Empowering GovTech Interns
My Experience at Collab X Ideating Innovative Solutions for the Silver Generation
How interesting it is that interns at GovTech can contribute to the technological solutions employed nationwide? Outside our core project that we are attached to, we are provided with platforms to network with fellow interns and GovTechies in generating novel solutions to real emerging problems. Collab X was one of such opportunity. I was really looking forward to this event as I wanted to take this opportunity to make new friends in GovTech and to better understand the work that other divisions in GovTech do. Before sharing more about the event, allow me to share a little more about myself.
About Me & My Project
My name is Sherman, and I am currently approaching my final year of studies in National University of Singapore (NUS). Currently, I am interning with Government Digital Services (GDS) on a project called One Client View as a Software Engineer. One Client View (OneCV) is a nationwide project that provides frontline officers convenient access to a wide range of personal information and assistance history of a person. Through OneCV, it removes the need to submit multiple documents to different agencies, thereby streamlining the process for a more expeditious application of social assistance schemes. As one who have volunteered in the grassroots since 2017, I understand from residents how tedious applications for social support schemes can be. This was also what drove me to select OneCV to be my internship project. It really warms my heart to see how my service to Singapore now extends beyond grassroots. At GovTech, I am given the privilege to impact change at a national scale through digital transformation!
Collab X
On 9 June 2023, I attended Collab X and teamed up with five other very talented interns to tackle a problem statement set out by the Smart City Technology Division (SCTD). Amongst the six of us, there were software engineers, business analysts, product managers and HR practitioners where we could synergise our experiences and knowledge in ideating around the problem statement. What an amazing experience it was to learn from every single one of them as we worked together from conceptualisation, ideation to pitching our idea to a panel of judges.
The problem statement given for this round of Collab X was “How would you design and implement systems which can effectively promote healthy ageing and prevent or manage common health problems among the elderly population?”. This problem statement clearly encapsulates GovTech’s spirit of building tech for public good. After all, it is the technological arm of the government!
Tapping on our combined experiences in case competitions and internships, we employed the use of the Design Thinking Framework to empathise with the community. After crafting a customer journey map and a persona — Uncle David — we eventually came up with a solution that leverages on the existing Health Promotion Board step tracker and integrating it with a smart pill box. This pill box would be equipped with edge processing capabilities that sends multi-sensory notification to the elderly when it is time to take their medications. As an extension to this initiative, we also recognised the importance of including a human-element in our solution and hence proposed that caretakers would be notified and should follow-up with the elderly if too many medications are missed. With any large-scale initiatives, it was important to think about the financial feasibility of the idea which was something that we could have evaluated more carefully.
Our ideas may not have been perfect, but it was truly encouraging to know that interns have the potential to come up with novel, impactful and innovative solutions.
Last words
A big shoutout to my OneCV team in GDS DCUBE who have nurtured me constantly over the past months.
If you are keen to experience all these yourself, remember to keep a lookout for the GovTech Internship application which will open from Aug to Sep 2023! I am confident that you will enjoy it as much as I do.
It is truly my privilege, and I am so proud to be a GovTech intern!
