Opportunities Abound for Industry and Government to Collaborate in Effort to Becoming a Smart Nation

27 MAY 2015

Industry-Government collaborations to make Singapore a Smart Nation

The Singapore Government is gearing up to build a Smart Nation to improve the quality of life for our people. Resources are being invested into building infocomm infrastructure, developing citizen-centric services and enhancing overall cyber security within the government. In line with the Smart Nation plans for better government service delivery, government agencies will be leveraging on Agile development, cloud services and data analytics, as well as emerging technologies like Internet of Things sensors and robotics, to better anticipate and meet citizens’ needs.

“As we move towards realising our Smart Nation vision, the Government is actively engaging with citizens, businesses and the tech industry. We seek to gain better insights into the kinds of applications that people need and build new Digital Government capabilities to deliver great experiences to them. This is also the time to invest in the infrastructure that will be foundational to Smart Nation,” said Ms Jacqueline Poh, Managing Director of IDA, at the annual Industry Briefing on Infocomm Initiatives in the Public Sector.

She cited examples such as the OneService Mobile App, which was a convenient way for the public to provide feedback on municipal issues and MyResponder, a life-saving mobile application by SCDF, which leverages location awareness to enable volunteers to assist with cardiac arrest cases.

She added that an enhanced SingPass will be introduced this year, including 2FA amongst other features. A new Corporate Pass will be implemented for businesses and organisations to access multiple government e-services more securely in 2016.

Enhancing cyber security within the Government is another key area of focus. Ms Poh revealed that over the past two years, measures have been taken to strengthen capabilities in monitoring and detecting cyber threats through the Cyber Watch Centre (CWC) and Monitoring and Operations Command Centre (MOCC), as well as securing government ICT infrastructure through DDoS mitigation services and tighter access controls.

In building capabilities for a Digital Government, IDA will continue to work with the industry and co-create solutions for Smart Nation. One initiative is the Accreditation@IDA programme, which was launched in 2014 to assist local technology companies in getting their innovative products and services adopted by government agencies and other consumers. The programme seeks to provide an independent third-party evaluation of the companies’ claimed product core functionalities and ability to deliver. To date, eight companies like Deep Identity, Green Koncepts, InspireTech, Kai Square, Latize, Tagit, Trakomatic and VKey have been accredited in areas such as mobile security, enterprise analytics, video analytics and energy management.

“A Digital Government is one where we put citizens at the heart of service development and delivery,” said Mr Chan Cheow Hoe, Assistant Chief Executive (Government Services), IDA, who was also speaking at the Industry Briefing. This would signal a different approach towards developing government digital services. “To be nimble and responsive, the government can no longer outsource applications development so extensively, but seek to co-source solutions with industry”.

IDA is setting up a Centre of Excellence in software engineering and data analytics in One-North. It has facilities for user research, user experience testing, and consultancy services for government agencies in developing services for citizens. It will be staffed by a team of software engineers and data scientists and engender a culture that is multi-disciplinary, innovative and collaborative. “The Government must anticipate the needs of citizens through data analytics and build up its own internal IT engineering and development capabilities whilst engaging the best partners in the industry”, Mr Chan added.

Mr Chan said that the Government will continue to invest in ICT to realise the Smart Nation vision and seek collaboration with the industry to build capabilities and develop more citizen-centric services. It is projected that S$2.2 billion worth of Infocomm tenders will be called in the financial year of 2015, with key areas of procurement focused on digital and data services, web services, and Infocomm infrastructure, as well as the development of the Smart Nation Platform.

More Infocomm Projects in FY2015

Ministry of Education (MOE): MOE shared on upcoming projects that build new capabilities, derive greater value from existing investments and pave the way for future exploitation of ICT. To gain greater insights and make better business decisions and policy formulation, MOE hopes to acquire analytics tools and the capability to mine from its rich pool of existing data sets. In the next 3 years, MOE will also acquire ICT services to build and extend its infrastructure in schools and procure systems for efficient school administration.
Ministry of Manpower (MOM): MOM shared that it will be looking at skills, solutions and experiences in the following areas: User Experience Design, Agile, automated testing, data management and analytics, drones and Internet of Things. MOM also shared the planned procurement for the next-generation work pass system, a licensing System for employment agencies and dormitories and a new finance and procurement tracking system.
National Library Board (NLB): NLB’s key projects are aimed at providing excellent customer services to library users. By observing evolving lifestyles of individuals and anticipating needs through analytics, information services and resources are made relevant and easily accessible. Through automation and self-service, NLB also aims to reduce library operations, and allow staff to focus on the user experience.
Singapore Customs (SC): To propel Singapore as a secure trade hub, Singapore Customs and IDA will be revamping our National Trade Infrastructure. The enhanced infrastructure will provide greater resiliency and alignment to further strengthen Singapore’s trading system and value-add to businesses. The new system, tentative known as new National Trade Infrastructure, is a keystone project for the Government. For more details, please refer to the Annexes.

ISSUED BY INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE

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About Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

The mission of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is to develop information technology and telecommunications within Singapore with a view to serve citizens of all ages and companies of all sizes. IDA does this by actively supporting the growth of innovative technology companies and start-ups in Singapore, working with leading global IT companies, and developing excellent information technology and telecommunications infrastructure, policies, and capabilities for Singapore. For more news and information, visit www.ida.gov.sg.

For media clarification

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

Mehul SHAH (Mr)
Corporate & Marketing Communication
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Tel: +65 6211 1557
Email: mehul_shah@ida.gov.sg

Malini NATHAN (Ms)
Corporate & Marketing Communication
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Tel: +65 6211 0660
Email: malini_nathan@ida.gov.sg

Ministry of Education

Karen TAN (Ms)
Corporate & Marketing Communication
Tel: +65 6771 3057
Email: karen_tan@moe.gov.sg

Ministry of Manpower

Natalie TEO (Ms)
Corporate & Marketing Communication
Tel: +65 6499 6446
Email: natalie_teo@mom.gov.sg

National Library Board

Don SHIAU (Mr)
Corporate Communications
Tel: +65 6718 3946
Email: don_shiau@nlb.gov.sg

Singapore Customs

Shi Ting TOH (Ms)
Corporate Communications Branch
Tel: +65 6355 21265
Email: toh_shi_ting@customs.gov.sg