Eng Soon Liau | Cluster Director, Digital Utilities Cluster
Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)

Eng Soon joined IMDA from ASTAR in May 2020 as Cluster Director for Trade and Connectivity (T&C). He led the Industry Development Group (IDG) in ASTAR, where T&C was part of the portfolio. During his time in ASTAR, he worked with both MNCs and local enterprises, including SMEs, helping them with technology innovations and productivity improvement. Before assuming the role of Group Director IDG, he was Director (SME Office), leading all SME programmes in ASTAR. He strongly believes that technology and digitalisation will help our companies gain competitive advantages in the marketplace. Eng Soon assumed Cluster Director for Digital Utilities in April 2022.  In this role, he oversees Singapore's Digital Utility Stack — spanning digital identity, verifiable credentials, data exchange, and digital payments and invoicing — and leads IMDA's strategy to close the trust deficit in Singapore's digital economy.  A key focus of his work is the development and adoption of Verifiable Credentials (VCs) as the foundation for trusted digital interactions across borders and sectors. Under his leadership, DIVC is driving Singapore's next leap in document attestation and cross-border verification.  This includes expanding OpenCerts beyond educational certificates to cover a broader range of government-issued documents, enabling mutual recognition of qualifications with overseas partners and exploring new use cases.  He is also spearheading the adoption of VCs for e-Apostilles to modernise cross-border legal and commercial processes, with ongoing pilots in markets such as Shanghai.  He is concurrently the CEO of SGTraDex Technologies Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of IMDA. Eng Soon is an Aeronautical Engineer by training and spent 20 years in the Republic of Singapore Air Force as an Air Engineering Officer, before joining A*STAR for eight years prior to his move to IMDA.