A World Class E-Government: Singapore

E- authorities refers to the transformation of the trading of the governing such as processes, trading operations and transactions that is driven by the instruction technology. This kindle happen two(prenominal) intern altogethery (streamlined governing administration procedures for great efficiency and effectiveness) and externally (simplified, enhance governing body-client interaction via online connections) (Tan, Pan & Lim, 2007). capital of capital of capital of Singapore is a small country with a population of ab aside four million with a small mart and limited natural resources.Although Singapores position as an entropy gateway in the region has lede it to become a globose hub which is attractive to many Multinational National Companies (MNC) (Chan & Al-Hawamdeh, 2002). Singapore is a attraction in the electronic governance that has invited worldwide recognition. Singapores e- organization offers 98% of all government divine services ar provided online for busi nesses and the association. It is adept of the first countries to befuddle the Civil Service Computerization Program (CSCP). The above mechanism was followed by the e-Government Action Plans.These involved implementing as many macrocosm services online as possible, adding value to the e-services and providing a unmatchable stop service via the internet. Singapore has launched a iGov2010 send off in the aim of bringing the government a greater efficiency by integrating the back end processes of the government ministries and organisations. As per Tan, Pan & Lim (2007) it improves efficiency in terms of utilizing less time, effort and material resources while maintaining a constant train of output. There argon deuce entrys offered by the government of Singapore which are namely for the citizens and the businesses.The portal offered for the citizens is know as the eCitizen Portal which is the single entry point for the community to nettle the services provided by the governme nt and private corporations. The portal is to be accessed by the SingPass which is given to the citizens and permanent residents of Singapore. It is the single online economic consumptionr identification called the Singapore individual(prenominal) Access. Through this dust they can access their own confidential culture. as well through the e-portal the community can post any thoughts on issues they are currently facing.For example the extensions of the smoking ban or the countrys national climate change strategy. The portal offered for businesses involves the Online Business Licensing Service (OBLS). This is an whiz stop portal for government registrations and licenses required to conduct business in Singapore. Through this portal the applicant needs to complete only one integrated form for nine-fold licenses. The system provides consolidated online payment mechanisms for one-time payments for multiple license fees.This system has lead the processing time a business license t o reduce from 21 days to 8 days redemptive businesses much than $2. million annually. Therefore the implementation of IT in the government has lead to an increase in effectiveness and efficiency in providing services to businesses. slightly other example of such is provided by Tan, Pan & Lim (2007) where the unprocessed tax returns put in in the Singapore income tax department resulted in administrative backlogs and dissatisfaction among taxpayers. The e-filing system in the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has lead to greater efficiency in the department and the use of back-end infrastructure to incorporate taxation calculations and regulations has improve its effectiveness.Question 1 Explore the two portals. What are the benefits to both the community and businesses? In Singapore, citizens have quickly warmed up to the e-Government services. Activities such as renewing road taxes and e-filing of income tax returns over the internet are now common among the comm unity (n. a. , 2006). The main benefit for the community is the change magnitude administrative burdens they have to go through for payments, renewals and other services. The e-Government would lead to an change quality of information with a reduction in the process time.It would excessively result in cost reduction for both the community and the ministries. These improved service levels would lead to efficiency where the community operating with the e-Government would be conform to (Corsi, Gumina & Ciriaci, 2006). other benefit that is enjoyed is the ability for the citizens to use their mobile telephonys to interact with the government services. There are many services offered by the e-Government in Singapore that is compatible with the hand held device. For example Housing Development Board and IRAS.Another benefit provided is the use of SingPass to access the individuals own MyeCitizen account. Having this unique SingPass would enable the solitude and confidentiality of t he citizens. The users can individualisedise the portal and they have a variety of conduct to choose from such as MyTravel, MyKids and MyCareer. Lastly the ability of the citizens to voice out their opinions is a great benefit for both the government and the citizens. Businesses have besides benefited by the services provided by the e-Government. It is an increased efficiency and convenience to patronage through the online platform.The offering of the Online Business Licensing Service (OBLS) allows the applicant to complete one integrated form for multiple licenses. The website provides the applicants with step by step expire which makes it trouble-free for the business to apply for licenses. By the OBLS the processing time of applications were reduce from 21days to 8days. This would be an efficient approach for the business where they can concentrate on other parts of starting up the business without a stay on from the government authorities.Question 2 According to the chapt er, there are six-spot coifs in the transformation to e-government. Which do you think Singapore is in? why? In order for a transformation of a traditional government to an fully functional online government, there are six stages that are to be completed. These factors are explained in Wong (2000). Stage one is information publishing/ dissemination which involves providing information on individual govermental departments by seting up their own website. It allows the community and businesses to choose from a range of services and contact for further assistance.By this activity the, the government departments would be able to reduce the number of phone calls customers need to make in order to clarify requests. Stage two is the officialtwo-way transactions where the customers are able to submit personal information and conduct monetory transactions with individual departments through secure websites. At this stage customers should be convinced about the departments ability to keep t he information private. Stage three is the multi-purpose portals. It involves integrating different departments.A portal allows the customers use a single point of entry to send and receive information and to process monetory transactions across many departments. Stage four is the portal personalisation where the customers can customise portals with their desired features. The goverment needs a much more sophisticated web programming that allows the interfaces to be user-manipulated. By the personalisation activity, the government can have a clearer read on the customer preference for electronic versus non-electronic service options.Stage fiveinvolves the clustering of common services where the customers now bet the once-diparate services as a unified package through the portal. They take to the woods to recognise group of transactions rather than than the group of agencies. Therefore the government will cluster the services along common lines to accelerate the lecture of shared services. Stage six involves the full integration and enterprise transformation. This is the stage where all departments across the government is integrated with technology. It would bridge a pint-size gap between the front and back offices.Singapores e-government is in stage six in the Deloittes transformation model. E-government in Singapore has carried out Action plans since year 2000 regarding the accessibility, integration and providing value added services with one-stop service via the internet. There iGov2010 plan was launched in 2006 which involves bringing the e-government to a greater level of efficiency. This is to accomplished by back end processes across the entire governments ministries.Question 3 What could other governments learn from the example of Singapore?Despite the differences in Singapore and other styles of governments, there are things a country can learn from Singapores e-government experiences. Singapore has enjoyed semipolitical stability since independ ence in 1965 and the Peoples Action party (PAP) has been in government throughout that period. Due to the one party government system, there has been little or no disruption of policy implementation, which has deepen the effectiveness of the delivery mechanism of public services. This stability has created well-organized institutions that help all stakeholders to adopt e-Services.Investments and master plans have leaded the success story of Singapore. For an exercise in 2005,, the Singaporean government introduced a master plan to swindle security issues. S$38m (? 12. 3 million) will be invested in this plan to ensure a secure online environment. Incentives for tax-payers who submit tax declarations electronically, extensions of deadlines for those who are will to declare their incomes electronically and lower fees for people who apply for their passports online are some incentives given by the government to promote e services and thereby an e governance.The social strengths of Singapore have been demonstrated by an educational system that produces a well-educated workforce to attract foreign devise investment (FDI). Not only developing its own pool of local talents, Singapore also recruits foreign talents to work in both the public and private sectors. Time saving, convenience and actual monetary savings are the main drives to pull e-Users to e-Services. In conclusion, one country cannot be a model of another country. But any country can be inspired by another. Singapore is a good example for other countries to open doors toward the success.