E-Government: The Singapore Experience(2)

SINGAPORE AT NIGHT
Mawutodzi K. Abissath

Another African proverb reminds us that, “If your tormentor who is running after you does not stop, you, too, must not stop running.” As long as Ghana remains a developing country, Ghanaians must not stop fighting to develop and progress.

In the first part of this article the definition of e-Government according to the United Nations was provided. Singapore government used the UN definition of e-Government as a guide, but simplified it for easy understanding by ordinary person in the street.

According to Singapore, e-Government is the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens and businesses. It pointed out that the beneficiaries of e- Government include the government itself, businesses and the citizens of the country concerned.

How did the Singapore Government use technology to enhance access to and delivery of government information and services to the people? E-Government Action Plan II (2003-2006)In order to achieve its stated goals the Singapore government formulated an action plan known as e-Government Action Plan II for the year 2003 to 2006.The vision of the Government was to be a leading e- Government to better serve the nation in the digital economy.

The objective of this Plan was to ensure “a Networked Government that delivers accessible, integrated, value-added e-services to our customers; and helps bring citizens closer together”. A slogan was developed thus: e-Government- Delighting Customers, Connecting Citizens.

What are some of the services that the Singapore Government provides for its customers who are the citizens of the country? Even before we touch on some of the services provided online, shall we find out why Singapore government came to the realization that the beneficiaries of e-Government include Government, businesses and citizens?

It is important to note that within the scope of e-Government, there are several categories that fit into the broad definition of e-Government. For example, e-Government constitutes: A Government- to-Citizens (G2C) ; B- Government-to-Business (G2B); C- Government-to-Employees (G2E); and eventually D-Government to- Government (G2G).

G2C: Government-to-Citizens, according to experts, includes all the interactions between a government and its citizens that can take place electronically. The objective of G2C is to offer citizens faster, more responsive, more convenient and less complicated means to public services.

G2B: In the case of Government-to-Business, it refers to e-commerce in which government sells to businesses or provides them with services, as well as businesses selling products and services to government. Again the objective of G2B is to enable businesses to interact, transact and communicate with government online, with greater speed and convenience.

G2E: Government-to-Employees includes activities and services between government units and their employees. As the term implies, the objective of G2E is to develop and cultivate IT capabilities among government employees to deliver efficient and cost-effective services.

G2G: Interestingly, Government-to-Government seems to have dual significance. One, G2G is said to consist of activities between government and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the same government.

The other meaning of G2G is a situation in which Governments have to deal with their other counterpart governments of different countries. This second G2G in the opinion of experts is anchored on trust and interdependence, which allows for information sharing among governments on regional, sub-regional and international issues.

For example, the control of terrorism; the management of cross border diseases like SARS, which occurred in Asia some time ago or even HIV/AIDS. This G2G also has to do with common economic challenges as well as ethnic wars and conflicts problems facing West African States for instance. For Singapore government to achieve the enviable e-Government status through effective online services delivery to its citizens, certain strategies were again adopted:

I) E-Government Infrastructure
The government put in place a National Information Infrastructure as backbone for e-government services delivery. This strategy was christened Public Service Infrastructure (PSI) in Singapore.

Physical Infrastructure
Government itself provided Internet access points in convenient places such as public libraries, shopping malls, government offices, hospitals, subway stations and clubs and relevant public places for the citizens to use free of charge.

Technology Infrastructure
Here, the Government provided computers, servers, networks (broadband and wireless), mobile devices, smart cards as well as technology standards that is open and scalable such as Java, XML, Web services.

Authentication Infrastructure
Under this the government provided E-Government ID and Password for all its citizens. It made it easier for very citizen to know how to log online and access Government information and services.

II) E-Government Legislation &Policy
Having put in place the necessary infrastructure for the e-government services to the citizens, the next strategy the Singapore government adopted was the enactment of relevant rules and regulations and policies that govern the implementation of the programme.

Some of the major regulations were meant to safeguard privacy and information security; data protection, data privacy, computer misuse, legal recognition of electronic transactions, official control of cryptography, security audits and well as standards and certification of security practices. Singapore’s legislation and code of practice include Computer Misuse Act; Electronic Transaction Act, which was enacted in 1998, tried to define the rights and obligations of transaction parties, and also provided legal status on the use of electronic records and signature. The Government also provided data Protection Code.

III) E-Government Services
After putting in place ICT infrastructure and legislation and policy the government then developed a website called E-Citizen Portal. This website was to enable citizens to ask questions and receive answers. Specific electronic services deliveries are provided on this site.

Some of the services on this website include payment of taxes and fines; Issuance and renewal of driver’s licenses; Helping citizens find employment; National campaigns and awareness creation on social services such health and education; Introduction of Internet and IT training courses; e-learning and smart card in schools. So computer literacy started right from the primary school in Singapore etc. In the poor and rural communities, the government provided free computers and Internet access points and posted officers who know how to operate the equipment to assist the illiterates to benefit from the online services.

In fact, in Singapore today some services like the issuing of Passports and Birth Certificates, you have to sit in the comfort of your home and fill the necessary forms and e-mail them to the appropriate authorities. Government will reward you for obtaining the services on line. Interestingly if you go personally to those offices for the services, you will pay penalty for going there personally. And after paying the penalty you will be directed to go and use a computer in a corner there in the office still to apply for the documents you wanted.

In the case of Businesses, E-Tender was introduced in that any company that wanted to bid for government contracts can only do that through the Internet. Corporate taxes could only be filed electronically. Annual Reports and periodic business reports are all presented online. As in the case of E-Citizens Portal, there is also one-stop Portal for all government procurement opportunities with over 8,000 trading partners. It is on this Portal that all corporate bodies do business with the government in Singapore. This is known as integrated e- Services.

This is the level of E-Government Services in Singapore. Is it any wonder that they are the 2nd e-Nation after Canada in the e-World? Ghana, too, can do the same no matter how long it takes. What is important is for the Ghanaian IT experts to give the correct technological advice to the government of Ghana.