IPUR inks new partnership to support public service transformation in Mongolia

IPUR signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mongolia Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs to support public service transformation in Mongolia.

The MoU was inked on 8 July 2022 on the sidelines of a visit by Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai to NUS. Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene, together with Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS President, witnessed the signing ceremony at Innovation 4.0. The signatories were Mongolia Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Nyambaatar Khishgee and IPUR Deputy Director, Professor Leonard Lee.

Public service transformation in Mongolia is the key focus for this collaboration. Both parties committed to co-creating strategies which will strengthen skills and resources for the Mongolian public service in the areas of data, technology, policy, good governance, and risk communications.

The joint partnership will also see IPUR and the Mongolia Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs co-create data-centric policies and optimise human capital in the public service of Mongolia. A capacity building programme will be developed to strengthen the talent pipeline to support the Mongolian government’s strategic priorities.

“We are thrilled to partner the Mongolian government as they accelerate public sector transformation. In 2021, we delivered an online training programme on public sector innovation that was attended by nearly 1,300 civil servants. We also received over 300 project pitches for piloting in our data innovation lab. Our next step is to scale this important partnership,” said Assistant Professor Reuben Ng, IPUR Lead Scientist (Data and Technology), who will be leading the joint partnership.

The partnership is an exciting platform to continue IPUR’s work in Mongolia supporting digital and public service transformation.

“Our ongoing data innovation lab programme in Mongolia looks at the strategic and technical aspects of data policy and artificial intelligence. It serves as an excellent foundation and framework to support this new partnership with the Mongolia Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs. At IPUR, we believe that evidence-based decision-making should be used to shape policy and design thinking,” Prof Lee said.

“Sustainable success for Mongolia’s data innovation initiatives in the public service is a key objective of this partnership and IPUR is committed to achieving this by guiding government stakeholders through training and digital development,” he added.

As a sign of solidarity, Prof Tan presented Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene with a data sculpture printed in 3D depicting the stories about history and trajectory of population changes in Mongolia. The sculpture was designed and printed by IPUR. Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene in turn presented Prof Tan with a vivid cultural painting which depicts the vibrant and nomadic history of Mongolia.

Towards the end of the event, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene also interacted with 19-year-old Nyamdavaa Amar, a first-year Mongolian student at the NUS School of Computing.

The signing of the MoU builds on an existing partnership between IPUR and the Mongolia National Academy of Governance to do capacity building in terms of data literacy and risk communication in the public sector of the country.

The MoU was also reported in The Straits Times.