JUNE 23 — American venture capitalist Marc Andreessen was prophetic when he said “software is eating the world.” Today, most businesses and industries run on software delivered as digital services — from music to medical services.

Such digital services have upended entire industries. For example, ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Grab have forced taxi companies to review their operating models or risk going out of business. Governments will not be spared.

In Singapore, the creation of the Government Technology Agency, or GovTech, this year underscores the government’s intent to transform the traditional delivery of digital government services.

When I first joined the public sector as the government’s chief information officer in 2014, my colleagues used to look at me quizzically whenever I mentioned the word “customers.”

One day, someone mustered enough courage to tell me: “You are no longer in the private sector; we do not have customers here.” That comment made me realise I had a bigger job ahead of me than I thought.

The work of public servants tends to originate from an “inside-out” view of the world, where services are organised based on internal structures such as healthcare, transport and urban development, and delivered accordingly to citizens.

At the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and its new successor agency, GovTech, a different view was adopted: “Outside-in,” where government services are designed with the needs of the citizens, or customers, in mind.

An example is the OneService app by the Municipal Services Office, launched last year to help residents report municipal issues. With the app, municipal feedback will be channelled to the relevant agencies without residents worrying if their notification has gone to the wrong public agency. In short, there is “no wrong door.”

With the upcoming inception of GovTech this October, we want to continue this transformation to help the government transition from having an “inside-out” to an “outside-in” view of the world. This will reduce friction in citizens’ interaction with the government.

Besides improving the delivery of digital services for citizens, the government has also provided data for public use via its open-data portal, data.gov.sg. Interactive solutions, such as better maps or identifying dengue clusters, can be developed from these raw data sets.

The focus on user experience design has changed the mindsets of many public servants who realise that they are citizens, too. Being citizen-centric and anticipating the demands of citizens is transforming the way the government approaches all new services and how it engages citizens.

Innovation and practicality

Can governments be innovative when they are naturally perceived to be inherently conservative? I like to think that, in Singapore’s example, we can.

At GovTech, we like to see ourselves as a unique startup focusing on applied innovation. Using proven technology in an innovative way to solve citizen problems is what we do. We cannot afford to take unrealistic risks with bleeding edge innovation.

One recent example is how we explored ways to make the online search functions in government websites more intuitive. We started looking into intelligent virtual assistants to enhance online search. Many solutions were presented, ranging from intelligent frequently asked questions (FAQs) to complex cognitive computing.

The initial instinct was to push the envelope and experiment with the most complex solutions. But complex solutions often come at a cost.

After examining agency requirements, we eventually concluded that an inexpensive solution would fulfil the use of most agencies. This lower-cost solution took four months. Co-created with a small company, virtual assistant “Ask Jamie” was disruptive, practical and served the needs of many agencies without breaking the bank.

With data analytics, we identified FAQs by the visitors of the respective agency websites, and “Ask Jamie” was able to aggregate the right answers to these questions, as well as questions that may arise once the first query was met. This shaves off time from manual customer service, and visitors are encouraged to self-help as well.

In going digital, governments have to compete with the private sector to attract world-class tech talent. The Singapore Government is no exception. When the IDA built the Government Digital Services (GDS) team at Hive@Sandcrawler a year ago, it was conceived as a start-up-like organisation with the culture to match any Silicon Valley firm.

The GDS managed to attract tech talent in a short time because of the collaborative culture, sense of purpose and impact of work. Using digital tools to create a better environment, solve social issues and build digital communities is something the private sector cannot offer.

Take, for example, the medical emergency crowdsourcing app MyResponder, which the GDS team developed with the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Whenever a life is saved through the app’s assistance, the GDS team would cheer and celebrate.

There is no greater impact than contributing to saving lives. The GDS will be a cornerstone of GovTech in the development and delivery of citizen-centric digital government services.

Govt working to attract tech talent

The government needs tech talent. In Singapore, GovTech is leading the charge to rebuild tech capabilities in the public sector, focusing on six areas: Application development, cyber-security, data science, geospatial technology, government information and communications technology infrastructure as well as sensors and Internet of Things.

The digital movement is here to stay and governments are not excluded from this revolution. Governments will never be like tech giants Amazon or Facebook because the roles are different. People seek services offered by commercial organisations because they want to; people seek government services because they have to.

When people approach the government, we could at least make it a pleasant and productive experience by focusing on citizens as customers. This will be GovTech’s vision for a digital government. — TODAY

* Chan Cheow Hoe is the Singapore government Chief Information Officer-designate, Government Technology Agency.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.