No decision made on expanding dating platform for Singapore public officers beyond pilot: GovTech

SINGAPORE: The team behind FirstDate, a dating platform being piloted for government workers, said on Thursday (Oct 1) that no decision has been made on whether to expand the service. 

The pilot is currently limited to public officers aged 21 to 35 who are not married, Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) confirmed in response to CNA queries about whether the agency has plans to expand the pilot to the public.

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

The pilot was launched to test whether a “different approach” with greater emphasis on "shared values and preferences" as well as fewer matches at a time can offer users a "different dating experience", the agency said.

FirstDate has drawn international media attention since the pilot was rolled out this week. 

Participants log in with their Singpass and answer 30 questions on their interests, lifestyle, food and travel preferences. Applications close on Oct 5.

The questionnaire also covers relationship preferences, including the youngest and oldest ages they would consider dating, any “hard nos” and whether they want children.

According to its website, the platform uses a Nobel prize-winning framework called the Gale-Shapley Stable Marriage algorithm, which GovTech describes as “an established mathematical approach that generates pairings based on participants' preferences to recommend matches based on compatibility”.

Users receive one recommended match per cycle, or about once a month. Both users are notified when a match is made, after which they have three days to decide whether to accept it.

Only matched users can see each other’s profiles. Contact details will only be made available if both parties accept the match.

Users receive one match at a time so that they can “focus on building a thoughtful connection”, the FirstDate website said.

“Swipe fatigue ends here,” it read.

The platform uses Singpass to verify participants’ eligibility, including their age, marital status and government agency, GovTech said on Thursday.

“This provides greater assurance that participants are real individuals who meet the pilot’s eligibility criteria,” the agency said.

GovTech did not provide participation figures, saying that the pilot had only commenced on Sep 29. 

According to the platform’s website, the idea was first explored at GovTech’s annual hackathon. 

Feedback and insights from the pilot will help the team behind the platform understand what works and what can be improved, the agency added.