ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP

The mission of the Institute for Governance and Leadership (IGL) is to improve governance in Asia by educating the next generation of Asian leaders in public service and beyond. IGL is dedicated to delivering senior leadership development initiatives in public policy and governance. This will be complemented by futures education and case writing. Through its programmes and activities, IGL will adopt a more practitioner-oriented approach and enhance the School’s current efforts to foster dialogue and collaboration between academics and practitioners.

The setting up of this Institute reflects the School’s commitment to invest in building leadership capacity in good governance in Asia. This is an exciting endeavour given Asia’s rising prominence.

-Ong Toon Hui, Vice Dean and Executive Director, Institute for Governance and Leadership

Institute for Governance and Leadership’s key roles are:

SG Governance & Futures

The SG Governance & Futures programme is one of LKYSPP’s outreach and community engagement initiative. It aims to educate different segments of youths (students, young professionals) on Singapore’s system of governance and equip them with futures thinking tools to think more deeply about future trends and how they would impact Singapore. The programme also inspires youths to reflect on their roles to develop more resilient institutions and governance approaches. LKYSPP partners various organisations to run governance and futures workshops for different audience segments. Programmes such as the annual Singapore Futures Youth Competition and Festival of Ideas.


Singapore Futures Youth Competition

LKYSPP holds a yearly Singapore Futures Youth Competition, which is open to all students currently enrolled in any post-secondary/pre-tertiary educational institution in Singapore. This in-person event at the Bukit Timah Campus of the National University of Singapore includes a futures thinking workshop led by LKYSPP faculty.

Through this competition, participants are introduced to public policy challenges, futures thinking and the complexities of the policymaking process. They will learn the necessary tools and framework to build scenarios and present them to experts and leaders from the public and private sectors in the preliminary and final rounds of the competition. Participants will also have opportunities to interact with their peers from an array of educational institutes, as well as network with leaders from public and private sectors. 

Find out more about this year’s Singapore Futures Youth Competition 2026 .

Year Theme Report Video
2025 A Thriving Digital Future for All Read Report Here Click To Watch Video
2024 Re-imagining Opportunities, Work
and Education in Singapore
Read Report Here Click To Watch Video
2023 Re-imagining Singapore’s Social Well-Being
and Inclusivity in 2050
Read Report Here Click To Watch Video
2022 Towards a Sustainable
and Resilient Singapore 2050
Read Report Here Click To Watch Video
2021 Re-imagining SG75 Read Report Here  Click To Watch Video

Festival of Ideas

At the LKYSPP’s Festival of Ideas 2024 in September, IGL brought together 40 students from 6 public universities for the “Future of Governance in Singapore” workshop. Using a mix of short lectures, case study discussion, panel session and hands-on futures thinking exercise, participants explored the principles and practical approaches to good governance, managing diverse stakeholders and the need for evolving governance strategies. The workshop also featured a panel discussion on “Good Governance and Policy Innovation” with speakers from the Singapore Government Partnerships Office, ServiceSG and Ministry of Manpower sharing their insights.


Partnerships

LKYSPP builds collaborative ties with ministries, youth organisations and educational institutions to run programmes on SG Governance and Futures. Through these collaborations, the School is able to tap into established networks, broaden its reach to the intended audiences, and contribute knowledge and perspectives. Notable partnerships include the National Youth Council (NYC), the National Community Leadership Institute (NACLI), Singapore Polytechnic (SP), and Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP).


Senior Fellowship in Public Service Programme (SFPS)

The 5-week Senior Fellowship in Public Service (SFPS) programme seeks to share Singapore’s governance approaches and cultivate leadership capabilities in the senior-level participants to empower them to lead change within their countries and organisations. Also known as the Senior Fellows, the participants have the opportunity to learn from leading scholars and experienced practitioners to discuss current and emerging governance challenges and share ideas and experiences. In addition, the programme provides a valuable opportunity for participants to build and strengthen international networks with other senior-level leaders in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Learn more about the SFPS programme

 


Strengthening Indonesian Regional Leaders Programme

The "Strengthening Indonesian Regional Leaders Programme" is designed to develop and strengthen leadership, governance, and public management capabilities of Indonesian local government officials, specifically the mayors (Walikota) and regents (Bupati). Also known as the Kursus Pemantapan Pimpinan Daerah Angkatan (KPPD) in Bahasa Indonesia, this programme is co-organised with Ministry of Home Affairs, Republic of Indonesia (Kemendagri), the National Resilience Institute of the Republic of Indonesia (LEMHANNAS) and the Purnomo Yusgiantoro Centre (PYC).

The KPPD programme adopts a 2-component framework. Conducted by LEMHANNAS in Jakarta, the 1st component focuses on fundamental areas such as leadership, geopolitics, national constitution and national resilience. The 2nd component, also known as the Singapore Component, is organised by IGL, LKYSPP. It focuses on municipality management-related areas such as national governance, education, public health, public infrastructure and spatial planning, and digital transformation. The most recent programme run was held in November 2025.


The Study Missions for the Vietnam Potential Leaders Programme

The Study Missions for the Vietnam Potential Leaders Programme aims to deepen trust and partnerships between key stakeholders in Singapore and Vietnam through sharing of knowledge and best practices of addressing global challenges.

The programme also presents opportunities for stakeholders to explore areas of collaboration for collective effort to tackle global challenges. To that end, the focus of the programme is on governance, digital transformation, sustainability and economic development. This programme is in collaboration with Temasek Foundation (TF) and Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA), and partially supported by the Advance Asia Leadership Fund.

From Singapore’s last kampong and Shanghai’s waste sorting system to the challenges of blockchain technology and big data, the Case Insights Unit (CIU) produces case studies that cover a wide range of issues in public policy, administration and management with an Asian focus. Our case studies typically focus on a central tension stemming from multiple interests and perspectives encountered by real-world policymakers and use public policy frameworks to analyse present-day problems. 

Our repository of over a hundred case studies can be found in the LKYSPP Case Study Library. These are used in classroom teaching for degree and executive education programmes at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. They are also freely accessible to the public. We organise an annual Case Writing Competition for our students and the top submissions are added to the Case Study Library. 

Learn more about the Case Insights Unit

 

Distinguished Practitioner Fellows

 

The Distinguished Practitioner Fellows at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy contribute to the School’s teaching, executive education, and research activities. In their capacity as former and current senior public officials, the Fellows provide practical insights and perspectives that enhance the learning experience of students and executive programme participants. This initiative is part of LKYSPP’s ongoing commitment to bridging theory and practice by engaging distinguished leaders who have made significant contributions to public governance and policy.

 

View Distinguished Practitioner Fellows

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