Why PM Lee is a mystery shopper on government websites
It is no secret that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is a techie.
Yesterday, he revealed that he puts his tech skills to good use as a mystery shopper on government websites, in a bid to help improve its online services.
"Our mystery shoppers to government websites are kept busy, and once in a while I join them myself," he quipped, to laughter.
"It is not just improving the software, but rethinking and streamlining the underlying processes to focus on the essential requirements, and deliver the services in a customer-oriented way."
PM Lee was speaking at the Smart Nation Summit about what the Government has done so far to realise Singapore's Smart Nation vision outlined five years ago.
While the country has a strong base to become a smart nation - a technologically literate population, with good IT infrastructure and the Government taking the lead - there are areas in which it can do better, he said.
He cited three ingredients that he said were necessary for Singapore to succeed in its vision to use technology to improve the quality of life for all.
First, Singapore must have strong engineering capabilities and must be able to attract and recruit engineers of the same calibre as those working in the best tech companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, he said.
Second, Singapore will also need more leaders and managers who know "what is real, what is snake oil, what is a buzzword and what is a promising solution", both in government and in the private sector.
Third, said PM Lee, society needs to embrace science and technology and not fear it.
"The Singapore ethos of our society has to be rational and transparent, able to examine and solve any problem rationally, be prepared to apply solutions which work even if they are unconventional and use new approaches," he added.
"People have to understand the risks of technology, whether on cyber security, whether it's privacy, or online falsehoods. But our people must not be anti-tech or anti-science, because that would hold back progress and it will be the end of us."
IMPROVE
He cited the Digital Readiness Blueprint launched by the Ministry of Communications and Information last year to improve Singaporeans' access to technology and help them learn how to use digital technology safely.
PM Lee also called on the private sector to play its part, adding that there are many opportunities, especially in the financial services sector.
Wrapping up his speech, he said: "We are determined to achieve our Smart Nation vision.
"It is an essential strategy if Singapore is to remain an outstanding metropolis, abreast of the other centres of human creativity and enterprise."
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