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

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.