Dr Tham Kah Poh: We need to think about how to empower users by designing systems that are more intuitive and easy to use. |
A dental surgeon by training and a healthcare administrator for the greater part of her career, Dr Tham Kah Poh recently made the move into the heritage world when she took on the role of Director of Corporate Services and Planning at the National Heritage Board (NHB) in 2008 and is also concurrently the Board’s Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Dr Tham is no stranger to Infocomm Technology (ICT), having had IT systems and projects under her watch in her previous healthcare management roles. But what really attracted her to NHB was the opportunity to contribute to and shape the wider art, heritage and culture scene, given her long-standing interest in this sector. She is a hobbyist in ceramic arts and an enthusiastic fan of Singaporean artists in the field. In her role as Director, Corporate Services and Planning, she oversees Finance, Human Resource (HR), Policy and Planning, Organisational Excellence and Administration, besides ICT. She talks to iN.SG about her priorities as CIO of NHB and how these hats fit together.
Describe your role as CIO of NHB.
As CIO, I oversee ICT systems and facilitate the work of our museums and divisions through the effective deployment of our core infrastructure and systems. We look at how ICT can help us meet our customers’ needs. At the same time we have to ensure that our ICT systems are delivering value-for-money and new projects are deployed in a cost-effective manner.
Having a broad management portfolio helps. It has given me a greater appreciation of how to manage ICT to support business needs. From the finance perspective, for example, we have to factor in the cost considerations when it comes to ICT deployment.
From the HR perspective, I appreciate how IT can help us automate processes and save manpower. We can look to IT to alleviate some of the manual efforts in entering data such as staff benefits, claims submissions, training updates and performance appraisal, and we can then re-deploy our limited HR resources to more productive roles. The use of ICT in addressing automation of transactional HR activities also facilitates the strengthening and growth of strategic HR initiatives, particularly in enabling a more robust HR database that allows for more comprehensive analytics to support our talent management strategies and creating the best workplace for our employees.
In what ways is NHB deploying ICT to enhance its operations?
One of the things we need to do is to identify ways in which we can leverage ICT to enhance the overall customer experience.
We have to support both internal and external customers. An example of external customers is the visitors to our museums. We are looking at how we can enhance their museum experience by engaging them through various ICT-enabled touch points. For instance, at the National Museum of Singapore, we provide visitors with multimedia handheld guides (called Companions) and headphones and historical developments are explained to them as they tour the exhibits. We also have plans to provide visitors with complimentary wireless internet access that will enable them to go online to get more information about the exhibits they view in the museums so that the museum visit can be multi-layered and ultimately, a more enriching experience.
NHB's blog-site, Yesterday.sg, is ranked among the top museum blogs in the world by Invesp Consulting. |
Another area is to use ICT to monitor customer response to our exhibits. We can have a system to find out which areas have the highest volume of visitor traffic, or what attracts them to stay longer at an exhibit. This gives us direct feedback which we can then use to improve the customer experience.
With the exciting developments in the new media space, we are also increasingly leveraging this online platform to reach out to the public. For instance, our blog-site, Yesterday.sg, is ranked among the top museum blogs in the world by Invesp Consulting. Launched in March 2006, Yesterday.sg has quickly engaged heritage enthusiasts whose support has helped us unearth a treasure trove of stories and memories of the evolving history of Singapore. The site has attracted the younger generation, especially students who have found it an invaluable resource for research into unique perspectives of Singapore’s history experienced at the individual level, which cannot be found in standard history textbooks. Engaging the young in heritage matters will help ensure treasuring heritage remains an integral and enduring Singaporean value.
How is NHB engaging internal customers in the use of ICT?
For our internal customers, the focus is on making ICT more relevant to their work. NHB has about 500 users within the corporate office, in the museums and other divisions. ICT must make it easier for them to carry out their everyday jobs and help them in their work.
We need to engage users in the use of ICT tools and services. Right now, our internal customers do make use of technology in their everyday work, but they can be quite dependent on support and need assistance every now and then. For example, when programs get upgraded, people need time to get used to the new system, including new functions and formats. We need to think about how to empower users by designing systems that are more intuitive and easy to use. We also need to ensure that our staff get the required training, not only in using new systems but also in areas such as ICT security awareness.
We also engage our staff by appointing ICT ambassadors who can help explain any new ICT features or changes in ICT processes to their colleagues. As and when new systems are rolled out, we appoint change agents within the user groups who are involved in the development process and can help smoothen the transition. Staff meetings or roadshows are also organized to communicate new ICT systems and at these meetings, we highlight the changes so that users ask questions and the ICT implementation team can address their questions directly. ICT must partner the ‘business’ side to bring value to the organization.
Describe a key project that you have been involved with and the learning points you can share from this and other ICT projects undertaken by NHB.
One of the initiatives I have been involved with since I joined NHB is the Alliance for Corporate Excellence (ACE) project, in which many public sector agencies share a single IT system for Human Resource, Finance and Procurement.
At the National Museum of Singapore, historical developments are explained to visitors using multimedia handheld guides and headphones. |
In the beginning, we were facing slippage with the project schedule. Timelines were not met, and people were not clear about their roles. So we focused the team on the core deliverables and worked with project managers from Accenture, the project vendor and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to ensure better communication.
Leadership was very important. The management had to ensure greater focus on timelines and provide more guidance. We also gave motivational talks to the teams involved. Within three months, we managed to get back on track and made up for lost ground. Now, we are one of the agencies at a level of high readiness for the project to go live in December.
A key learning point from this and other ICT projects is that it is crucial to engage top management in an ICT initiative from the beginning. We have to get the Chief Executive Officer and Directors to show their support, so that our staff know that the ICT initiative is backed by management.
We also have to be very conscientious about deliverables. If we set out to achieve certain goals, we need to communicate these in a timely fashion and to always set the right expectations. We must deliver. If not, people will lose faith in the system.
If there are changes, we must explain them to customers and ensure that there is buy-in from them. Be proactive. Update them on developments such as changes or project delays before and not after they happen. Get support and ensure open and timely communication.