In 2016, the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech Singapore) was established to build technical capacity in pursuit of digital excellence. It was set up as an in-house agency staffed with engineers, designers and product managers to engineer a digital government and build tech for public good. This model allowed them to prototype and scale digital services more quickly, share tools across agencies and reduce long-term dependence on vendors. GovTech Singapore has transformed how the government collaborates and experiments; by building common platforms and embedding technical teams inside ministries and agencies, it facilitates horizontal collaboration that feels unusually spontaneous in a bureaucracy.
In 2018, Singapore’s Smart Nation and Digital Government Group outlined a strategy to re-engineer the way government makes use of digital technologies through a digital backbone: the Core Operations, Development Environment and eXchange (CODEX) strategic national project. It provides middleware, reusable microservices and machine-readable data flows that connect disparate systems and allow agencies to “plug and play” common resources. CODEX represents a fundamental shift toward a shared digital environment across government.
Within CODEX sit several core com-ponents. The Singapore Government Tech Stack serves as a developer toolkit, providing reusable modules, APIs and microservices that enable agencies to build digital services quickly and consistently. The Government Data Architecture establishes common data standards by identifying official data sources and trusted institutions. Underpinning these systems is the Government on Commercial Cloud, a secure hosting platform that pro-vides government agencies with compliant access to commercial cloud platforms. Together, these elements promote interoperability, scalability and security across services.
The approach has evolved significantly over time. Early pilots such as GrabShuttle, a bus-calling service that ended in 2020, reflected the exploratory practices. Later, teams prioritized projects grounded in concrete agency needs, shifting from a technology-first orientation to problem-driven collaboration. This evolution relies on a “policy-ops-tech” integration model, where technical teams join the table early to ensure solutions align with operational realities.
For example, GovTech Singapore’s embedded team worked with the Maritime and Port Authority on the Maritime Digital Twin, a digital replica of Singapore’s port waters that visualizes real-time vessel movements and weather conditions, and simulates emergency scenarios. GovTech Singapore acted as a multiagency technical coordinator, integrating academic models and operational data to create a functional decision-support platform.
By embedding teams across agencies and managing shared technology stacks, GovTech Singapore lowers the cost of cross-agency collaboration and agencies can build services more quickly and consistently. This helps accelerate projects, raising the baseline of digital capability across the state. Singapore’s success shows how investing in in-house technical capacity can create a more coherent, coordinated digital infrastructure.
However, the model might carry certain trade-offs. Forward-deployment teams often prototype tools that resemble startup products, but the public sector’s accountability structures can make it difficult to pivot or “fail fast.” While successes are notable, some apps failed to gain traction, leaving behind sunk costs and occasional skepticism. Furthermore, maintaining a large, high-caliber technical workforce could create significant fixed costs. GovTech Singapore competes with global technology firms for engineers and product managers. Even with competitive public-sector pay, the model requires constant vigilance to recruit and retain the specialized skills necessary to sustain momentum.
Despite these conerns, cities can learn from Singapore’s experience in building in-house technical capacity, integrating centralized digital platforms
and fostering decentralized cross-agency collaboration.
Juncheng “Tony” Yang, a researcher for Data-Smarty City Solutions, co-authored this column.
