Singapore's vision to develop an Integrated Government through the use of infocomm technology has caught the eye of the Middle East. In recent years, memorandums of understanding have been signed between Singapore and countries such as Qatar and Kuwait, paving the way for Singapore to export its e-Government expertise to these countries.

H.E. Mohammed Nasser Al-Khasibi and NCS Chief of Global Business Mr Lum Hon Fye at the signing ceremony on 4 July.

Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Chief Executive Officer of the IDA, said Singapore infocomm companies which have developed and implemented e-Government projects for government agencies here have deep domain knowledge and experience in the development, integration and deployment of effective e-Government solutions. Many of these solutions, which have been tried, tested and implemented in Singapore, can now be easily exported to overseas markets, he added.

Singapore infocomm service provider NCS Group (http://www.ncs.com.sg/), for example, recently signed a multi-million dollar deal with Oman's Information Technology Authority (ITA) to develop the Ubar Portal, a new service delivery platform for connecting the citizens and government of Oman.

The NCS Group will design, deliver, implement and maintain the Ubar Portal, which will enable the citizens of Oman to access government information and services online via the portal itself or via different channels such as other government websites, kiosks and even via mobile phones.

At the signing ceremony, H.E. Mohammed Nasser Al-Khasibi, Secretary General, Ministry of National Economy, Sultanate of Oman and Chairman of its ITA board described the Ubar Portal as one of the key initiatives under the Digital Oman programme. With the new Service Delivery Platform in place, Oman's various government agencies will be able to develop and roll out a wide range of new e-services in a shorter timeframe.

Besides NCS, other local companies in Singapore such as CrimsonLogic (http://www.crimsonlogic.com/), ST Electronics  (http://www.stee.stengg.com/) and Singapore Computer Systems (http://www.scs.com.sg/), have made inroads into the overseas markets with their expertise in developing e-Government solutions. In November last year, Ecquaria (http://www.ecquaria.com/) sealed a deal for an e-Government project in Qatar, with the signing of a landmark agreement with Qatar's Supreme Council of Information and Communications Technology (ictQATAR) to develop a single platform based on the company's flagship product, the Ecquaria Service-Oriented Platform.

The Qatar Service Platform (QSP) will serve as a one-stop e-services portal for Qatar citizens and businesses and will leverage common reusable services such as user authentication and e-payment. Ecquaria's implementation of QSP will leverage on best practices conceived in the design and development of Singapore's Public Service Infrastructure (PSi) as well as subsequent technology innovations and new e-government concepts.

Over in Kuwait, IDA has also been actively engaged in e-Government developments and had helped to develop an e-Government blueprint for the country.

Mr Chan said such ventures into new markets are important if Singapore infocomm companies are to continue growing. We believe our companies can go far by going further, he said.