GovTech Software Engineer, describes it as “empowering people who might be more junior staff, people who might not have so much of a say in being able to speak up and being able to speak their mind. Without it, people tend to self-censor themselves — and that’s where innovation gets killed.”

Instead of treating failure as a setback, GovTech embraces it as an opportunity to pivot, iterate, and uncover new possibilities. As Dominic notes: “If you never fail enough, probably you're not innovating enough, right?”

This mindset encourages GovTechies to approach challenges boldly and view experimentation as part of the creative process.

Innovation in government services: Real examples from GovTech

Innovation thrives when it’s translated into action. One example is the agency-wide {build} hackathon, organised by enthusiastic GovTechies — including Jeremy, the software engineer quoted earlier — who came together to solve real-world challenges they were passionate about. The event empowered teams to self-organise, experiment, and prototype bold ideas that could improve public services.

Other tangible citizen-facing projects that have emerged from GovTech’s innovative culture include:

Walking rails @ CDC

The Walking Trails@CDC initiative blends physical and digital experiences to promote active lifestyles. Covering five trails across Singapore, it gamifies walking by rewarding users with up to $10 in RedeemSG Rewards Vouchers upon completion.

The app went through rounds of beta testing to ensure it was fun and accessible for users of all ages. According to Hui Hua, a Director in GovTech, it was continuously improved with iterative innovation “through three rounds of beta testing with over 1000 testers involved”. One of their key challenges was designing an experience that resonated across generations, while keeping the game mechanics simple and enjoyable. To make it as accessible as possible, they chose to deploy it as a web app — removing barriers for users with older devices or those wary of downloading new apps.

AfterlifeSG

A prototype born from the {build} hackathon, AfterLifeSG allows users to share memories and memorials of loved ones who’ve passed on — offering a digital space for remembrance. The project is currently in beta testing.

BudgetMealGoWhere

Part of the “GoWhere” family of citizen platforms, BudgetMealGoWhere leveraged the wider community through CrowdTaskSG’s Great Budget Meal Hunt campaign to identify affordable meal options across the island. The effort tripled listings of budget meals while ensuring each entry was verified by real users.

These examples show that successful innovation starts small, evolves through iteration, and focuses on solving real-world problems rather than chasing novelty.

Government innovation labs and programmes

Within GovTech, the Digital Capabilities and Innovation (DCI) Division plays a central role in building a culture of practical innovation across the public sector. DCI empowers public officers with essential digital skills to harness technology and data, turning ideas into practical solutions that address real-world challenges and deliver meaningful outcomes.

DCI’s efforts go beyond GovTech itself — they extend across agencies to uplift digital confidence and foster collaboration. Key programmes include:

Prompt Royale: Singapore’s largest government prompt-engineering competition to upskill officers in effective and safe use of AI tools to solve work challenges.
AI Champions bootcamp: A 12-week programme where officers learn to build prototypes using Large Language Models, Prompt Engineering and rapid prototyping frameworks.
LaunchPad: An innovation platform for the whole-of-government to help agencies kickstart their transformation journey through ideathons, product discovery, and other resources.

Why government innovation matters to citizens

Innovation in government directly improves how citizens live, work, and access services — making them faster, simpler, and more inclusive. It also strengthens public trust, fosters collaboration across sectors, and keeps Singapore competitive as a leading global tech hub.

Stay curious, stay involved

The success of Singapore’s Smart Nation vision depends on everyone — from the engineers building our systems to the citizens providing feedback.

Watch the full episode of GovTech Decoded to hear how GovTech cultivated this spirit of innovation and explore more stories on the GovTech Decoded YouTube page to see how technology continues to make a difference for all.