Ms Tan Kar Joo Class of 1987
Ms Tan Kar Joo graduated in 1987 from the then Department of Information Systems and Computer Science, Science Faculty, National University of Singapore. As a student, she was well-liked and got on well with her peers. She achieved very good academic results and was the winner of top student awards in the years 1986 (CORNING Book Prize) and 1987 (DPMA Gold Medal).
Upon graduation, Kar Joo joined the National Computer Board (now the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore or IDA) as an Information Systems Officer (ISO). She has been with NCB/IDA for more than 20 years. In the past two decades, she has been instrumental in leading IT innovations in several governmental agencies including the Ministries of Law and Home Affairs as well as the Traffic Police, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). Specifically, Kar Joo led the setup of all infrastructure and systems for the two new statutory boards under the Ministry of Law, namely SLA and IPOS, and championed the implementation of the e-Lodgement System in the SLA Land Registry. She also played a key role in the implementation of an Electronic Filing System, the first-of-its-kind in the world, for the filing of court documents in the Courts, as well as the setup of Technology Courts to facilitate video conferencing and use of technology in court hearings.
Between 2003 and 2005, Kar Joo provided significant leadership in the implementation of the second e-Government Master Plan, in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and all government agencies. She also led the conceptualisation of the third e-Government Masterplan (iGov 2010) in 2006, the same year that Singapore topped the Accenture e-Gov ranking for the first time.
Currently, Kar Joo is the Senior Director in IDA responsible for driving the exploitation of ICT in a number of key clusters identified under the IDA IN2015 Master Plan. In addition, Kar Joo is also a proud recipient of the National Day Award (Bronze) in 2001, and the MICA Merit Award (Individual) in 2003. She is currently the Vice President of the IT Management Association (ITMA).
Kar Joo is an exemplary model who has dedicated her working career to establishing an excellent understanding of IT systems in our public sector, and providing the leadership to draft and implement the e-Government Master Plan over the last decade. A mother of three boys, two of whom are doing their National Service, Kar Joo is a role model for the student body and alumni of the SoC, and very instrumental to grounding effective policies in our IT arena.
