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GovTech appoints MOM's deputy secretary as new chief executive

Government Technology Agency (GovTech) has announced the appointment of Kok Ping Soon, deputy secretary (development) in the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), as their new chief executive (CE).

According to a media release, with effect from 1 May 2018, he succeeds Jacqueline Poh whose next appointment will be announced in due course.

In his current role at MOM, Kok oversees national policies and programmes related to workplace safety and health, human capital development, and SGSecure for workplaces, as well as initiatives on service excellence, digitalisation, people engagement and future-ready capability building.

Prior to that, Kok was senior director, National Security Co-ordination Centre within the National Security Co-ordination Secretariat in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He has also held various positions in Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Manpower, Singapore Tourism Board and Economic Development Board.

Commenting on the appointment, Ng Chee Khern, permanent-secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government) and chairman of GovTech, said: "GovTech welcomes Ping Soon, who will build on the strong foundation laid by Jacqueline. Ping Soon is a person who cares for people, and I expect he will continue to develop the most important capability in GovTech - the people and its culture - further strengthening and embedding the changes that Jacqueline initiated."

As the CE of GovTech since 2016, Poh set the strategic direction for GovTech as the implementing agency of the Smart Nation Strategic National Projects (SNPs). Poh was also instrumental in rebuilding the government's capabilities in ICT and smart systems, data science and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, application design and development, and Internet of Things.

Under her stewardship, GovTech set up the Government Digital Services at Hive to develop citizen-centric digital products such as the OneService app, Parking.sg and the National Trade Platform. Poh also led GovTech to further strengthen the Singapore Government’s cybersecurity posture and resiliency of key government ICT systems and infrastructure.

Photo / Provided

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