CE’s participation in panel discussion at the 25th SSOW Australasia

Mr Dennis Lui, Chief Executive of VITAL, was invited as a keynote panel speaker at the 25th Shared Services & Outsourcing Week (SSOW) Australasia conference in Melbourne on 23 June 2022. Mr Lui addressed topics centred around advancing the maturity curve of shared services through capability development. This marked the first time that VITAL presented at an overseas SSOW conference.

Here are the key highlights from Mr Lui’s speech:

VITAL’s role as an ops-tech integration platform

To reframe VITAL’s role as an ops-tech integration platform, we will try to promulgate and scale up investments in technologies such as RPA, as a service to the Whole of Government. Since VITAL is a provider of shared services to all government departments, such an approach will enable us to add value and become an engine of growth.

VITAL’s citizen developer strategy

VITAL is making concerted efforts to send our staff back to school. We have partnered a polytechnic to offer specialist diplomas or certificates in data analytics, to empower and uplift our workforce.

Critical shift in mental model

With the paradigm shift in VITAL’s expanded role as central agency for corporate shared services, it is critical to change mindsets and internalise the shift in mental model at all levels – internally with our staff, and externally with our partner agencies and key stakeholders.

Standardisation and centralisation of shared services

In order to standardise and centralise HR and finance services, the key is to ensure standardised lines of services. The next is to build a process excellence and process management team to make sure that people do not deviate. Finally, the Singapore Government has recently invested in two large ERP systems. The system consolidation has made it easier for VITAL to follow best practices in the industry.