Biography
Mr Ling Keok Tong is the Executive Director of the National Quantum Office (NQO) hosted in A*STAR. As ED NQO, Mr Ling leads the development and implementation of Singapore’s National Quantum Strategy (NQS). The NQS is a comprehensive strategy spanning research, innovation, ecosystem and talent development. In this role, Mr Ling oversees the approved RIE funding to resource the NQS. Mr Ling is a member of the National Quantum Steering Committee (NQSC) and the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) Governing Board.
In 2020, Mr Ling was seconded to the National Research Foundation (NRF) as its Director of Smart Nation & Digital Economy (SNDE) Directorate. In this role, Mr Ling oversaw the planning and direction of Singapore’s RIE investments in digital tech capabilities in support of SNDE. This was done in close consultation with public sector agencies and the researchecosystem.
Prior to his NRF secondment in 2020, Mr Ling was the Senior Director in charge of the Infocomms Cluster in A*STAR SERC. Mr Ling oversaw A*STAR’s tech capabilities development in the infocomm space and was concurrently appointed as the Program Director (covering) for A*STAR AI Initiative. Mr Ling was also the A*STAR’s lead for its Future of Manufacturing (FoM) Initiative. In this role, he engaged with key stakeholders and partners to craft digitalisation programmes for the manufacturing sector to stay relevant and increase itscompetitiveness.
Before joining A*STAR in 2014, he was with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and its predecessor organisation, the then Telecommunications Authority ofSingapore (TAS). In his career with both organisations, he had undertaken lead roles in standards, type approval, spectrum management, infrastructure development, strategic planning and technology development. Among his key accomplishments was being a key member of the pioneer team that developed the concept for the Next Generation National Broadband Network; a fibre to every home and building in Singapore.
Mr Ling holds a Distinction in Master of Science Communications & Signal Processing from Imperial College, UK and a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering (2nd Upper Honours) from Nanyang Technological University,Singapore.
Mr Ling was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) and the Long Service Medal in the 2024 and 2015 National Day Awards respectively.