Letter: Making government innovation personal

Dear reader, 

Following our mega event FOI2026 early last month, March has been a whirlwind of realisations on what makes innovation click in the public sector! 

We often think of transformation as a top-down mandate. But as I looked back at our top stories in March, the real breakthroughs are happening where the rubber meets the road... 

That is: The sailors who build their own digital tools to artificial intelligence (AI) models that actually understand our local (or regional nuances). It’s clear that the most resilient innovation isn’t in what is being built, but who it’s built for! 

Here are three key lessons we’ve gathered from this month’s top reads: 

1. Empowerment is the new efficiency 

The story of Singapore Navy (RSN)’s digital transformation reminds us that the best solutions come from the people closest to the problem.  

These sailors didn’t just wait for a revolutionary, pro-code system to be built for them, they tapped on low-code tools and a supportive leadership with enabling structures to build digital tools to solve their own problems. 

Don’t just give your team a manual or a software license. Give them the power to build the tools they need, and create an environment where they feel safe enough to speak up when something isn’t working. 

This was a lesson echoed again during the FOI2026 awards where winners shared how the best systems in the world are useless if staff or citizens don’t buy in. 

2. Mind the gap between innovation and impact 

Innovation fails when there is a translation gap between policy makers, your IT folks, and frontliners. But tools like design thinking can help to bridge these silos.

We often treat design thinking as a one-off training session, but as Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Allen Lee points out, it is actually a strategy for cultural change.  

Don’t just invest in software, look at frameworks and tools for problem-solving.  

When your team tackles a shared goal of citizen impact, as highlighted in FOI2026’s Day 1, and speaks the same language of empathy and experimentation, you move a policy idea to a working pilot in weeks instead of years.  

Perhaps there is no perfect policy, and we learn as we do – so keep an open mind! 

3. Relevance trumps scale 

In the race for AI, it’s easy to get caught up in who has the biggest model.  

But AI Singapore’s SEA-LION project teaches us that "local" is more important than "large." By focusing on regional nuances and specific cultural contexts that global models often miss, they have created a foundational model layer that resonates with Southeast Asian users. 

Don’t reinvent the wheel (and make it bigger) for the sake of it.  

Whether you’re building an AI model, a chatbot, or another digital service, always ask: Does this meet the user where they are? The most effective technology is defined by its relevance to the people it serves, not by its complexity. 

Innovation is only successful if it solves a local friction point. Otherwise, it’s just an expensive distraction! 

March proved that when we bridge the gap between policy and the people, the big and scary “transformations” can become our everyday reality!  

Si Ying Thian  
Senior Reporter  
GovInsider