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Our Mission

The Tech for Good Institute’s mission is to raise understanding of issues and inform policy so that the promise of technology and the digital economy may be leveraged to advance inclusive and sustainable growth.
Our Opportunity
Southeast Asia holds massive potential. With a population twice the size of the US and strong demographics, this is said to be the “Asian Century”, in which Asian economies grow and drive innovation.
Digitalisation is one of the key transitions of this decade. Its general enabling technologies and new business models also play a key role in facilitating other significant transitions, such as the shift to low-carbon and circular economies, and distributed systems of power and information.

For Southeast Asia, the region’s digital economy is evolving rapidly. Technology has and will continue to have a tremendous impact in aiding the region’s development. The trajectory of this development can be inclusive, equitable and sustainable.

Our Belief
Developments in technology and new business models are accelerating social and economic changes. COVID-19 has compounded these changes, throwing into sharp relief the challenges of existing economic models and widening income and opportunity disparity.
We are optimistic about technology’s potential to advance growth, while recognising that innovation shapes and is shaped by cultural, social, political, and economic contexts.
Within this context, we are ambitious for Southeast Asia, fully aware that its diversity presents unique opportunities and challenges. There is strong appetite for societies in our region to understand, and debate the potential and risks of technology, as well as for the rest of the world to understand the region.
To date, much research, data and policy ideas have tended to originate from established economies and developed countries. Southeast Asia has much to add to the global debate. An appreciation of the unique and diverse perspectives of each economy can result in an informed, fit-for-purpose, positive trajectory for the region.
Our Approach
To enable a thriving tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia committed to advancing sustainable growth, the Institute seeks to create an attractive platform for respectful diversity of thought and encourage three types of conversations:

  • The world to Southeast Asia

    Building understanding, appreciation and literacy of emerging issues within the tech ecosystem.

  • Across Southeast Asia

    Bridging countries’ unique experience to shared challenges and opportunities, especially on transnational issues.

  • Southeast Asia to the world

    Creating a platform for many voices from the region.
Our Focus
The Institute will focus on topics at the intersection of technology, society and the economy, and that are intrinsically linked to the development in Southeast Asia. In our first three years, we examine Innovation and Digital Progress, through the lens of Sustainable Growth for Southeast Asia.

Innovation

Covering both technology and business model innovation for a thriving, transparent and accountable tech Southeast Asian ecosystem.

Digital Progress

Fostering a confident digital society across Southeast Asia, improving access, building trust, safeguarding rights and privacy, and addressing emerging threats.

Sustainable Growth

Addressing how innovation and digital progress may enable inclusive and equitable growth for economies and businesses, so as to advance sustainable livelihoods.
Our Focus
  1. Create inclusive growth by shaping the platform economy to be a vehicle for sustained economic growth, providing support for the underbanked, and driving tech innovation to support job creation and productivity enhancements.
  2. Promote digitalisation, digital inclusion and digital literacy, with a particular focus on those with lower household incomes, rural communities, traditional businesses and micro, small, and medium enterprises.
  3. Address regional challenges collaboratively, such as investing in digital and physical infrastructure, reducing barriers to digital trade, and combating climate change.

Leadership & Governance

A non-profit founded by Grab, the Institute is led by the Management team and an elected Board of Directors. An Advisory Board provides expertise to guide the research and programmes of the Institute. Together, they work to build a regional platform to advance inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth.

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Dr Ming Tan

Founding Executive Director

Dr Ming Tan is founding Executive Director for the Tech for Good Institute. She is concurrently a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore. Her research interests lie at the intersection of technology, business and society, including sustainability and innovation.

 

Ming was previously Managing Director of IPOS International, part of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, which supports Singapore’s future growth as a global innovation hub for intellectual property creation, commercialisation and management.

 

Prior to joining the public sector, she was Head of Stewardship of the COMO Group, a Singaporean portfolio of lifestyle companies operating in 14 countries worldwide. Her portfolio covered sustainability, brand and data privacy. She was concurrently the founding Executive Director of COMO Foundation, the private philanthropy of the owner of the COMO Group.

 

As a company director, she lends brand and strategic guidance to SuperNature Pte Ltd, COMO Hotels and Resorts (Asia) Pte Ltd, COMO Club Pte Ltd, and Mogems Pte Ltd. In the not-for-profit space, Ming is an Advisor to Singapore Totalisator Board and serves on the boards of Esplanade–Theatres on the Bay, Singapore’s national performing arts centre, St. Joseph’s Institution International and COMO Foundation.

 

As part of her commitment to holistic education and the arts, she also sits on the Advisory Panel of the Centre for the Arts of the National University of Singapore.

 

Ming was educated in Singapore, the United States, and England. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University and her doctorate from Oxford.