Singapore's privacy watchdog is developing a local certification programme for data protection officers (DPOs), whose job is to better equip companies for a digital future in which more and more data must be protected. Besides equipping DPOs to do a better job, it is hoped that the certification programme will also give more recognition to the role and attract more people to take it up. SMU Academy for Continuing Education Executive Director Dr Lim Lai Cheng said data protection "must be handled at the management level". The Singapore Government's push for more organisations to turn data into an asset, such as analysing consumer buying patterns to recommend more relevant future promotions, will create demand for more DPOs to address privacy issues, she added.