Sustaining innovation culture in public sector
By James Yau
Government agencies often grapple with challenges like political pressure, limited resources, risk aversion, talent shortages, and resistance to change.
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From left: Ana Cristina Thorlund; Tan Boon Kim; Chikako Masuda; Datuk Ts Dr Fazidah binti Abu Bakar; Dini Maghfirra; Glenn Neo. Image: GovInsider
Think about innovation in government, what comes to mind?
Are you running in the hall, with papers in hand, and shouting Eureka as pieces of a puzzle fall into place? Or is innovation a process that’s strawed and steeled by many stakeholders through indeterminable rounds of reviews and proposals?
According to Synapxe’s Director of Innovation Capabilities Enablement, Glenn Neo, the opportunity for public sector innovation is akin to placing a fingerprint on the legacy of civil service to shift the needle and make change.
Whether these depictions surface, government officials across the world grapple with innovation on a daily basis as they best utilise the resources at their disposal to improve the lives of citizens.
This was the central theme that came out during a panel discussion, Sustaining Innovation Cultures – How to Get it Right in the Public Sector, at GovInsider’s Festival of Innovation event.
“In today's circumstances and society, we deal with a lot of paradoxes and dilemmas. We are always choosing between lesser evils and greater good.
“To achieve that, whether it is collaboration at the department level, agency level, between private and public organisations, or maybe even across our international friends and allies, that's something that we have to do and elevate better in times to come,” said Neo during the panel.
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Overcoming innovation killers
Governance and Public Administration Expert with the United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG), Ana Cristina Thorlund, who moderated the session, questioned the panel on the biggest killers and drivers of innovation culture in the public sector.
Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) Executive Director for Innovation Eco-system Development, Tan Boon Kim, highlighted the role of the leadership.
“The leadership sets the tone, and you can kill innovation with leadership that does not see the need to [innovation],” said Tan, adding that complacency can still creep into public sector departments if operations are on the right trajectory.
He went on explain that innovation efforts are usually regarded as an “investment” or “cost driver” by public sector leaders.
When asked how the government could catalyse an innovation-led ecosystem, Tan highlighted the government’s reach in finding the right partners, referring to his agency’s Open Innovation Network (OIN) established in 2022.
As the Singapore government agency that champions enterprise development, EnterpriseSG supports the growth of Singapore as a hub for global trading and startups. The OIN consolidates the challenges raised by companies, as well as helps to crowdsource solutions.
Tan explained how the network has facilitated solutions such as the Building Construction Authority (BCA)’s implementation of drones for building inspection.
With a similar wide-reaching purview as EnterpriseSG, Malaysia’s National Digital Department (JDN)’s Director General, Datuk Ts Dr Fazidah binti Abu Bakar, explained how multi-party engagement could bring out the best outcomes for the wider public.
JDN launched the Public Sector AI Adaptation Guidelines to help government agencies adopt artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly. This was achieved by working with Malaysia’s Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) as well as engaging with both the public and private sector.
The resulting product helped detail ethical principles, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, risk management, adaptation methods and self-assessment templates to identify the scope and impact of AI within the public sector.
More importantly, the framework provided a structure and sandbox for AI innovations to grow, supporting the country’s goal of being a global leader in responsible AI innovation, Dr Fazidah said.
Culture clashes

While innovation might be supported from the top-down, Japan Digital Agency’s Head of Intelligence Research and International Strategy, Chikako Masuda, spoke about challenges of implementation across different cultures.
As a new agency established in 2021, she shared that her agency comprised both public and private sector specialists - where the two different cultures often argued on the best way to move forward the Japanese government’s digitalisation efforts.
She explained the beginning phases of the agency a very “chaotic situation” where employees didn't want to talk to each other and wanted to work in the ways that they were used to.
She also pointed out that the rigid adherence to rules and regulations within traditional Japanese government organisations sometimes clashed with the rapid advancements in digital technology.
Cultivating a “community mindset” proved to be a key factor for building innovation for Masuda as she rolled out more integration efforts across different levels and agencies within her administration’s ambit.
Satu (One) Data Indonesia (SDI)’s Executive Director, Dini Maghfirra, faced similar resistance from internal parties towards innovation adoption - but in her case, resistance stemmed from a fear of failure.
Tasked with developing the One Data Indonesia (SDI) initiative that integrated data across government agencies to improve the quality of public services, she shared an example of risk aversity in SDI rollout of its electronic government procurement system.
“Some teams were reluctant in the adoption because they were fearful if the implementation failed and how the failure could affect cybersecurity and data privacy,” said Maghfirra.
Innovation with a purpose
Innovation (or the lack thereof) was an occupation hazard for the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA)’s Head of Capability Development (Cyber AI), Dr Melissa Chua.
For Dr Chua’s team of engineers, innovation meant the constant need for them to pioneer cybersecurity solutions to detect threats.
“I think as cyber defenders, we need to learn to keep up with these threats ... but if nothing is detected, I worry that something is going undetected.
“I think it's a very challenging space and therefore we need like-minded, strong partners in this journey with us. We work with academia in gaps that we cannot solve,” said Dr Chua.
Dr Chua placed the responsibility of innovation on the shoulders of every member within an organisation to truly cultivate an innovative culture within it – a sentiment echoed by Synapxe’s Neo.
“What is the draw of civil service? I think the first thing is a call of service.
“An esteemed leader in Singapore once said that to serve was an honour and a privilege, and I do see that in myself,” he said, responding to how public sector can keep its talent for innovation.
He appealed to the public sector audience and highlighted the need for collaboration to drive innovation.
“I think civil service is amongst the best central engines of collaboration.
“The common theme that we are all talking about here is collaboration and to solve the biggest problems and the biggest paradoxes that we share, it will have to be down to our collaboration and how we work together,” he said.
You can watch the full panel recording on-demand here.