Emily Ong

Deputy Executive Director
DesignSingapore Council

Ms Emily Ong is the Deputy Executive Director of the DesignSingapore Council, a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board. She leads the various programme and corporate teams in developing policies and strategies to implement the recommendations under Design 2025 Masterplan, which aims to make Singapore an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city by design.

Ms Ong joined the DesignSingapore Council in November 2016, after close to 25 years of private and public sector experience in the infocomm, media, design and arts & heritage sectors. Prior to her appointment to the DesignSingapore Council, she was the Director of Industry Development & Economic Research in the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), where she spearheaded the formulation and review of government policies to guide the development of the infocomm, media and design industries. She also played a key role in the development of the Infocomm Media 2025 Plan and the Design 2025 Masterplan – two strategic blueprints that aim to transform the infocomm, media and design sectors up to 2025.

Besides policy-making, Ms Ong also had substantial experience in helping businesses and individuals in the creative industries to identify and break into new markets, exporting innovative lifestyle products and service and attracting global talent to Singapore to live, work and play during her stints in the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Media Development Authority (MDA).

Before joining the Public Service, Ms Ong was working in Sales, Marketing and Advertising in Miller Freeman, an international publisher and the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), a public-listed media conglomerate.

Ms Ong holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Australia. Ms Ong also completed the Innovation by Design Executive Programme at INSEAD Asia in May 2018. Ms Ong is currently pursuing her Master of Design (Design Strategies) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Ms Ong is married with a son.