THE public sector is committed to investing in infocomm to better meet the growing expectations of businesses and citizens in Singapore. In May 2008, the Government announced plans to call for S$1.14 billion worth of new infocomm tenders for Financial Year 2008. These included more than 390 new tenders covering a wide range of public sector projects such as the development of the second Government Data Centre, enhancements to the Government's one-stop portal www.gov.sg, a Command & Control System for the Singapore Civil Defence Force and an Identity Management System for the Ministry of Defence.
Speaking at an industry briefing in May on Business Opportunities for Infocomm in the Public Sector, RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), said, "We will continue to work with the industry to find new and innovative ways to use infocomm technology to improve our delivery of government services, strengthen our infrastructure as well as encourage citizens and businesses alike to adopt an infocomm-enabled lifestyle."
Making IT SOEasy
THE commitment to use infocomm as an innovative change agent is exemplified by the Standard ICT Operating Environment (SOEasy) project.
When fully implemented by 2010, SOEasy will consolidate infocomm services into a single environment, allowing government agencies to achieve greater efficiency in infocomm usage. This involves harmonising desktop, messaging and network environments across all government agencies — an exercise which will result in savings of S$500 million for the Singapore Government.
In February 2008, the S$1.3 billion SOEasy (Public Sector) tender was awarded to oneMeridian, the consortium led by EDS International. Members of the consortium include Alcatel-Lucent, Avanade, Cisco Systems, Frontline, Microsoft, Singapore Computer Systems and SingTel.
SOEasy is being implemented in phases for a total of 74 government agencies, excluding the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education (Schools). By July 2009, the first three government agencies ?the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts and IDA will enjoy the full benefits of the consolidated infocomm platform.
e-Services gain popularity
MORE and more Singaporeans are accessing Government e-Services to transact with public sector agencies, revealed the findings from the latest e-Government Perception Survey.
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| CitizenConnect centres offers assistance to those who are not very comfortable interacting with Government agencies online. |
The survey is conducted yearly to determine the proportion of users who have transacted with the Government electronically — either on their own or with assistance — and the extent of their satisfaction with these e-Government services.
In 2007, almost 9 out of 10 (89 per cent) who transacted with Government did so electronically — via the Internet, automated kiosks, email, Interactive Voice Recognition System and Short Message Service (SMS). These users were typically young adults (aged 20 to 39 years old), and white-collar workers.
More than 8 out of 10 users (86 per cent) gave a rating of 4 and above on a 6-point scale on their satisfaction with the quality of Government e-Services.
To address the needs of senior citizens and blue-collar workers who are not as comfortable with interacting with Government agencies through electronic channels, 28 CitizenConnect Centres have been set up to assist them.
These centres offer free Internet connectivity for them to access government online services. Customer service officers are also on hand to help those users who need guidance.
Government services on the go
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| Launching the police SMS 70999 hotline service for the hearing and speech-impaired community. |
WITH the proliferation of mobile phones and devices among the population, delivering mobile Government services has become a key imperative for the public sector. Under the Mobile Government (m-government) project by the Ministry of Finance and the IDA, there are currently some 200 Government services that can be conveniently accessed through mobile devices. These include Central Provident Fund account enquiries, Certificate of Entitlement results and updates on traffic conditions.
The m-government project involves 15 ministries, nine organs of state and more than 60 statutory boards, and is part of the Government IT Masterplan iGov2010. Some examples of innovative m-services that have benefited a broad spectrum of the public include the following:
- Police SMS 70999 hotline service: Members of the hearing and speech-impaired community can now send emergency text messages to a new SMS helpline - SMS 70999. The service was introduced by the Singapore Police Force and National Council of Social Service to serve the needs of the hearing and speech-impaired community, which is estimated to number about 10,000.
- Singapore Government Directory Interactive (SGDI) SMS: Mobile phone users can conveniently obtain the contact information of government officers — located on the SGDI website — via SMS. Users need only send an SMS to 74688 (or key 'SGOVT') and follow the necessary steps to obtain the contact information they need.
- SLA StreetMap Mobile: Users of compatible PDAs, PDA phones and smartphones can search the location maps of the Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) StreetMap@Singapore electronic street directory. The utility software can be downloaded for free, and runs on mobile devices that run the Windows Mobile Operating System. Launched by the SLA and MapKing (Singapore), StreetMap Mobile contains some 2,000 buildings, 4,200 named roads, and some 120,000 updated address points.
Simplifying business-government interactions with UEN
SAY goodbye to multiple identification numbers issued by different government agencies. From 1 January 2009, all Singapore-registered entities such as businesses, societies, healthcare institutions and trade unions will be issued a Unique Entity Number (UEN). This will be the unique identifier for these entities, in the same way the NRIC acts as a unique identifier for each Singapore citizen.
The UEN, which is another initiative under the iGov2010 Masterplan, will enable the various entities to enjoy the convenience of a single identification number when interacting with all Government agencies.
For businesses, the UEN will help to expedite processes such as the filing of corporate tax returns, applications for import and export permits, and submission of employees' CPF contributions.
Mr Teng Theng Dar, Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) said, "We welcome and support the introduction of UEN as the only identification number that companies need for interactions between businesses and government agencies. The UEN will simplify and reduce possible errors caused by the use of multiple numbers, thus speeding up transactions. This initiative will enable companies to manage their time more productively, and to them, time is money."