IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

With near-daily headlines about some of them hitting and injuring pedestrians, others racing on roads at high speed and the rides even causing fires, you’d expect personal mobility device (PMD) riders to be trying a little more to stay out of trouble.

Yet, it was no surprise that, on a jog just now, I easily found more reminders of the menace. A youngster sped down a road in a PMD at car speeds, another on a pavement honked at everyone to give way and yet another failed to slow down round a corner, nearly colliding into me.

Over the past decade, smart cities have moved from being a buzzword to a reality. From cashless societies to autonomous vehicles and intelligent surveillance systems, the world's reliance on data and connectivity has risen dramatically.

While a city's smart infrastructure improves the quality of life for citizens, it also brings the unwelcome consequence of increasing its security vulnerabilities. Cyber criminals continue to exploit a city's interconnectedness to carry out malicious activities, and cyber threats are further magnified as data becomes integral to a city's operations and interdependent social and economic systems.

GeTS’ comprehensive suite of services helps freight forwarders to meet regulatory and compliance requirements from Government agencies and trade associations

Global eTrade Services (GeTS) has launched the world’s first trade platform to accelerate cross border trade across the globe. The Single Window service offering by GeTS, a subsidiary of CrimsonLogic (the leading provider of eGovernment products and services, based in Singapore), aims to power trade connectivity and the efficient fulfilment of trade compliance requirements.

SingPass users will need to set up the two-factor authentication process in their account, linking either their mobile number or the country's national 2FA token, OneKey.

An additional authentication measure will be rolled out for Singapore's SingPass account requiring users to go through a two-step login for access.

The two-factor authentication (2FA) process will be officially launched from July 5, alongside an improved user interface and mobile features, according to ICT regulator Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). There are more than 3.3 million SingPass accounts, which citizens use to access over 340 e-government services including filing income taxes, checking balances in the national retirement fund, and registering new businesses.

Launched in March last year, 'SingPass' is the common password for users to access government e-services at www.eCitizen.gov.sg, and various government websites. Previously the password could only be applied for or reset at Community Development Council (CDCs) offices, selected Community Centres or at Central Provident Fund (CPF) branches.

The partnership will focus on training government officials in disciplines such as urban planning, e-government, human resources and transportation.

This collaboration is a crucial step in ITA’s E-Government Transformation Plan, which aims to accelerate and automate internal processes in government agencies. Ultimately, it looks to bring about better public services to citizens and greater operational and procedural efficiency in the Omani Government.

The two sides will collaborate on further projects that will apply advanced tech in a range of areas under the Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City initiative.

Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have inked eight memorandum of understandings (MoUs) and unveiled 14 new joint projects under the Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative (SCI).

Projects relating to AI, digital solutions and talent are among those agreed as part of the city-state and Chinese city’s joint smart city initiative.

Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have inked eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with key partners from the Chinese city of Shenzhen and launched 14 new joint smart city-related projects.

Elevating bilateral relations between the two countries up a step, the MOU was sealed today by Mr Kim Seang-Tae, President, National Information Society Agency, Republic of Korea and RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.

This new plan will “build on the success of previous e-government plans”. The most recent of which, iGov2010, is lauded in the eGov2015 brochure as having helped Singaporeans embrace e-government with almost nine in 10 citizens expressing satisfaction with the quality of e-services in 2010, and more than nine in 10 citizens recommending others to transact online with the government.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, described Open Data as a new way of thinking in the country’s e-government journey. “By opening up more data, and through innovative use of technology, we can crowd-source ideas and co-create applications with the wider community”.

According to an industry survey, the compounded annual growth is estimated to be 2.6%.

That is lower than the average 7.9% pace across Asia Pacific economies.

CANADA may top the global rankings for putting government and its services on the Internet, just ahead of Singapore, but it is not resting on its laurels.

Among the new measures, which fall under the Infocomm Security Masterplan 2 (MP2), a five-year road map launched in 2008, is the introduction of business analytics tools to enable officials to spot security threats earlier.

Speaking at the iX conference held here this week, Pek Yew Chai, chairman of Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), said that local companies are benefiting from the success of Singapore's e-government services and expertise.

"The e-government and iN2015 programs bring a lot of branding to Singapore," he said. "This definitely augurs well for our companies, because we do well when we go overseas."

As part of its strategy to drive social innovation and deepen co-creation and co-sharing efforts with citizens and international partners, the Singapore Government will be releasing more data to the public. Thiswas announced by Guest-of-honour, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the 2013 eGov Global Exchange alongside the annual Infocomm Media Business Exchange (imbX) 2013, Asia's largest infocomm and media platform that took place in Singapore from 17th to 20th June 2013.

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore has partnered Microsoft to build "chatbots", with the aim of integrating natural language and conversational computing capabilities into its e-government services.

Singapore is looking to tap artificial intelligence technology to enable more natural and simpler interactions with its e-government services.

Led by industry regulator Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the new initiative would see the use of Microsoft's "conversations as a platform" pitch to explore opportunities in developing the country's next-generation government services based on "conversational computing".