Josephine Teo

Minister for Digital Development and Information; Minister-in-charge of Cybersecurity and Smart Nation — Government of Singapore

About Josephine Teo

Key facts Role: Minister for Digital Development and Information; Minister-in-charge of Cybersecurity and Smart Nation Group Organisation: Government of Singapore Country: Singapore Sector: Digital policy Headline figures: Online Safety Commission handled more than 500 reports and resolved over 90 per cent of eligible cases by late September 2026 Josephine Teo went to the UN General Assembly in September 2026 with a message from a small state caught between two technology superpowers. "We cannot simply expect to make progress by accessing any single platform or ecosystem," she told Foreign Policy's Tech & AI Forum on 22 September. She said Singapore would stay connected to American, Chinese and European technology while building its own capabilities. At home, she writes the rules on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and online harms for one of Asia's most closely watched digital economies. The role Teo is Singapore's Minister for Digital Development and Information and Minister-in-charge of Cybersecurity and Smart Nation Group. According to the Prime Minister's Office, she leads the government's work on digital development, public communications and engagement, Smart Nation strategy and cybersecurity, and sits on the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce. Her remit covers the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, which oversees the owners of Singapore's critical information infrastructure, and the policy framework for AI adoption in the city-state's economy and public service. “We cannot simply expect to make progress by accessing any single platform or ecosystem,” — Teo, to Foreign Policy's Tech & AI Forum on 22 September Background A member of Parliament since 2006, Teo was formerly an assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress and chief executive of Business China. In government she became the first woman political office-holder in the Ministry of Home Affairs, where she served for eight years. She also held posts in the Prime Minister's Office and the finance, transport and foreign affairs ministries, and was Minister for Manpower from 2018 to 2021. During that time, tripartite agreement was reached on a ten-year roadmap to raise Singapore's retirement and re-employment ages. She studied at the National University of Singapore and holds a master's degree in economics from the London School of Economics. Online harms and cybersecurity The past year's biggest change was on online harms. The Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025 set up a Commissioner of Online Safety, and the Online Safety Commission began work on 29 June 2026. It covers online harassment, doxxing, stalking, intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse, and eight further categories of harm are to be phased in. The commissioner can order content to be taken down or accounts to be restricted, and failing to comply is a criminal offence. Six services face extra obligations: Facebook and Instagram, YouTube, X, TikTok and HardwareZone forums. CNA reported that this makes Singapore one of the few countries with a government agency dedicated to helping victims of online harms. By late September, Teo and the commissioner said the body had handled more than 500 reports and resolved over 90 per cent of eligible cases. On cybersecurity, Teo announced on 22 July 2026 that the Cyber Security Agency would update its code of practice for critical information infrastructure later in the year and launch a new code for cloud services. The agency said the aim was to address advanced persistent threats and AI-enabled attacks. Under the updated code, boards of infrastructure operators must take formal accountability for cyber resilience. International footprint Her international footprint rests on Singapore's AI governance model. In her UNGA remarks she noted that Singapore had an AI governance framework before it had a national AI strategy. She said it later built testing tools for AI systems and has twice convened the International Scientific Exchange on AI safety research priorities, which produced the "Singapore Consensus". What to watch next: the wider rollout of the online-harm categories, the new cybersecurity codes for infrastructure and cloud services due in the second half of 2026, and whether Singapore's trust-and-testing approach to AI safety gains wider international backing. She ranks 19th because she writes the digital, AI and cyber rules of Asia's most-watched regulatory test-bed, and they travel well beyond Singapore. Sources Prime Minister's Office Singapore, Mrs Josephine TEO , accessed 29 Sep 2026 MDDI, Remarks by Minister Josephine Teo at Foreign Policy's Tech & AI Forum @ UNGA81 , 22 Sep 2026 MINDEF, speech by Mrs Josephine Teo, 12 Sep 2026 MDDI, The Online Safety Commission Begins Operations on 29 June 2026 , 28 Jun 2026 CNA (Charmaine Jacob), Victims of online harassment, doxxing can get help from new government body from Jun 29 , 28 Jun 2026 The Independent Singapore (Merzsam Singkee), Singapore's Online Safety Commission resolves over 90% of 500+ reported cases in its first three months , 24 Sep 2026 Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, Cybersecurity Code of Practice for Critical Information Infrastructure to be Updated to Address APT and AI-enabled Threats , 22 Jul 2026

Why this entry is on the list

She ranks 19th because she writes the digital, AI and cyber rules of Asia's most-watched regulatory test-bed, and they travel well beyond Singapore. Her remit covers the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the policy framework for AI adoption, and Singapore's new Online Safety Commission, which began work on 29 June 2026, had handled more than 500 reports by late September.