Chris Leck

Group Chief Technology Officer / Chief International Partnerships Officer at Public Sector Science & Technology Policy & Plans Office, Prime Minister’s Office / Agency for Science, Technology & Research

Speaker

Chris Leck is Group Chief Technology Officer at the Public Sector Science & Technology Policy & Plans Office (S&TPPO), a department of the Prime Minister’s Office that coordinates efforts to build up S&T capabilities within the Singapore Government through S&T masterplanning, driving strategic S&T programmes and Ops-Tech integration efforts, as well as competency & leadership development for the public sector S&T workforce. He holds the concurrent appointment of Chief International Partnerships Officer at the Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR), where he supports A*STAR’s international partnerships and scientific diplomacy efforts.

Chris joined the Singapore Public Service in 2001. Prior to his current roles, he was Deputy Executive Director of Singapore’s national space office, the Office for Space Technology & Industry (OSTIn), where he was responsible for day-to-day oversight of OSTIn’s work including for space technology development, industry & workforce development, strategy & policy and partnerships & outreach.

Other senior appointments in the past include Deputy Group Director, Technology & Industry Development Group, at the Land Transport Authority, and Director, Futures & Transformation Division, at the Ministry of Transport, where he led efforts to introduce and scale the deployment of emerging technologies in the transport domain, such as autonomous vehicles and unmanned aerial systems, and build up the associated R&D and industry ecosystems.

He was also Director of Strategic and Political-Military Planning at the Ministry of Defence, where he oversaw long-term strategic planning, national security & crisis planning, policy planning for current military operations, and strategic communications & public diplomacy, as well as Director of International Relations for the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Chris is an adjunct Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He was featured in the Apolitical and World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Agile Governance’s 2021 Agile 50 list, as one of the world’s 50 most influential people navigating disruption.