FirstDate will not match public officers with colleagues from same agency: GovTech

FirstDate was limited to public officers aged 21 to 35 because they are most likely to be actively dating and interested in trying the service.

Published Oct 02, 2026, 11:00 AM

Updated Oct 02, 2026, 11:00 AM

GovTech's FirstDate pilot matches public officers aged 21 to 35, excluding colleagues from the same agency, using a questionnaire and Gale-Shapley algorithm to focus on shared values and preferences.

The service offers one match at a time to reduce choice overload, aiming to encourage thoughtful consideration and more meaningful introductions.

Experts note the algorithm cannot guarantee compatibility; data privacy and user comfort during the pilot are key concerns to be evaluated.

SINGAPORE - Public officers joining Government Technology Agency’s (GovTech) new dating pilot will not be matched with colleagues from the same government agency, the agency has said.

GovTech also said FirstDate was limited to public officers aged 21 to 35 because its team expected them to be “most likely to be actively dating and interested in trying the service”.

Keeping the pilot to a defined age range would also allow the team to test the product with a more focused group of users, it told The Straits Times in a reply on Oct 1 evening.

Originating from GovTech Singapore’s annual {build} hackathon, the Singpass-verified FirstDate is a pilot being tested with unmarried public officers. It was not commissioned by another government agency, GovTech said.

It sent out emails to public officers on the initiative on Sept 29. Sign-ups close on Oct 5, with the matching process to begin after that.

“No decision has been made on whether to launch or expand FirstDate beyond the pilot stage,” GovTech said.

GovTech’s 2026 hackathon, which ran from April 13 to May 25, featured 270 projects across areas such as cybersecurity and healthcare.

The agency said the question the FirstDate team had was: “Does having more potential matches necessarily make it easier to find a suitable match?

“The team was interested in some of the challenges people face when meeting someone new, and wondered if a different approach could help.

“They wanted to test whether placing greater emphasis on shared values and preferences, with fewer matches at a time, could encourage users to give each introduction more consideration.”

FirstDate uses questionnaire responses and the Gale-Shapley Stable Marriage algorithm to pair participants, with users receiving one match at a time.

Developed by two mathematicians in 1962, the algorithm is designed to produce stable matches between two groups based on their preferences. It has been applied to match doctors to hospital residencies and students to public schools.

Separately, in 2019, NUS undergraduates had come up with the Aphrodite Project , which also uses the same algorithm and a questionnaire to match students.

This platform, which has since been made available for free to students and alumni from over 10 universities worldwide, says on its website that it has matched more than 107,000 people to date. About two in five met their assigned match in person, and 14 engagements and marriages have been recorded so far.

Kenneth Tan, an Assistant Professor of Psychology from Singapore Management University, said that since FirstDate is a “government initiative”, there is no profit motive, making it more trustworthy.

Using the Gale-Shapley algorithm is a useful starting point because it takes mutual preferences into account, he added.

But he noted that the algorithm has its limits, as it addresses how people are allocated to one another, rather than whether two people will ultimately be compatible.

“The most a platform like this can realistically do is screen out obvious mismatches and make it easier for plausible people to meet,” he said, adding that relationship research suggests compatibility is difficult to predict before people meet.

Without knowing exactly how FirstDate’s questions are used to generate participants’ preference rankings, it was difficult to assess how effective the matching would be, he said.

Tan was also hopeful about the platform offering one match at a time, in contrast to unlimited potential partners.

“Relationship science has highlighted that we engage in a rejection mindset when we keep on rejecting potential matches, especially when there is choice overload.”

He said another potential issue is what happens when many participants prefer the same person who possesses many highly desired traits.

The Gale-Shapley algorithm matches a highly sought-after person with their top preference, while moving others who ranked that person highly to their next choices, he noted .

While the result is mathematically stable, people may be matched with someone below their top preferences, he said.

He said having an age limit for the pilot is a good start. “It can make recruitment, support and feedback more manageable while the team tests the service.”

Tan said using Singpass verification could increase confidence that participants are using their real identities.

But he noted that a verified identity also could not establish someone’s intentions or guarantee respectful behaviour.

FirstDate’s website states that only a participant’s match can see their profile, and contact details are shared only if both parties agree to connect. Questionnaire responses are handled according to government data security standards, and users can deactivate their accounts and request for their information to be removed.

Tan said a potential problem is if the system assumes that someone wants a partner who is similar to them.

But an introverted person, for example, might prefer someone more outgoing, he said.

Attraction also emerges through interactions between two people and cannot simply be reduced to matching characteristics on paper, he added.

Any compatibility score therefore should not be interpreted as the probability that a relationship will succeed.

“The strongest use of this approach is to facilitate promising introductions while giving people room to discover compatibility through conversation and shared experience,” he said.

“The pilot should assess whether people feel comfortable, meet, enjoy the interaction and mutually want another date.”

