Singapore's digital transformation agency, GovTech, is piloting a dating app called FirstDate for singles aged 21-35. The app grew out of staff discussions and an annual hackathon, and it uses a questionnaire covering interests, habits, values, and preferences to feed the Gale-Shapley Stable Matching algorithm, a 1962 method for pairing participants based on ranked preferences.
The app operates on a 72-hour cycle, showing each user one suggested match at a time. If both parties agree, contact details are revealed, and users are encouraged to try "Date Quests" as icebreakers. GovTech acknowledges the algorithm cannot guarantee chemistry or a relationship.
The pilot is currently restricted to single members of Singapore's civil service. The agency's most famous previous app was TraceTogether, the Bluetooth-based COVID contact tracing tool that largely flopped. The move comes as Singapore's birth rate hits record lows despite government incentives, and follows a similar dating app initiative by Tokyo in 2024.