Ever since Singapore embarked on a unique initiative to take
the lessons learnt from its forays into eGovernment and eCitizen
enablement, a slew of governments from around the world are seeking
Singapore’s help to get their ICT schemes up to speed in the public
space.
Much of the initiative to export Singapore’s success in the ICT arena
comes from IDA International that was set up as an arm of the Infocomm
Development Authority of Singapore in February 2009. IDA International
is the first such government initiative in the public service ICT space
worldwide and is attracting interest from both big and small countries.
“We have received interest from more than 30 countries so far,” IDA
International’s CEO Seah Chin Siong told BizIT in an interview.
“We’ve been engaged by 10 of them in the areas such as eGovernment
master planning, consultancy and program management. We have tied up to
do eGovernment-based projects in the Middle East, South-east Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean, and we have also received interest from
large countries such as China and Russia.”
Mr Seah, who previously helmed Accenture Singapore, said IDA
International currently offers consultancy to governments in areas such
as ICT master-planning, program management and ICT infrastructure.
However, emerging areas of interest include cloud computing,
intelligent land transport systems, online business licensing systems,
smart power grids, and integrated healthcare.
“IDA International draws on Singapore’s ICT experience from both the
public and private sectors to deliver expertise and skills that are
transforming Singapore into an intelligent digital nation,” Mr Seah
said. “We are also in an ideal position to sense and identify the market
demand for eGovernment solutions and service.”
In November 2010, IDA International signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with the World Bank to develop support programmes
for countries sponsored by the bank to use ICT to sharpen their
eGovernment capabilities.
The initiative is called STAP (Strategic Technology Accelerator
Program) and has Singapore providing assistance to the public sector on
technical issues. STAP does seminars, workshops and study trips for
officials from selected countries to come to Singapore and learn from
its ICT experience and expertise.
“It is not just the smaller states that seek Singapore’s help,” Mr
Seah said. “In June 2010, IDA International and Singbridge International
(part of Temasek Holdings) tied up with the Guangzhou Municipal
Government for the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City. The aim is
to develop next-generation economic and social sectors using
leading-edge ICT. In effect, the three entities will work on a
‘Knowledge City Digital City Masterplan’, including building a vibrant
and globally competitive ICT industry as an engine of economic growth
for Guangzhou.”
And in September 2010, an MoU was signed with Russia’s Ministry of
Telecom and Mass Communications to help boost eGovernment programmes in
Russia through master planning, diagnostic workshops, and consultancy
services including business process re-engineering and enterprise
architecture design.
The collaboration will run for three years.
Over the years, Singapore has achieved consistently high rankings in
global ICT and eGovernment surveys. Singapore retained its top position
in the 2010 Waseda University World e-Government Ranking and was ranked
second in the World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology
Report.
According to Chan Lai Fung, Permanent Secretary (Finance Performance)
in Singapore’s Ministry of Finance, the government is building on this
foundation to move to the next level of eGovernment.
“Singapore’s eGovernment efforts have evolved over the years,” Ms
Chan said at the iGov Forum in May 2010. “We have moved from simply
harnessing the power of ICT for task automation to providing integrated
e-services to the public. In the next phase, we hope to see greater
collaboration with the industry and the wider community to create even
more compelling e-services for our citizens and businesses.”
Going after consulting projects abroad is a new phase of Singapore’s
ICT exports. So far Singapore has always focused on exports of infocomm
products more than services.
In 1998, out of a total of $20 billion in ICT revenues, about 46 per
cent ($9.2 billion) came from exports. Exactly a decade later in 2008,
of the $58 billion in total ICT revenues, about 61 per cent ($35.4
billion) came from exports.
“That’s an excellent showing and proves that the ‘Made in Singapore’
brand is well accepted worldwide,” Mr Seah said. “It is high time that
we focused on exports of services, especially eGovernment related where
we have a unique edge.”
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