Closing Remarks by MOS Jasmin Lau at Build for Good Accelerator Finale

Good afternoon, everybody and thank you for having me here.

Quite often in the course of my work, I see problems – problems that are raised by residents, and problems in the community. Once in a while, I get the chance to attend events where we talk about solutions, and not just problems. It is very uplifting.

Being able to come here and watch youths take community problems and come up with solutions for them is very heartening. We do not often see this, so to have a hall filled with youths who are willing to spend their time solving problems – I really wish we could multiply this effort in the community.

I am very happy to be here. This is Open Government Products’ (OGP) third Build for Good (BFG) Accelerator Finale, and we are here to celebrate eight passionate citizen-led teams who are eager to solve the problems that they see in the community.

When I visited each of your booths, I asked: “How did you decide on the problem?” I will usually also ask: “How did you meet each other?” or “Did you meet in school?” because I am curious why this project meant so much to you – for you to set aside your own personal time, and find like-minded people to work on this with you.

Your projects are likely based on problems that you have seen regularly, or you may have family members or friends who encounter these challenges. This spurred something in you, and made you want to do something good.

1. I am very happy to see many of the examples here start off from you interacting with your own family members, and realising that through the technical skills you have, you can do something bigger – not just for your family members, but for the rest of the community.

We have five teams that were borne from the community hackathon earlier in July, organised by OGP and the People’s Association. I recall leaving that event feeling very hopeful and encouraged.

1. Now that it is September, it is good to see the teams back here, with better products that have gone through more user testing. It is quite humbling to take in user feedback after every round to make improvements to your products.

2. But it is proof that when we create space for participation, we can see many of our citizens stepping up to make a difference.

We have over 30 participants across eight teams today, and many of you come from different backgrounds and expertise.

1. As I was talking to the members from ‘Redflags’, I found out that one of them is a nurse. Yet she was working on a product for financial literacy. It goes to show that it really does not matter where we come from or what jobs we do in the day.

2. There is so much more that we can bring to the community in our own time, with our own skills sets that we probably did not even pick up from school.

Today’s projects, all eight of them, remind us that technology, when used for good at its best, connects us and uplifts our people. It is about caring, as much as it is about coding.

1. We do see many of you start off, perhaps not with the best technology solution, but with a heart and purpose that go so deep that you find your way through a lot of technological issues, and arrive at a product that works.

2. We will be happy to help you unlock barriers. We hope the technology issues do not stymie or slow down any of the work you are doing.

I also spoke to another team, Oculis, which worked on a very meaningful project (to assist the visually handicapped). Quite often, it is difficult for developers to pick an issue where the actual absolute number of people who would benefit from the project is not very large – but sometimes it is because the community itself is not large. Such as in this case, the visually handicapped community.

1. It is less likely that (this community) will be able to find commercial solutions that could work for them.

2. Therefore, it is important for us to commit ourselves to serving the underserved. This is where we can come in with our time and effort to do good for them.

3. It is a very powerful reminder that sometimes the most impactful innovations address seemingly common and normal tasks that each of us take for granted in our daily lives. So thank you, for picking up that course for the visually handicapped.

I am also encouraged by SeniorSync, which should be at more, if not all, active ageing centres (AACs). We want to serve our seniors, and we want to be able to serve them happily. At the same time, we need to support the staff at AACs, and help them perform better.

What we have seen today reinforces our belief that some of the most impactful solutions from citizens come from citizens who are most able to understand the challenges of the communities that they care about.

1. All of you here have shown us what we can do when we combine technical expertise with a heart that cares.

To our partners and community organisations who are here to check out the various ideas, I encourage you to continue the collaborations and to give all the teams here a good chance at success.

1. I trust that all the eight project teams here today and their products can go much further than just being pilot products.

Let's carry forward what OGP's Build for Good stands for – innovation with heart, and collaboration without boundaries. Keep connecting, keep contributing, and keep building the change that we want, so that we will have a better Singapore for all.

Thank you very much.