On 10 February 2023, the inaugural batch of GovTech participants received their NUS-ISS Graduate Certificate in Designing and Managing Products and Platforms in a ceremony held at NUS-ISS’ Inspire Theatre.
The 23 recipients were from the Government Infrastructure Group (GIG), and also comprised managers from the Moments of Life Team (MOL) and National Digital Identity (NDI) Team. Amidst their busy work schedule and family commitments, they have challenged themselves to step out of their comfort zone and make time to complete the Graduate Certificate programme.
Delivered by NUS-ISS in collaboration with GovTech Digital Academy, the course consists of four modules aimed at equipping participants with the essential skills in product management, contextualised for public service. The fifth and final module is a practice module in which they get to apply their learnings and get hands-on experience in managing products.
The graduation ceremony was graced by Guest-of Honour, Mr Kok Ping Soon, Chief Executive, GovTech Singapore. Commending the recipients on their well-deserved achievement, he said, “It’s a noteworthy accomplishment for the GovTechies who are graduating today. They are the living testimony of the GovTech spirit – taking time to invest in their own growth and to raise the bar within the government in terms of how products should be designed, developed, and how processes can be improved.”
Mr Khoong Chan Meng, Chief Executive Officer, NUS-ISS, added, “Hearty congratulations to all the GovTech recipients of the Graduate Certificate. We hope you enjoyed the learning journey and that it has inspired you and more of your colleagues to embark on new, exciting pursuits.”
Product management contextualised for public service
Mr Arthur Lee, Director, Product Delivery Office, Government Infrastructure Group, who was one of the course participants, shared GIG’s transformation journey at the ceremony.
He explained that GIG’s road to digital product management actually began back in 2020. “We embarked on re-organising ourselves from a traditional waterfall structure to a product-centric structure that tightly integrates business requirements, development, and operations based on the user needs.”
Some of the key challenges that the team had to overcome were in the area of competency in product management, as well as mindset and cultural change. “We had to ensure that the entire GIG was aligned and singing the same tune in order for us to forge ahead as a single unit. We can’t have some people applying the waterfall method, and others implementing agile product management.”
Our 23 GIG participants with Guest-of-Honour Mr Kok Ping Soon, Chief Executive, GovTech Singapore; and Mr Khoong Chan Meng, CEO, NUS-ISS
Mr Lee also highlighted how NUS-ISS lecturers went out of their way to customise the course materials to suit the needs of the GIG team. “While product management is quite intuitive when applied to applications, it is not so straightforward for the ICT infrastructure that GIG works on. The team at NUS-ISS were very adaptable to our needs and they delivered the curriculum in a way that is relevant for the large-scale infrastructure products that we do, so that what we learn can be directly applicable to the actual projects we are working on,” he added.
Having gone through the various modules of the Graduate Certificate, the GovTechies have applied their knowledge in taking a longer-term view of products and services aligned to GovTech’s digitalisation plans. As a result, the team at GIG moved away from the traditional life-cycle of project management for implementation followed by maintenance, to becoming more customer-focused and product-oriented.
Putting users at the forefront
Mr Daryl Chee, Infrastructure Engineer, GovTech Singapore, said, “I came from a technical role, so I was curious how the new product management knowledge gained will gel with my current skill sets.”
The course helped him realise the importance of understanding user requirements, conducting user research, and how it can be used to ensure the team delivers right-sized solutions to the right people. “Instead of just implementing solutions from a technical perspective, I am now mindful of the need to craft a product vision and unique selling point, and ultimately bring value to end users,” Mr Chee elaborated.
Sharing her thoughts on the Graduate Certificate programme, Ms Boo Yong Nee, Deputy Director (WOG Infrastructure Programme), GovTech Singapore, said, “It was a very structured course and the learnings were very applicable to our day-to-day work in the government. By placing users at the starting point, we ensure that the products we develop actually meet their needs – so that we don’t deliver a white elephant that, at the end of the day, nobody uses.”
As the tech sector continues to evolve, skills development will always be a key enabler of digital excellence. In this fast-changing world, there has never been a time when it is more critical to shape a digital government, by acquiring new skills and building up on domain knowledge. To assist public service professionals, the NUS-ISS Graduate Certificate courses offered through GovTech Digital Academy and NUS-ISS are stackable to a NUS Master of Technology Degree.
“One key takeaway for me was that change is most definitely a constant and we need to continuously challenge ourselves to improve our deliverables and not maintain the status quo. I am grateful for this opportunity to deepen my ICT skill sets through the Graduate Certificate course, and equip myself with the necessary knowledge and skills to be more digitally confident,” Mr Chee said.
Find out more about programmes offered to public officers through the GovTech Digtal Academy here. For more information on NUS-ISS' Graduate Certificate Programmes, visit here.