Most popular stories, February 2025

Oleh Si Ying Thian

GovInsider's most popular stories for this month see nations grappling with the opportunities and challenges of advanced tech, all while striving to build more accessible and trustworthy public services.

Most popular stories, February 2025. Image: Canva

AI safety, user-first: Two themes defining February’s must-reads on GovInsider!

This month's most popular stories see nations grappling with the opportunities and challenges of advanced tech, all while striving to build more accessible and trustworthy public services.

1. Another win for AI safety

Speaking at the AIAS summit in France, Minister Josephine Teo announced three initiatives reflecting Singapore’s commitment to rally industry and international partners towards concrete actions that advance AI safety. Click image to access article >>>

“Singapore sees an opportunity to contribute to AI safety and governance. We are committed to strong global partnerships — with industry, academia, and community — so that we realise AI for the Public Good for Singapore and the world,” says Minister for Digital Development and Information, Josephine Teo.

2. DeepSeek throwing govs in at the deepend

*Data privacy concerns and “national security interests” are being cited as reasons behind banning the Chinese AI chatbot. Click image to access article >>>*

“Everything that is open source can be hosted on our servers so that data privacy parameters can be tested,” says India’s Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw.

3. UX design at the crUX of digital government services

The City of Sydney council’s Chief Technology and Digital Services Officer, Tom Gao, shares how focusing on user experience and optimising current processes have enabled the success of its CityConnect ecosystem project. Click image to access article >>>

“There’s so many different services we have and so much information to share...

“Overlaying that with very good creative [elements] helps the community to easily navigate to the information that they need and make their experience as frictionless as possible,” says City of Sydney’s Chief Technology and Digital Services Officer Tom Gao.

4. A whole-of-society approach to GenAI

Speaking at a panel discussion in France, Minister Josephine Teo highlighted how Singapore was using GenAI to identify scams and for virtual assistants for public service. Click image to access article >>>

Singapore’s Minister of Digital Josephine Teo speaks about the need to go back to the “fundamental understanding about how countries will have their competitive advantage, and that they are going to be better off cooperating than assuming that everything has to be done within their own jurisdiction”.

5. Fraud fighter and capacity builder

*Battling fraud is part of the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA)’s ambit to advance the country’s digital government ambitions. Click image to access article >>>*

“These technologies integrate cutting-edge innovations like natural language processing (NLP), big data analytics, AI, and ML to help relevant agencies quickly identify and analyse potential fraud threats,” said Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs’ spokesperson.