NEXTGEN PUBLIC SECTOR LEADERS MASTERCLASS
PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES
Governments around the world are grappling with various challenges such as alleviating citizens’ demand for efficient and effective public services, driving inclusive economic growth, a shrinking public expenditure budget, lacklustre public sector workforce and fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. Common solutions known are often about mindset change, organisational model change and technology adoption.
In this age of budget restraint, governments often need to re-imagine and find new and creative ways to deliver results. One way is by working with other countries, leveraging on one another’s strengths and exploring cross-boundaries cooperation. It is vital for leaders to possess personal resilience. They must be able to adapt to different cultures and working style, as well as understand the global and national agendas of other countries. This also means that leaders need to embrace ambiguity and adopt iterative and agile approaches to change, which is also extremely important to dealing with the evolving COVID-19 virus.
Next generation public leaders will need an entirely new mindset to thrive in the future of government and public services. As the world is entering a fourth industrial revolution characterised by digital transformation in an unprecedented way, leaders should also embrace new technologies. They should be able to utilise them effectively so as to reap the economic benefits and make their country or city a great and safe place to live, work and invest.
The NextGen Public Sector Leaders Masterclass Series aims to shed some light on the crucial elements essential to future leaders through five masterclasses:
• Masterclass 1: Leadership in a VUCA +COVID-19 World
• Masterclass 2: Digital Economy Challenges and Benefits
• Masterclass 3: Smart Cities of the COVID-19 Era
• Masterclass 4: AI, Ethics and Public Policy
• Masterclass 5: Public Expenditure and the Post-COVID Challenges for Governments
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

|
 |
Welcome message from Dean of NUS SCALE |
Tutorials conducted over Zoom |
PRE-REQUISITES
Participants should have good command in English.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
The programme is designed and developed for aspiring public sector leaders. The programme will also be suitable for current public sector leaders who yearn to be forward-looking.
MODE OF DELIVERY
10 hours of Synchronous lecture sessions.
 |
Dr. Mehmet Akif Demircioglu
Assistant Professor
NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
Dr. Mehmet Akif Demircioglu is an Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS), a Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Strategies, Indiana University-Bloomington and a Fellow at the Center for Organisation Research and Design (CORD) at Arizona State University. He specialises in public management, public sector innovation, employee attitudes, and public management reforms. His recent articles have appeared or are forthcoming in the journals Research Policy, Journal of Technology Transfer, Public Administration (London), The American Review of Public Administration, Government Information Quarterly, Public Management Review, Industrial and Corporate Change, and Public Performance & Management Review, among others.
|
 |
Dr. Xie Taojun
Assistant Director
NUS Asia Competitiveness Institute
Dr. Xie Taojun is the Assistant Director and a Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI), Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. He obtained a PhD degree in Economics from Nanyang Technological University. At ACI, Taojun oversees the cost of living indices for expatriates and ordinary residents. He also examines the impact of the rise of FinTech and data technology on economic growth and business cycles, focusing on small open economies' and emerging markets' contexts. His recent works have assessed monetary policy frameworks with the presence of both privately-issued and central-bank-issued digital currencies. Taojun has served as a consultant for DBS Bank and government agencies.
|
 |
Mr Ashok Kumar Seetharaman
Centre Director, e-Government Leadership Centre / Chief, International Programme
NUS Institute of Systems Science
Mr Ashok Kumar Seetharaman has over 35 years of ICT experience that spans across Government and Private sector organisations in Asia. His primary domain of expertise and experience is on leadership and management of Digital Government Transformation, Design of Public Services and Innovation programmes. His current responsibilities include engaging leaders and senior officers from various countries around the globe and provide advisory and capacity development solutions in the domain of Digital Government. This includes design, development and delivery of programs, identifying and leveraging on expertise of the faculties at National University of Singapore, Singapore Government Agencies and the industry. He has been actively engaged with leaders in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh and ASEAN countries, advising them on strategic planning and management of Digital Government initiatives. He is an Expert in the Advisory Group of United Nation's eGovernment Ranking Committee, New York, comprising of ranking 193 member countries. Ashok works closely with UN DESA office New York, UN Global Centre for Public Service Excellence in Singapore, Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
|
 |
Dr. Araral Eduardo
Associate Professor
NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
Co-Director
NUS Institute of Water Policy
Dr. Ed is both an academic and a practitioner. He has 30 years-experience in academia and government including 20 years of Asia focused advisory / consulting for governments / donors and executive education. He holds a PhD Degree in Public Policy from Indiana University-Bloomington on a Fulbright PhD Scholarship with Elinor Ostrom (2009 Nobel Laureate in Economics) as his supervisor. He is the Principal Investigator and Faculty Lead on Digital Technologies and Public Policy at LKY School. He has hosted the visits and lectures of Kai Fu Lee, Brad Smith (President of Microsoft), Nandan Nilekani (Founder of Infosys). His awards and recognitions include fellowships from the Stanford University Center for Advanced Study of Behavior (CASB), fellowship in the research centers of 3 Nobel Laureates in Economics (Coase, Ostrom, Stigler); the 2013 Ostrom Prize for the Governance of the Commons, a Fulbright PhD award, and the 2016 Pamana ng Lahi Presidential Award for outstanding overseas Filipinos. His work has been cited by the President of the National University of Singapore. |
 |
Dr. Ludger Schuknecht
Visiting Professor
NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
Dr. Ludger Schuknecht is a Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. Previously, he was Deputy Secretary-General at the OECD and Director General, G20 Deputy and Chief Economist at the German Federal Ministry of Finance. He also held posts at the European Central Bank, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He studied in the United States and Germany and received his PhD from Konstanz University. His research interests include international finance and fiscal policy. His books include Public Spending and the Role of the State: History, Performance, Risk and Remedies (November 2020) and Public Spending in the 20th Century: A Global Perspective, co-authored with Vito Tanzi (2000), both published by Cambridge University Press and Trade Protection in the European Union (Harwood Academic Publishers, 1992).
|
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
Successful participants who complete all requirements of the programme including passing the assessment will receive a certificate of completion issued by NUS SCALE.
A sample of the certificate of completion can be found here:

UPCOMING SESSIONS
For enquiries, please contact us at sgprogrammes@nus.edu.sg