The current gov.sg website. The new e-Govt masterplan
is expected to be carried out in the next 5 years.
(Screenshot: …
An electronic mailbox for every citizen, a one-stop data portal
and a government service mobile app site--these are among a slew of
initiatives unveiled by the Singapore government on Monday.
Over the coming half-decade, these measures, part of the new
e-Government masterplan, are aimed at riding the digital revolution
to better engage citizens, said Deputy Prime Minister
Teo Chee Hean.
Speaking at the launch of the week-long
Infocomm Media Business Exchange
(imbX) 2011 held at Marina Bay Sands, Mr Teo said that
the masterplan will make it easier for the government and
Singaporeans to exchange ideas and information, as well as improve
methods of data delivery.
In addition, government information will be more easily
accessible to promote tie-ups with mobile phone app developers, so
that more mobile phone applications can be made.
The new initiatives under what is called the
eGov2015 plan include:
The imbX features two shows:
CommunicAsia and its
sister show
EnterpriseIT, which
focuses on telecommunication technologies, and
BroadcastAsia, which
features media and broadcast technology.
Mr Teo did not say what the budget for the new plan is, although
the previous plan--which included more than 300 mobile services,
mostly in the form of SMS alerts-- had set the government back by
$2 billion.
Data.gov.sg welcomed, but there are kinks, say app
developers
The new data.gov.sg website, which carries data in raw
format to facilitate app development. (Screengrab: data …
Mobile phone app developers have since welcomed the news of the
latest initiatives, particularly the all-in-one data portal, as
this means that they will not have to visit separate websites to
access information for the design of various smartphone apps,
reported The Straits Times.
The information can now be conveniently downloaded in raw data
format from that single source, which makes it recognisable by many
other computer programmes without the need for specialised decoding
to extract values.
Phone payment software company Stream Media founder Chua Zi
Yong, 26, said, "Developers don't need to jump through all these
hoops now."
Others said that there are kinks that should be sorted out
first.
Co-founder of smartphone app firm Buuuk Muh Hon Cheng, 30, said
that the data catalogue currently only provides links to government
agency websites.
"It is not that useful at the moment," he said, adding that some
pages do not provide data for download, while others point to PDF
or Excel files, which are not in raw data format.
Founder of technology start-up ShowNearby Douglas Gan, 27, added
that data on missing persons and crimes undergoing investigation
has not been made available from the Singapore Police Force
yet.
"It will be good to have these," he said.
