WHAT'S BUZZING
Singapore’s public sector CDOs prioritise governance over innovation
Chief data officers (CDOs) in Singapore’s public sector are prioritising governance, security and compliance amid the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, highlighting a sense of caution and reduced focus on innovation in data analytics.
This has led to a shift from traditional reporting structures. Fifty-two per cent of data executives (data analysts with managerial roles) today report to a security, risk, or compliance lead rather than a technology organisational lead (22%).
Qlik’s Driving data in the Apac public sector: Balancing governance and innovation research also reveals that many public sector organisations in the region are now allocating more resources to governance than analytics capabilities. This mirrors a default view across the sector that data is a “risk to be managed” rather than an “opportunity to be exploited.” In this climate, Singapore’s public sector CDOs are more likely to possess capabilities in governance activity (80%) than analytics (64%) or data literacy (61%).
The public sector’s sense of caution and reduced focus on innovation is likely to continue in the coming years. When asked about their priorities for the next year, many data leaders ranked maturity assessments, strategising, governance boards and inventories above more innovation-focused initiatives like deploying analytics tools, decommissioning old technologies, or publishing open datasets.
See also: Younger consumers in Singapore more receptive towards AI agents
“Despite the rise of data incidents among Singapore’s public sector, our report shows that balancing the imperative of data integrity with the momentum of progress is critical in steering an organisation towards its fullest potential. Achieving this balance is vital to improving citizen outcomes, like streamlining healthcare services to reduce waiting time or providing easier access to government services,” says Chong Yang Chan, Qlik’s managing director for Asean and Greater China.
Apac’s public cloud services to reach US$83.1 billion by 2027
The Asia Pacific (excluding Japan and China) public cloud services (PCS) market is expected to grow to US$83.1 billion ($112.48 billion) by 2027, having reached US$32.5 billion last year.
See also: Nearly four in five Apac retailers will increase their tech investment in 2025
The International Data Corp attributed the increase in PCS consumption to the shift to digital businesses. Organisations are increasingly leveraging PCS to shorten time-to-market and build data-driven business models for better decision-making, personalise and innovate offerings, and create more interactive customer engagements.
With major public cloud services certified with global security standards and compliances, including specific industry compliances, PCS adoption is growing rapidly in regulated industries. For instance, many virtual and traditional banks use PCS to launch their digital banking services while meeting the requirements of the authorities.
The top five PCS vendors in Asia Pacific excluding Japan and China) are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft, Salesforce and SAP, which captured more than 40% of the total market share last year.
China-based vendors like Alibaba Group and Huawei are focusing more on Southeast Asia and mainly competing with the global players in the IaaS market although they also have PaaS and SaaS offerings.
IDC expects the overall PCS market to be slightly impacted by the sluggish global economic condition this year. “Organisations will examine any excessive cloud spending and continue to modernise any legacy systems with public cloud. Automation will be the key focus area, with solutions like serverless computing, robotic process automation software, and artificial intelligence/machine learning tools, to streamline both business and IT operations and drive costs down,” says Liew Siew Choon, senior research manager for IT Services, IDC Asia/Pacific.
IN PICTURE
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DIGITAL LIFE
Google has embedded the power of generative AI across all the Workspace apps through Duet AI to help users be productive. Duet AI can help you write and refine content in Gmail, create original images in Google Slides, and turn data into insights with Google Sheets. It is now available in the following apps to help you be more efficient and foster more meaningful connections.
Photo: Google Cloud
In Google Meet, Duet AI can automatically translate captions in 18 languages and take notes during video calls to capture action items. You can even ask Duet AI to attend a Google Meet on your behalf and get the summary afterwards.
Photo: Google Cloud
In Google Chat, Duet AI can answer queries by searching your messages and files, summarising documents and providing recaps of missed conversations. The app also features a new user interface and shortcuts and enables you to easily connect with your team in a huddle.