GovTech/Government Technology Agency

Dating/Relationships

FirstDate 仅限 21 至 35 岁的公职人员使用，因为他们最有可能积极约会并有兴趣尝试这项服务。

发布于2026年10月2日上午11:00

更新于2026年10月2日上午11:00

GovTech 的 FirstDate 试点项目旨在为 21 至 35 岁的公务员匹配对象，排除同一机构的同事，通过问卷调查和 Gale-Shapley 算法来寻找共同的价值观和偏好。

该服务一次只提供一项匹配，以减少选择过多的情况，旨在鼓励用户深思熟虑，并促成更有意义的介绍。

专家指出，该算法无法保证兼容性；试点期间的数据隐私和用户舒适度是需要评估的关键问题。

新加坡——政府科技局（GovTech）表示，参与该机构新推出的约会试点项目的公务员不会与来自同一政府机构的同事配对。

GovTech 还表示，FirstDate 仅限 21 至 35 岁的公务员使用，因为其团队认为他们“最有可能积极约会并对尝试该服务感兴趣”。

该公司在 10 月 1 日晚间回复《海峡时报》时表示，将试点用户限定在特定年龄范围内，还可以让团队针对更集中的用户群体测试产品。

FirstDate 是一款由新加坡政府科技局 (GovTech Singapore) 发起的年度 {build} 黑客马拉松活动推出的约会软件，目前正以单身公务员为对象进行试点测试，并已获得 Singpass 认证。新加坡政府科技局表示，该软件并非由其他政府机构委托开发。

9月29日，该机构向公职人员发送了有关该计划的电子邮件。报名将于10月5日截止，匹配过程将在之后开始。

“尚未决定是否在试点阶段之外推出或扩展 FirstDate 项目，”政府科技局表示。

GovTech 举办的 2026 年黑客马拉松于 4 月 13 日至 5 月 25 日举行，共有 270 个项目参与，涵盖网络安全和医疗保健等领域。

该机构表示，FirstDate 团队提出的问题是：“拥有更多潜在匹配对象是否一定更容易找到合适的匹配对象？”

“团队对人们在结识新朋友时面临的一些挑战很感兴趣，并想知道不同的方法是否会有所帮助。

“他们想测试一下，如果每次匹配的人数较少，同时更加注重共同的价值观和偏好，是否能鼓励用户对每一次介绍都更加认真考虑。”

FirstDate 使用问卷调查结果和 Gale-Shapley 稳定婚姻算法来配对参与者，用户一次只能获得一个匹配对象。

该算法由两位数学家于1962年开发，旨在根据两组人群的偏好，为其匹配合适的对象。它已被应用于医生与医院住院医师岗位以及学生与公立学校的匹配。

此外，2019 年，新加坡国立大学本科生提出了“阿芙罗狄蒂计划”，该计划也使用相同的算法和问卷调查来匹配学生。

这个平台目前已向全球十多所大学的学生和校友免费开放。其官网显示，迄今为止已成功匹配超过10.7万人。约五分之二的用户与匹配对象线下见面，目前已促成14对情侣订婚或结婚。

新加坡管理大学心理学助理教授 Kenneth Tan 表示，由于 FirstDate 是一项“政府倡议”，因此没有盈利动机，也因此更值得信赖。

他补充说，使用 Gale-Shapley 算法是一个有用的起点，因为它考虑了双方的偏好。

但他指出，该算法有其局限性，因为它解决的是如何将人分配给彼此的问题，而不是两个人最终是否兼容的问题。

他说：“像这样的平台所能做的，最多也就是筛选掉明显不匹配的人，让合适的人更容易见面。”他还补充说，人际关系研究表明，在人们见面之前，很难预测彼此的兼容性。

他说，由于不清楚 FirstDate 的问题是如何用来生成参与者偏好排名的，因此很难评估匹配的效果如何。

谭也对该平台一次只提供一对一匹配，而不是无限量潜在伴侣的做法抱有希望。

“人际关系科学研究表明，当我们不断拒绝潜在的匹配对象时，尤其是在选择过多的情况下，我们会形成一种拒绝心态。”

他说，另一个潜在的问题是，当许多参与者都喜欢同一个拥有许多令人向往的特质的人时，会发生什么情况。

他指出，Gale-Shapley 算法会将一位备受追捧的人与其首选进行匹配，同时将其他对该人评价较高的人移至其次选择。

他说，虽然结果在数学上是稳定的，但人们可能会匹配到低于自己首选的人。

他表示，为试点项目设定年龄限制是个好的开始。“这样一来，在团队测试服务期间，招募、支持和反馈工作就能更容易地进行。”

Tan表示，使用Singpass验证可以增强人们对参与者使用真实身份的信心。

但他指出，即使身份得到验证，也不能确定某人的意图或保证其行为举止得体。

FirstDate网站声明，只有匹配对象才能查看参与者的个人资料，联系方式仅在双方同意建立联系后才会共享。问卷调查回复将按照政府数据安全标准进行处理，用户可以停用账户并要求删除个人信息。

Tan表示，一个潜在的问题是，如果该系统假定某人想要一个与自己相似的伴侣。

他说，例如，性格内向的人可能更喜欢性格外向的人。

他还补充说，吸引力也是通过两个人之间的互动产生的，不能简单地归结为纸面上的特征匹配。

因此，任何匹配度评分都不应被解释为一段关系成功的概率。

他说：“这种方法的最大优势在于促进有希望的人与人之间的介绍，同时让人们有空间通过对话和共同经历来发现彼此的契合度。”

“试点项目应该评估参与者是否感到舒适，是否见面愉快，以及双方是否都希望再次约会。”

政府科技局/政府技术局

约会/恋爱关系