dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Social Links
  • zedreviews.com
  • citi.io
  • aster.cloud
  • liwaiwai.com
  • guzz.co.uk
  • atinatin.com
0 Likes
0 Followers
0 Subscribers
dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
  • Cities
  • Lah!

How The Government Is Building Citizen-Centric Digital Services

  • March 7, 2019
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

Digitalisation has paved the way for new business models and better ways of doing things. Mr Kok Ping Soon, chief executive of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore, explained the approach that the Singapore government is taking to create digital services.

Prior to the invention of the internet, the time taken for technological products to reach 50 million users was measured in the span of multiple decades. It took 62 years for the number of car users to hit 50 million, and even the now-ubiquitous television took 22 years to become part of 50 million households.

Since the World Wide Web came along in the 1990s, however, the pace of technology adoption has accelerated. Within five years, PayPal had 50 million people transacting on its platform. Twitter was even more impressive—50 million accounts created in just two years. Along with these digital innovations came disruption of old business models and newer, more efficient ways of doing things.

To avoid going the way of the dinosaur, both the private and public sector have had to adapt to an increasingly digitalised global ecosystem, with varying degrees of success. At the ‘Information Technology Management Association (ITMA) Dialogue with the CEO’ held on 20 February 2019, Mr Kok Ping Soon, chief executive of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), described how the Singapore government has undergone major shifts in its approach to digitalising its services for its citizens and businesses.

Not just lip service

“Digitalisation is not just about taking a form, converting it into a PDF and putting it online,” Mr Kok cautioned. Instead, it involves re-engineering back-end IT infrastructure so that the form could be made redundant.

Such re-engineering is currently being undertaken by the Singapore government and spearheaded by GovTech, resulting in the Singapore Government Technology Stack (SGTS)—a common platform for hosting services, sharing data and building applications. Whereas in the past, government IT architecture comprised monolithic systems with ministry-specific applications, the SGTS has different modules, akin to LEGO bricks, that can be pieced together to give rise to a variety of different digital services.

Importantly, with the SGTS, data can be shared easily between ministries when citizens grant their consent via MyInfo, a repository of government-verified personal information, said Mr Kok. In this way, a re-imagined back-end IT system has drastically reduced the need to fill in forms when transacting online.

Ahead in the cloud

Mr Kok also highlighted that the Singapore government is looking to tap on the commercial cloud to develop digital services. Partnering with leading providers of commercial cloud services will grant organisations access to the latest innovations in the information and communications technology sector.

“We have our Government Data Centre for confidential systems… [but] in our own estimate, more than 70 percent of government IT systems can be hosted on the commercial cloud—with the right classification,” he said, adding that functions classified as ‘restricted’ and below will be offloaded to the cloud.

Furthermore, given the current climate of rampant hacking, Mr Kok urged IT managers to always ask: is your IT architecture designed with security in mind? While commercial cloud providers do have robust cybersecurity measures in place, they should not be taken for granted when developing digital services.

Putting people first

Finally, referencing the Digital Government Blueprint that was published in June 2018, Mr Kok reiterated the importance of “serving with heart”.

“This is where the primacy of citizens’ needs overwrites the sovereignty of an agency,” he noted. Rather than just develop a policy, then provide specifications for an IT system to translate the policy to operations, GovTech seeks to engage with citizens in the development process, iterating on an outcome based on their requests and feedback.

Citing the Moments of Life (Families) mobile app that was launched last year, Mr Kok explained, “People say they want a dashboard, okay; we put in a dashboard. People say they want to search for healthcare institutions based on whether they qualify for some government scheme, okay; we will continue to enrich [the app].”

“We’re still figuring things out, but we’re taking a step in the right direction,” Mr Kok concluded.

Article from GovTech.

Total
0
Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • Digital Services
  • Digitalisation
  • Government
majulah

Previous Article
  • Cities
  • Lah!

Small City, Big Win : Singapore Named Smart City Of 2018

  • January 23, 2019
View Post
Next Article
  • Technology

How To: Install Python 3.7 In Ubuntu

  • March 10, 2019
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Cities
  • Technology

Meralco PowerGen’s PacificLight starts up 100 MW fast-response plant in Singapore

  • dotlah.com
  • June 20, 2025
View Post
  • Cities

Renewable energy, carbon credits are priority areas of cooperation for Singapore, Philippines: Lawrence Wong

  • dotlah.com
  • June 4, 2025
View Post
  • Cities
  • Politics

Singapore businesses eye more investments in PH, says PM Wong

  • Dean Marc
  • June 4, 2025
View Post
  • Cities
  • Research

Mathematicians uncover the logic behind how people walk in crowds

  • dotlah.com
  • April 3, 2025
View Post
  • Lah!

Tariffs, Trump, and Other Things That Start With T – They’re Not The Problem, It’s How We Use Them

  • John Francis
  • March 25, 2025
View Post
  • Lah!

Canonical announces 12 year Kubernetes LTS

  • John Francis
  • March 4, 2025
“Toyota Woven City,” a Test Course for Mobility, Completes Phase 1 Construction and Prepares for Launch
View Post
  • Cities
  • Technology

“Toyota Woven City,” a Test Course for Mobility, Completes Phase 1 Construction and Prepares for Launch

  • John Francis
  • January 6, 2025
dotlah-smartnation-singapore-lawrence-wong
View Post
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Featured
  • Features
  • Lah!
  • Machine Learning
  • Technology

Growth, community and trust the ‘building blocks’ as Singapore refreshes Smart Nation strategies: PM Wong

  • Dean Marc
  • October 9, 2024


Trending
  • 1
    • Cities
    • Lah!
    First Look: CapitaSpring, Singapore’s Newest Skyscraper
    • February 2, 2021
  • running men 2
    • Cities
    How Running In The City Differs From Trails
    • November 6, 2020
  • new-york-city-andre-benz-qJfznuTMAYA-unsplash 3
    • Cities
    The city as an emergent life form, with architecture as the skeleton and roads as veins
    • July 8, 2021
  • fastest-growing-cities-2021-24298 4
    • Cities
    The Fastest Growing Cities In The World
    • February 26, 2021
  • A bench made from recycled concrete slabs stands in front of an ongoing construction project in Musicon, a district in Roskilde, Denmark. PHOTO BY SEBASTIAN SKOV ANDERSEN 5
    • Cities
    Going Circular: 7 European Cities’ Quest To Become Fully Sustainable
    • March 18, 2021
  • 6
    • Technology
    Singles’ Day Shopping: Best Accessories For Students
    • November 7, 2019
  • Twitter X 7
    • People
    • Technology
    Twitter’s Rebrand To X Shifts The Focus To Musk’s ‘Everything App’ Plans But Here’s Why He Might Have Moved Too Early
    • July 29, 2023
  • 8
    • Technology
    Singtel, AIS And SK Telecom Invest In A New Gaming Joint Venture
    • March 11, 2020
  • 9
    • Lah!
    More Local Mixed-breed Dogs Can Be Rehomed To HDB Flats With The Revision In Size Limits Under Project ADORE
    • March 4, 2020
  • 10
    • Lah!
    Project Ubin’s Fifth And Final Phase Highlights Commercial Potential, Paving Way Towards Live Adoption
    • July 15, 2020
  • 11
    • Lah!
    • Technology
    DBS Launches Asia’s First Automated Digital Bond Issuance Platform
    • June 22, 2021
  • 12
    • Cities
    • Technology
    Singapore Ranks First As The Most Optimistic City For Driverless Mobility
    • February 27, 2020
Trending
  • Kitchen Knives - Best All-Around Picks in 2025 1
    Kitchen Knives : The Surgeons of Cooking – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • September 15, 2025
  • 2
    Apple unveils iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the most powerful and advanced Pro models ever
    • September 9, 2025
  • 3
    Apple debuts iPhone 17
    • September 9, 2025
  • Fruits and vegetables for cooking. For food processors. 4
    Food Processor: The Swiss Army Knife of the Kitchen – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • September 8, 2025
  • 5
    Meet Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Series: Packing Everything You Expect From a Premium Tablet
    • September 4, 2025
  • 6
    Malaysia’s ‘ASEAN Shenzhen’ needs some significant legal reform to take off — here’s how
    • August 25, 2025
  • French Fries 7
    Air Fryer: The One Cooking Appliance to Rule Them All – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • August 22, 2025
  • 8
    Samsung Electronics Debuts Odyssey G7 Monitors, Showcasing Top Games on Its Displays at Gamescom 2025
    • August 20, 2025
  • 9
    HP Cranks Up the Game with Smarter Systems, Cooler Builds, and Gear That Hits Different
    • August 14, 2025
  • 10
    New Trump tariffs: early modelling shows most economies lose – the US more than many
    • August 6, 2025
Social Links
dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Connecting Dots Across Asia's Tech and Urban Landscape

Input your search keywords and press Enter.