Riding on the success of the previous two e-Government Action Plans, the Singapore Government is embarking on the next lap of it journey in e-Government.
Building on the achievements if e-GAP I and II, the new S$2 billion five-year master plan iGOV2010 will seek to transform backend processing to achieve front end efficiency and effectiveness and work towards an Integrating government. What exactly does this mean?
WCP: It started off with every industry and state board having its own system…..now all stat boards share one portal and HR system and that’s an example of integrated services……though it appears integrated, the ‘back end’ is not integrated and has a tremendous amount of complexity. But now with the Centre for shared services initiative led by Ministry of Finance, we will integrate policies and processes so that when you are ready, the IT system that we can put in to support the business of the Centre for shared services will be simplified….an example of moving from Integrating Services to Integrating government.
The plan was developed in consultation with the people, private and public sectors. There are four main thrusts: Increasing Reach and Richness of e-Services; Increasing Citizens Mindshare in e-Engagement; Enhancing Capacity and Synergy in Government; and Enhancing National Competitive Advantage…..
Often times, fancy phases are difficult to understand. What does all of this mean for Singaporeans, be they businessmen or the man on the street?
Mr Lim Hup Seng, Deputy Secretary (Performance) of the Ministry of Finance explains the need to understand the Singapore demographic.
WSH: We’re not interested in individual information such as IC number. As the government we need to understand the different profiles of the different types of citizens we have and make sure their needs are addressed and developing insights about all our citizens within broad groupings…..
The private sector will be extensively involved in the implementation of policies and directions but fundamentally, steering the plan will still be the responsibility of the iGOV committee. But, involvement is an opportunity for the industry to develop ideas. Mr Lim.
LHS: Infocomm as an industry has got plenty of potential for innovation. We’re moving in an area where we really don’t know what the future is like. We’re at a frontier of infocomm and industry involvement will be very helpful for us….
Would there be an outsourcing of the maintenance and running of portals to the private sector to maintain involvement?
LHS: In fact, one of the key thrusts is to involve the industry more in the area of maintenance while we take care of innovation….
WCP: Outsourcing whatever is not-core to government like developing and operating systems…..
Also for business, one thrust of the iGov2010 plan aims to Enhance their National Advantage. Ms Wu explains.
WCP: Two key aspects under the Enhancing National Competitive advantage…..
For the man on the street, and given Singaporeans penchant to communicate via the Short Message System or SMS, the plan aims to adopt one number for all government services. When this plan be rolled out? The Direcotr of the e-Government Programs and Policies Ms Tan Kar Joo explains.
TKJ: Some of the new services will be implemented by the end of the year. But some of the more well known ones will remain as they are like MINDEF and the LTA. Over time, we will slowly migrate them if there is a need. This one number will be for the new services….
WCP: For all new services, we will ask them to adopt the new SMS number. For existing well known agencies, we will leave it to them to make the call as to when they’ll adopt this new number when the time is right….
Will there be an increase in the number of Citizen Connects Centres, first implemented with the e-GAPII plan in 2003, to futher aid those with problems accessing government services? Mr Lim.
LHS: I think the important thing for us to do is to do this gradually. It’s not a numbers game, it’s a question of whether people find this useful….
Will the elderly be isolated? How are they being made aware of this service being made available to them?
LSH: People’s Association is actually doing a lot of that, distributing leaflets so publicity is being carried out…..
WCP: I think the only way to reach out to them is to work very closely with the grassroots….
Beyond this plan, the infocomm industry stands to gain tremendously. Ms Wu explains.
WCP: I think there are many ways, direct and indirect that we work with our industries so I have to say that this is really IDA’s charter, to develop our local infocomm enterprises. We work with them, on the simplest level to continue building the brand so when these companies go out and say they’ve done this for the Spore Gov, it means something to their potential customers because Spore Gov is a recognized brand, as is the Singapore e-Government…..In many ways, we go out to market with the local companies…..
But what are the potential markets?
WCP: Depends on the company’s focus. The middle East seems to be a pretty good market….East Europe…..China….
Ultimately, the plan has been set in motion with the people of Singapore in mind. Mr Lim.
LSH: iGov 2010 is the government’s plan and it’s ultimately not aimed at marketing. It’s more about how to facilitate and assist IDA with this industry effort.
Find out more in the program.
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Quelle/Source: Radio Singapore International, 01.06.2006
