Geraldine Seah, Deputy Director, Innovation Office, National Library Board (NLB), Singapore

1. How do you use technology/policy to improve citizens’ lives? Tell us about your role or organisation. 

I lead the Innovation Office (IO) under the Strategy Division at the National Library Board (NLB) in Singapore.

IO champions new ways of working within NLB and partners NLB divisions as well as external stakeholders to develop and implement innovative technology prototypes, which includes the use of technology in NLB’s service offerings.

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2. What was the most impactful project you worked on in 2024?

It would have to be the tech prototypes that the team worked on with other NLB divisions and partners, such as ChatBook and StoryGen.

ChatBook is a Generative AI-powered chat service where users can have conversations with a book. The team developed two versions of it this year – one based on the book “700 Years: A History of Singapore” and the other based on both volumes of S. Rajaratnam autobiography and other materials from NLB and the National Archives of Singapore.

StoryGen enables users to discover and experience stories from writers past and present in an onsite immersive experience that presents them in surprising ways.

Public responses on both prototypes have been most encouraging, and the team has also gleaned many useful insights that spur us on to develop better prototypes.

Working on these projects also highlighted the importance to me of using Gen AI in our service offerings, including Gen AI prototypes, in a measured way, and we have implemented safeguards to ensure ethical and responsible use.

This means that all materials used for our Gen AI prototypes are within NLB’s copyright, appropriately licensed, or no longer under copyright. There are also clear disclaimers to inform patrons about the technology’s risks and limitations.

3. What was one unexpected learning from 2024? 

Learning the unexpected value of productive failure and analysing these failures as a team.

By doing so, and doing so together, we built a collective culture of resilience and revelation that, perhaps, failures, when managed well, are not so scary after all!

4. What’s a tool or technique you’re excited to explore in 2025? 

I’m excited to see how the rapid advancements in tech could potentially revolutionise libraries and archives in Singapore, especially in terms of what NLB could offer our patrons. 

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5. Everybody’s talking about AI today – give us your hot take on AI and what it means for the public sector.

I think it can be a gamechanger – key is then how we can use AI ethically and responsibly. 

6. What are your priorities for 2025? 

Invigorated by the positive responses from both innovative prototypes, the team is excited to work on other prototypes that can reimagine one’s library and archive experience, e.g., in storytelling.

In addition, I am part of the core team, comprising MDDI and NLB officers, who is involved in the conceptualisation and development of the #Heart&Soul: Connected by Smart Nation showcase, slated to be launched in 2H2025.  

7. What advice do you have for public sector innovators? 

Celebrate successes and welcome failures. Sometimes, failures can offer far greater learning points than successes. 

8. Who inspires you today? 

At work, I would say everyone in NLB whom our team has had the pleasure of working with in the past year. Their dedication and above-and-beyond investment in the various prototypes are testament that the organisation must be doing something right.