The Singapore government has announced plans to form the new Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The government has been applying digital and smart solutions to citizen services and businesses since the launch of the Smart Nation initiative in late 2014.
In order to enable the government to be more integrated and responsive in this strategy, the government has announced several organizational changes due to take effect from May 1, including the foundation of the SNDGO.
The SNDGO will comprise staff from the Digital Government Directorate of the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Government Technology Policy department in the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), and the Smart Nation Programme Office (SNPO) in the PMO.
The Government Technology Agency (GovTech), a statutory board under MCI, will be placed under the PMO as the implementing agency of SNDGO. Collectively, the two organizations will form the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) in the Prime Minister’s Office.
GovTech said the SNDGG will be tasked to apply digital and smart technologies to improve citizens’ lives in key domains, in partnership with other government agencies, industry, and the public.
One such key domain is urban mobility. Though the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been using data analytics to better manage bus fleets, reduce crowdedness and improve timeliness, it has also been experimenting with self-driving vehicle technologies.
The SNDGG will work with LTA to further exploit existing and emerging technologies to improve public transport, enhance urban logistics and reduce congestion so as to enhance the commuter experience.
SNDGG will likewise build on the ongoing work by GovTech to enhance data sharing through data.gov.sg, and partner with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to promote e-payments. The goal is a national digital identity framework that would facilitate digital transactions.
Another important objective is to strengthen government ICT infrastructure. Thus, the SNDGG will see to it that digital capabilities are enhanced within government, including in areas such as data science and IoT.
A Ministerial Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Teo Chee Hean will oversee the SNDG. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information, will be Deputy Chairman and Minister-in-charge of Cybersecurity and the Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA)