Singapore’s NRF and S&TPPO to get new chief

Starting October this year, John Lim will assume the roles of Chief Executive Officer (Designate) of the National Research Foundation (NRF) and Chief (Designate) of the Public Sector Science and Technology Policy and Plans Office (S&TPPO). 

He will relinquish his current role as the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF)’s Deputy Secretary (Opportunity & Resilience).

Within the public sector, Lim previously held roles in education, home affairs, public service development, and financial regulations.

With the MSF since 2016, he currently oversees the policy formulation and programme implementation for social services geared towards vulnerable populations in Singapore.

Notable public policy initiatives during his leadership at MSF include the Enabling Masterplan 2030 for persons with disabilities, ComCare and ComLink+ for lower-income families, and MSF-funded residential home and shelter services for destitute persons.

Both NRF and S&TPPO are parked under the Prime Minister’s Office. While NRF sets the national direction for research & development (R&D) through policies and investments, S&TPPO spearheads the development of science, technology and engineering capabilities across public sector agencies.

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Singapore’s tech and R&D priorities

Lim will take over from S&TPPO’s founder, Frederick Chew.

Set up in 2019, the agency then identified robotics and automation as key priorities for the Singapore public sector to hone its capabilities in.

It also launched Centres of Excellence to build public sector capabilities in emerging tech areas, such as electric vehicles and urban and design.

According to NRF’s official statement, the capacity building efforts led by S&TPPO ranged from implementing modelling and simulation approaches for built environment and transport systems, to training and development for young engineers, particularly in systems engineering and architecting.

Chew also pioneered the #SGTECHTEAM series of workshops and forums to strengthen the science, technology and engineering community throughout the public service.  

NRF’s current CEO, Beh Kian Teik, will in turn move on to lead A*STAR, Singapore’s lead public sector agency driving economic-oriented research.

In the same official statement, NRF and S&TPPO’s Permanent Secretary, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, conveyed his gratitude to Beh for driving NRF’s international and cross-agency partnerships to strengthen translational research in Singapore.

“These included major new initiatives in semiconductor and microelectronics research and development, new approaches to address gaps in Singapore’s biotech ecosystem and to enhance venture financing,” he added.

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