Digital Services Awards 2022 recognises excellence in public sector online offerings

A Smart Nation must have world-class government digital services. To spur public sector organisations to continually improve in this aspect, the government holds the annual Digital Services Awards, which honour agencies that have demonstrated excellence in their online offerings.

Digital Services Awards 2022 was organised by the WOGAA team from GovTech. Photo: GovTech

This year’s award presentation, held in November, was attended by about 650 public officers from over 70 government agencies. Guest of Honour Dr Janil Puthucheary underscored that it was crucial for the whole of government to embrace technology.

“When we talk about digitisation in Singapore, we’re not talking about a small subgroup of public service; this is about getting it out to our nation, our society, and every citizen that we serve,” said the Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Communications and Information.

The CPF Board and Ministry of Education walked away with the top prizes. CPF’s Informational Service Team bagged the “Best Usability – Accessibility” and “Most Popular Informational Service” awards, while MOE’s Corporate Website Team won “Best Usability – Citizens’ Choice”.

These teams emerged on top through a nomination and judging process spanning six months.

The websites went through vigorous assessment by judging panels comprising private and public sector tech experts as well as leaders of special needs organisations such as the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped.

After the judges picked their top three choices, they were turned over for citizen evaluation. The finalists for “Best Usability – Accessibility” were scored by 46 citizens comprising persons with disabilities and those over 65 years old, while the finalists for “Best Usability – Citizen’s Choice” were assessed by 106 citizens from all age groups.

To underscore the importance of the user experience of everyday folks, the citizens’ assessment made up 70 per cent of the final score, while expert judges’ evaluations made up the remaining 30 per cent.

As Dr Janil, who is also Minister-in-Charge of GovTech, said: “We have to be inclusive as an approach. Our seniors especially, where it is not just about whether they have access to the technology or the skills, but also the language where we have to think through the user experience very deeply. We also have to take into consideration the needs of people with disabilities, visual, audio, intellectual and motor impairments.”

These citizen evaluators, who were recruited from SGEnable, A11y, Tech Kaki and CrowdTaskSG, were given a set of tasks to perform on the websites to familiarise themselves with the site’s functions. They then answered questions on the usability and accessibility of each website, such as whether all the banners and links worked and if the site had unnecessary complexities.

As technology gets increasingly important in our lives, digital government services will also become more integral to interactions between Singaporeans and the public sector. Dr Puthucheary cited the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic as an example of digital services playing a crucial role.

“Circuit breaker, national mask distributions, vaccinations and finally, travel. At every step of the way, our government digital services were a necessity,” he said.

In all, a total of 18 awards were presented to government agencies that delivered excellent functionality and usability in their digital services. Check out the full list of winners below.

Best Usability – Citizens’ Choice
MOE Corporate Website Team

Best Usability – Accessibility
CPFB Informational Service Team

Most Popular Informational Service
CPFB Informational Service Team

Best Agency Improvement
Singapore Land Authority

Best Agency Functionality
S (1-5 websites): Tote Board
M (6-10 websites): Public Service Division
L (>10 websites): National Environmental Agency, Singapore Land Authority

Best Agency Accessibility
S (1-5 websites): National Security Coordination Secretariat, Tote Board
M (6-10 websites): Central Provident Fund Board
L (>10 websites): National Heritage Board

Best Agency Search Engine Optimisation
S (1-5 websites): Tote Board
M (6-10 websites): Public Utilities Board
L (>10 websites): National Heritage Board

Best Agency Customer Satisfaction Score for Transactional Services
S (1-5 websites): Elections Department Singapore
M (6-10 websites): Singapore Customs
L (>10 websites): Ministry of Education