Good morning! Morning Minutes is a round-up of stories that will break on Friday, Oct 7, and which we think you'd be interested in.

It appears on weekdays, available by 7am.

Govt tech agency to be launched

A new government agency that will drive digital transformation in the public sector is being launched today (Oct 7) . Called the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), it will spearhead the delivery of the Government's digital services and take the lead in existing Smart Nation engineering efforts. GovTech also aims to encourage people to co-develop technologies that will benefit the public.

Nobel Peace Prize winner to be named

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 will be announced today (Oct 7) in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

Among those touted as front runners for the award are Russian mathematician and champion of migrant rights, Ms Svetlana Gannushkina. Also in contention are the diplomats responsible for the July 2015 Iran nuclear deal, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ms Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The deal limits Teheran's nuclear ability for more than a decade in return for the lifting of international oil and financial sanctions.

US monthly job data out today

The United States Labour Department will release the monthly job report today (Oct 7), with an improvement expected in September numbers from the previous month. Growth in the number of Americans entering the job market, accompanied by accelerating wages, would help provide an even bigger push for consumer spending and make it easier for inflation to rise, giving the US central bank the confidence to pull the trigger on an interest rate hike.