Dr Alvina Goh, Deputy Director, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, GovTech, Singapore
By Medha Basu
Women in GovTech 2018 Special Report.
I am currently leading the Artificial Intelligence Platforms department under the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Division. My team focuses on frontier computational technologies, supporting the Capability Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and Strategic National Projects. My team works in a few domains, including text mining, speech recognition, clustering, and computer vision.
What has been the most exciting thing that you worked on in 2018?
2018 has been an extremely busy year. The most exciting thing that I have worked on is the system commissioning of a whole-of-government data analytics platform that enables agencies to use data approaches for policy making and service delivery.
If you were to share one piece of advice that you learned in 2018, what would it be?
Keep an open mind and actively seek out opinions of others, but do what you think is best.
What tool or technique particularly interests you for 2019?
I am looking forward to the rollout of 5G, the next generation of mobile telecommunications technology, in different parts of the world. It is widely expected that 5G will unlock the true potential of IOT devices.
What are your priorities for 2019?
The migration of production systems to be hosted on the government commercial cloud.
What is one skill that has helped you the most throughout the course of your career?
Staying positive, and surrounding myself with trusted confidants who are not afraid to point out my mistakes.
What advancements do you predict will happen in your field in the next ten years?
Technologies will most likely take over menial and repetitive tasks, enabling us to spend more time on higher-level tasks.
Coffee, yoga, music... what powers you through your day?
Coffee. Usually two cups to start the day in the morning, and one cup after lunch.