Digital Government Inclusivity

Meet the Women in GovTech 2017

By Joshua Chambers

Exclusive special report: inspiring stories from across the world.

Gov Tech was, in its inception, mostly performed by women. But this is not as empowering as it sounds. As the Wall Street Journal recently noted: "it was thought of as menial labor, like factory work… a kind of 'women’s work' that wasn’t considered intellectual". How utterly mistaken.

Once men started to work in this field, government computing's prestige increased. In turn, women found it harder to secure appointments and - in some cases - officials were 'encouraged' to retire as soon as they had children.

This special report shows how times have changed. GovInsider has interviewed Ministers; Chief Executives; and Ambassadors across the world, all of whom are in roles that require technology.

We have also interviewed up-and-coming coders; comms professionals; data scientists and developers.
The whole spectrum of government innovation is displayed within these interviews. They are fantastic.

We hope that you find these interviews as inspiring - and awesome - as we did. Meet the Women in GovTech 2017.

Australia
Gail Fairlamb, Director, ‎Strategic Engagement, Department of Premier and Cabinet, South Australia

Canada
Olivia Neal, Executive Director, Digital Change, Chief Information Officer Branch, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Denmark
Dorte Bech Vizard, Ambassador of Denmark to Singapore and Brunei

Estonia
Urve Palo, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology
Kätlin Kattai, Head of Client and International Relations, Centre of Registers and Information Systems

Hong Kong
Cari Wu, Senior Systems Manager (Cyber Security), Office of the Government Chief Information Officer

India
Radha Chauhan, CEO, Government e-Marketplace

Indonesia
Susi Pudjiastuti, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Musdhalifah Machmud, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs
Ahyani Raksanagara, Head of Department of Communication and Informatics, Bandung
Antiek Sugiharti, Head of ICT, Surabaya
Fajar Nugrahaini, Head of Road Based Transport, Department of Transport, Jakarta
Fithya Findie, Head of Secretariat, Open Government Indonesia
Tuty Kusumawati, Head of the Regional Development Planning Board, Jakarta
Wise Citra Dewi, Head of Administrative, Jakarta Smart City Unit

Industry
Tan Poh Choo, Operations Director for Singapore, SAS
Chiang Yoke Fun, Head of Consulting Services Singapore, SAS
Chan Shu Ling, Marketing Lead, Singapore, SAS

Malaysia
Dr Suhazimah Dzazali, Government Chief Information Officer

Maldives
Fathimath Lahfa, Director, Performance Management, Civil Service Commission

Myanmar
Dr San San Aye, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement

New Zealand
Lianne Dalziel, Mayor of Christchurch

Sri Lanka
Chitranganie Mubarak, Chairwoman, ICT Agency

Singapore
Jacqueline Poh, Chief Executive, GovTech
Charis Yan, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Communications and Information & Infocomm Media Development Authority
Tham Mei Leng, Chief Information Security Officer, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources
Cheryl Sim, Director, Infocomm Technology Division, People’s Association
Poh Lai Khim, Assistant Commissioner of the Taxpayer Services Division, Inland Revenue Authority Of Singapore
Koh Suat Hong, Deputy Director, Accreditation, Industry Development Group, IMDA
Tan Siew Hong, Lead Infrastructure Architect, Government Infrastructure Group, GovTech
Catherine Goh, Deputy Director, Government Business Management Division, GovTech
Rachel Lim, Executive Manager, Product Management Division, GovTech
Goh Siew Hong, Senior Systems Engineer, Systems & Technology Division, GovTech
Jennifer Soh, Associate Cybersecurity Specialist, Cyber Security Group, GovTech
Yang Lijia, Associate Software Engineer, Product Design & Development Division, GovTech
Celine Chia, Systems Engineer, Systems & Technology Division, GovTech
Lam Shi Ling, Software Engineer, Product Design & Development Division, GovTech
Nina Ee, UX Designer, Agile Consulting and Engineering, GovTech

South Korea
Young-sook Nam, Secretary-General, WeGO
Dr Eun Ju Kim, Director, Cloud Promotion Centre in Public Sector, National Information Society Agency

Spain
Francesca Bria, Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer, Barcelona City Council

Taiwan
Audrey Tang, Digital Minister

Thailand
Airada Luangvilai, Senior Executive Vice President, Electronic Government Agency