Adison Goh, Data Scientist, Digital Innovation Office, Centre for Healthcare Innovation, NHG Health, Singapore

1) What does public service mean to you? Can you share more about your role in the public sector?

To me, public service is both a responsibility and a profound privilege – a commitment to create meaningful impact within the healthcare community and shape the future of patient care. 

At NHG Health, my career started on the frontlines as a pharmacist at TTSH. 

Seeking to improve digital and care systems, I moved into clinical informatics as part of the Next Generation Electronic Medical Record (NGEMR) pharmacy and oncology project team, where I worked closely with frontline and operational teams to co-design and implement workflows within the Epic EMR system. 

Driven by a desire to build scalable change hands-on, I now serve as a Data Scientist in the Health Empowered by AI Launchpad (HEAL) team at the Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI).

Bridging my clinical roots with technical execution, I collaborate with clinical and operational teams to co-create and implement practical AI and data-driven solutions grounded in real-world healthcare needs.  

2) Tell us about a project you championed. What impact did it have on the community?

Starting off as a ground-up “side-project” with the TTSH Pharmacy Medication Master and NHG Pharmacy Medication Safety teams, we were exploring ways to leverage AI to preemptively screen for look-alike medications, which can pose significant risks of medication error, within a dynamic formulary consisting of thousands of drugs.  

To tackle this, we built an in-house computer vision tool to automatically flag these visual similarities, enabling pharmacists to proactively intercept risks and apply safety measures.

Given its universal relevance, we are eventually looking to scale our solution across our cluster, nationally and beyond. 

3) As a young professional, how has your unique background or perspective allowed you to identify a solution that others in your organisation might have overlooked?

My experience as a practising pharmacist and in clinical informatics, combined with formal technical training and work in Data Science and AI, has shaped a cross-disciplinary perspective that connects operational realities with emerging technologies.

This breadth enables me to intuitively translate complex business needs into technically sound and workflow-compatible digital solutions, such as our look-alike drug detection application. 

4) What is your personal strategy for maintaining your creative energy when faced with bureaucracy?

I recognise that bureaucracy often exists for valid reasons, with necessary constraints and trade-offs.

Rather than seeing it as a barrier, I try to focus on what can be meaningfully improved within those realities.

My approach is to just take action, start small and rapidly turn ideas into tangible prototypes.

Creating something concrete helps stakeholders better visualise possibilities, test concepts in practice, and build confidence in new ways of working.

Ultimately, creating momentum for larger-scale innovation and transformation.  

5) If you had just one area to invest in to accelerate transformation in the public sector (regulation, technology, talent, etc.), which one would you choose and why?

For public healthcare, I would invest in robust digital infrastructure.

Cost-effective, secure and interoperable platforms, alongside readily accessible sandboxes, provide the foundational ecosystem required to turn innovative ideas into scalable realities. 

6) What is your greatest ambition as you grow in your public service career?

I am driven by a desire to create meaningful impact at scale while remaining closely connected to real-world problems on the ground.

Rather than working toward a fixed endpoint, my ambition is to continually leverage technology to serve others more effectively and expand the reach of public healthcare innovation. 

As a pharmacist, I had the privilege of helping one patient at a time.

Transitioning into tech showed me how digital and AI solutions can amplify that impact across entire systems.

I aspire to build and lead practical, human-centered digital capabilities that empower our healthcare teams and create lasting, ecosystem-wide value for the communities we serve. 

7) What is a “universal value” that connects everyone in your department – from interns to directors – and how do you use that to drive collaboration?

Our universal value is openness, driven by a “no wrong door” policy.

As the healthcare and AI landscapes are dynamic and complex, we encourage any team working on digital innovation to approach us for advice or wayfinding.

This approachable culture breaks down silos, potentially transforming early conversations into meaningful partnerships and co-created digital solutions. 

8) What is the best piece of advice you’ve got for the next generation of public servants?

Don't let your job description define your limits. Innovation doesn’t happen by merely maintaining the status quo.

Be willing to step outside your assigned scope and embrace the ambiguity and setbacks that come with driving change. 

However, one cannot innovate at scale alone. Actively build strong, cross-functional partnerships.

For example, if you are in administration or tech, partner closely with others in frontline operations. These diverse alliances are essential for pushing through complex bureaucratic challenges. 

Finally, cultivate “perpendicular” skills.

Pick up knowledge outside your primary domain. Having a cross-disciplinary perspective empowers you to bridge different fields, allowing you to connect the dots and uncover solutions that might not be obvious to others. 

9) What is a myth you wish to debunk about young public servants?

I sometimes hear that young public servants are naïve idealists who just want to disrupt everything without understanding how things actually work in reality. 

While idealism fuels us, young innovators deeply value operational context.

Having worked on the frontlines, I know we aren't pushing change for change's sake. We recognise that change is often additive, achieved through smaller, thoughtful interventions.

For example, developing highly practical tools, like our look-alike drug detector, that solve actual, unglamorous pain points. 

10) Write a letter to your future self in 2035. Please keep it within 200 words.

No matter where you are or what you are doing in 2035, do not forget why you started: to serve, to improve lives, and to make a meaningful difference to the broader community.  

The work may evolve, but the mission should not. Keep learning. Keep building. Stay curious enough to challenge old assumptions, and humble enough to learn from others.

The best outcomes will never come from working alone. Bring people together across disciplines and perspectives to solve problems bigger than yourself.  

Do not settle for maintaining the status quo when there is a viable opportunity to improve it.

Continue pushing boundaries thoughtfully, and remember that even small improvements can have a real impact on someone’s life. 

Most importantly, remain grounded in service. Success is whether you left the people and systems around you better than you found them. 

The story was made possible due a partnership with the CHI FLYING (Future Leaders and Young INnovators Guild) Network, hosted by NHG Health's Centre for Healthcare Innovation, with over 300 members connecting young health and social care leaders across Singapore and beyond.