GovTech’s restructuring reflects what is expected of agile tech teams

SINGAPORE – A rare breed of worker is currently dominating market demand.

These individuals can command a room of executives one moment, and sit down to write production-grade code the next. Their value lies in this dual fluency – the ability to speak the language of business operations as naturally as bits and bytes.

Finding them, however, is notoriously difficult. Because most professionals are naturally wired for either human politics or rigid coding logic – but seldom both. 

GovTech’s July 15 restructuring announcement marks a decisive shift towards this breed of technical talent, providing a glimpse of what is now expected of agile tech teams.

The restructuring will cut 7 to 9 per cent of roles over the next two years, primarily targeting project delivery and vendor management positions. The agency is pivoting toward the “special forces” of tech – cross-functional builders capable of steering the public sector through rapidly changing national demands.

“GovTech is changing shape, not shrinking,” said chairman Chng Kai Fong in a note sent to about 3,900 staff on July 15. 

This new blueprint demands that core technical expertise reside firmly in-house, giving the Government greater control over critical public systems. 

GovTech needs people who can define the problem, shape the architecture, make sound build-or-buy decisions, defend its systems and improve critical services every day, Chng said in the note given to the media.

Clawing back control, flattening layers

The Government’s quest to reclaim control of its digital destiny is a familiar refrain, dating back to 2014. Then, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) – GovTech’s predecessor – hired its first cadre of eight programmers and data scientists to claw back critical IT functions from decades of outsourcing. 

By October 2015, the team had grown to 90 and moved into Hive, a Silicon Valley-inspired 13,000 sq ft facility at the Sandcrawler building in Fusionopolis. Within three years, Hive became the headquarters for a crack unit of 300 government data scientists and engineers.

Tasked with building and refining public digital services on the fly, these technical talents developed the initial version of the myResponder app, which crowdsources nearby aid for cardiac arrests and minor fires before emergency services arrive. Today, the myResponder app, which has over 250,000 registered users, is managed by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

The team at Hive also created the OneService app, which consolidates public feedback for municipal issues. It has some 500,000 registered users to date.

Projects like these cemented Hive’s role as the heart of Singapore’s modern engineering set-up. So when the IDA merged with the Media Development Authority in 2016, Hive’s mission was spun off to form GovTech. 

Launching with 1,800 employees, the agency has since powered the Singpass national authentication system that protects the online access of 5.5 million users on government and private-sector websites, and GoBusiness, a one-stop portal for businesses to apply for and renew over 220 licences across multiple government agencies.

The agile workflow pioneered at Hive came in handy during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. GovTech was able to quickly roll out TraceTogether, a national Bluetooth-based contact-tracing system, and a check-in system named SafeEntry to control access to venues.

In recent times, GovTech is behind the digital distribution of CDC vouchers to help Singaporean households cope with the cost of living.

The roles affected by the restructuring primarily sit within its forward-deployed teams, which keep roughly 1,600 staff continuously stationed in various government agencies.

Chng’s July 15 note to staff confirmed the agency’s need for structural change. “Many of you have pushed for this shift for years. You now have the mandate: fewer layers between you and the product, clear ownership and direct responsibility for outcomes,” he said.

Waves of disruption

Retrenchments in the public sector are rare, but not totally unheard of. There was an exercise in 2005, when 120 Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore roles became redundant due to computerisation and increased use of e-filing.

On July 17, the Public Service Division said GovTech’s restructuring is not part of a broad-based exercise across the public service, and that significant restructuring in the public service is undertaken only when necessary.

The GovTech cuts are being made at a time when administrative tasks are becoming more automated through artificial intelligence use – even though the agency has said that AI did not make staff redundant. 

“This is not an AI-driven downsizing exercise. This shift began years before the current AI wave,” Chng said in his note. 

Even so, AI could have injected fresh urgency for change.

Compared with the disruption of computerisation and digitalisation over the last three decades, AI operates at breakneck speed. Software development and system refreshes that once demanded years of engineering hours are now being condensed into overnight cycles.

Agility is no longer a corporate buzzword but a matter of survival. Maintaining relevant skills is now key. The logic behind GovTech’s restructuring can be applied to any tech shop, whether in the public or private sector.

If adapting to new realities requires tech teams to return to their roots as agile builders, restructuring or reskilling may be an inevitable reality.