Accelerating action: How GovTech Singapore champions women in tech

Former President of Singapore, Mdm Halimah Yacob, believes that dedication, hard work, sincerity and strong relationships were strengths that were crucial in building trust and confidence among the people.

Mdm Halimah is Singapore’s first female president, and she was speaking to a mostly-female audience of nearly 300 public officers and guests in a panel discussion at the second edition of GovTech Singapore’s Women in GovTech mini conference on April 4.

She added that those strengths were already embodied in many women she met in the course of her career.

Held at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Singapore, the 2025 conference is themed “Accelerating Action: Celebrating Women in Tech”, and marked SG60, Singapore’s celebrations for its 60th year of independence as well as the International Women in Tech Day.

The conference is an initiative by GovTech’s Women in GovTech Employee Resource Group (WIG ERG). The group was established in 2021to cultivate and retain female talent within the organisation.

Mdm Halimah’s panel was joined by GovTech’s Deputy Chief Executive, Henry Chang, as well as local healthcare start-up Homage’s CEO, Gillian Tee.

GovInsider caught up with two GovTechies who volunteered as Executive Committee members of WIG ERG on the sidelines of the conference.

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Accelerating action

“We were clear from the start: We didn’t just want a feel-good moment, but something meaningful - where people could leave with new ideas, practical skills, and the confidence to act,” said Liyana Muhammad Fauzi, a Principal Product Manager and Co-chair of the WIG ERG.

On practical skills, one of the key highlights of the event was an artificial intelligence (AI) prompt engineering workshop facilitated by GovTech and Ministry of Digital Development and Information of Singapore (MDDI).

Participants learnt how to write effective prompts for text and image generation with widely used large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.

Another highlight was a Human Library segment, where participants could listen to stories and lessons from ten guests on balancing various demands of life while advancing their careers.

Many girls still do not see enough role models in tech, said Liyana, and one of her motivations for joining the Executive Committee was to see how she could build a pipeline of incoming talent from girls studying tech.

WIG ERG’s co-chair, Alicia Lee, a UX Designer, added that GovTech’s Girls in Tech summer mentorship programme has been growing traction over the years.

Since 2021, the three-month mentorship programme has matched GovTechies with interested mentees studying at universities, polytechnics, or junior colleges to work on projects that enhance the latter’s technical skills.

Through four successful runs, the programme has transformed the tech journeys of over 180 mentees, guided by about 130 dedicated GovTech volunteers.

According to GovTech, mentees of the programme reported an outstanding 86 per cent increase in coding confidence and career direction, empowering them to pursue their tech aspirations with renewed purpose.

“We foresee that this will encourage more girls to join GovTech and give our mentors, many of whom are also male, the opportunity to better understand and support women in the workplace,” Lee added.

Enhancing public sector outcomes

Both Liyana and Lee pointed to the value of diversity of lived experiences in public service to build tech solutions that better meet the needs of citizens and businesses.

This is particularly so in a multicultural and multigenerational society like Singapore.

Be it building up skills or being a role model for other women, Liyana highlighted the effectiveness of the annual conference to celebrate the achievements of women in government technology and the importance of diversity in public service.

“When our teams reflect this diversity, especially in tech, we're better equipped to build solutions that truly work for all Singaporeans - from our seniors to our youth, across all communities,” Lee added.

Recently at GovInsider’s Festival of Innovation, public officers from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia shared how diversity can improve public sector outcomes and practical strategies to drive diversity and inclusion.

On the most important next steps in this space, Liyana said: “[it] could be to gently weave diversity and inclusion into our daily work - like in how we hire, support, and grow our teams,” underlining the importance of small, consistent actions leading to the biggest changes over time.

For Lee, she shared: “Mdm Halimah shared that an eight-year-old wrote a letter to her which said ‘I want to be the President of Singapore’ - it would be amazing if more girls go and say, ‘I want to be a leader in tech’”.

For Singapore public officers keen to find out more about GovTech’s initiatives in women in government technology, you can click here.