Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech) has introduced a pilot dating program called FirstDate aimed at unmarried public officers aged 21 to 35. The initiative, which originated from GovTech’s annual hackathon, seeks to explore whether a more thoughtful matching process based on shared values and preferences can enhance meaningful connections.

In an announcement on Thursday, GovTech stated that participants from the same government agency will not be matched with each other to avoid workplace romances. The agency emphasized that the age range was chosen because it represents the demographic most likely to be actively dating and interested in the service, while also allowing the pilot to focus on a specific user group. Public officers have until October 5 to register, after which the matching process will begin.

FirstDate employs a questionnaire and the Gale-Shapley Stable Marriage algorithm to pair users, providing one match at a time. The algorithm, developed by mathematicians in 1962, is designed to create stable matches based on participants’ preferences and has been widely used in systems such as matching medical residents to hospitals and students to schools.

GovTech clarified that FirstDate was not commissioned by any other government agency and that no decision has yet been made on whether the program will be expanded or launched beyond the pilot stage. The team behind the project expressed interest in understanding the obstacles individuals face when meeting new people and testing whether limiting matches could encourage participants to give each introduction more thoughtful consideration.

The Stable Marriage algorithm has been previously applied to dating contexts, including a 2019 project by undergraduates from the National University of Singapore called the Aphrodite Project. That platform, which uses a similar matching algorithm and questionnaire, is now available free to students and alumni of more than 10 universities worldwide. According to its website, the Aphrodite Project has matched over 107,000 individuals, with approximately 40% meeting their matches in person and 14 relationships leading to engagements or marriages to date.