Aaron Maniam is a curious generalist -- a civil servant by profession, a poet by calling, an educator and diversity facilitator by choice and all by passion. As the first head of the Centre for Strategic Futures (2010-2011), he and his team analysed long-term trends at multiple levels and their significance for Singapore. In his current role as deputy secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information, he coordinates policy on various aspects of digitalisation, including digital transformation of the economy; regulation of telcos, data, AI and other digital infrastructure; digital inclusion and access in social policy; and digital diplomacy.
Maniam is completing a PhD comparing the digital transformation efforts by the governments of Estonia, New Zealand and Singapore. He is working on his third collection of poems. Amid the many challenges, he has been grateful for global safe distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a chance to write, exercise more and get reacquainted with meditation and yoga.
For week 4 of TED2020, leaders in international development, history, architecture and public policy explored how we might rebuild during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing protests against racial injustice in the United States. Below, a recap of their insights. Achim Steiner, head of the United National Development Programme Big idea: The public and private […]
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