Singapore’s e-government construction and its implications for my country
Abstract: Facing the challenges of international competition and knowledge economy on a global scale, governments in many countries and regions have regarded e-government as a Prioritize development strategies. Among the five important application areas of networking advocated and promoted by governments of various countries, most countries have placed e-government first. At present, my country's e-government is still in its infancy, and the gap with developed countries is obvious in terms of construction model, application level and technical standards. The article takes the construction of Singapore's e-government as an example and analyzes and summarizes it based on my country's national conditions, and gives thoughts and suggestions on how to build my country's e-government system.
Keywords: Singapore; e-government; development trajectory and current situation; characteristics; reference significance
Singapore is an island country with an area of ??only 647 square kilometers and a population of 4.48 million. In order to maintain strong international competitiveness, the Singaporean government attaches special importance to the construction of informatization and e-government. Even Pennsylvania in the United States and some provinces in Canada have used Singapore as a model to develop e-government in the region. In the "Global Public Security Field Report 2003: E-Government at the Crossroads" released by the United Nations in November 2003, Singapore's e-government ranked 12th in the world and was the first Asian country in the field of e-government construction. The most outstanding country.
1. The Singapore government’s definition of e-government
Singapore’s e-government is mainly promoted by the Central Information Technology Group. They believe that Singapore's e-government in the information age should embody characteristics such as citizen and business orientation, life cycle-based integration, selectivity of service providers and service acquisition methods, and service integration between various government departments and local governments. Through its portal, citizens can browse government websites and access electronic services without any barriers.
2. The development trajectory and current situation of Singapore’s e-government
Singapore’s e-government started in the early 1980s. After more than 20 years of development, Singapore’s e-government has made great achievements. In general, Singapore's e-government construction process can be divided into three stages: initialization, integration and customization: The first stage is the initial stage (1992-1999), marked by the "IT2000 Plan", which clearly proposes to build Singapore into " With the goal of "Smart Island" and the construction of Singapore's first broadband network, government departments began to provide Internet-based services. Through the Internet, the public can retrieve information about government agencies from government websites at all levels. The second stage is the integration stage (2000-2006). Through the implementation of plans such as the "Information and Communications Blueprint for the 21st Century" (2000-2003) and "Connecting Singapore" (2004-2006), the communications market has been fully opened and the information and communications market has been fully opened. The development of communications is the main driving force for promoting economic development and improving the quality of the people. All government departments have completed the construction of business systems. Government agencies conduct tax payment, license and other services online. The third stage is the customization stage. Currently, the "Smart Country 2015 Blueprint" (2007-2015) is being implemented, the "3I strategy" (innovation, integration and internationalization) is proposed, the slogan of "multiple departments, one government" is launched, and efforts are made to improve The level of informatization services for government affairs.
It can be seen from the above development trajectory that Singapore’s e-government has entered into comprehensive development in politics, economy, law, technology and other fields. At present, Singapore's e-government website construction has been quite complete and mature. Basically, government agencies at all levels in Singapore have access to the Internet, and almost every urban area has its own site. Level of public participation: The e-Citizenship Center’s portal is the first stop for the Singapore government’s many online services, providing online government services to citizens. From January to March 2004, the number of user visits to the "Electronic Citizen Center" reached 1.25 million, accounting for nearly 1/3 of Singapore's total population. Singapore's e-government system is completely controlled by the state. According to statistics, Singapore's e-government can save the government about 23 million US dollars in office expenses every year. It not only saves a lot of people, money, and materials, but also improves the transparency of government affairs.
3. Characteristics of Singapore’s e-government
As a leader in building e-government, Singapore has made remarkable achievements. Mainly reflected in the following aspects:
The Singapore government website has extremely powerful functions and contains extremely extensive content. In 1999, it was rated as the most advanced comprehensive service website in the world by the US Department of Public Service Management. The most representative and distinctive government website is the "Electronic Citizen Center (eCitizen)". This virtual network service center mainly provides citizens with convenient and fast online services. The design concept of the "e-Citizen" project is to allow each government department to have its own independent website, and the content of the website is set according to the functions of different departments, so that users can have an overall understanding of the operations of the entire government. Some business information and business opportunities from government agencies are provided in a packaged format. All government agencies must use consistent system infrastructure and templates for things like online forms, online payments and a secure environment, and use the same methodology. The design is guided by the needs of citizens. Users do not need to know the relevant matters in detail, as long as they receive government services according to the procedures. The user interface of "e-Citizen" adopts a simulation method to depict the path that a Singaporean citizen will take at different stages of life from childhood to adulthood. He can stay in different "castles". Within each "castle" is a set of interrelated service packages. For example, in the "Employment Castle" you can find service packages such as: "Hire employees" (designed for employers), "Find a job" (designed for job seekers), "Retire", "Upskill" and " Work in Singapore” (exclusively for foreigners), etc. There are currently nine "castles" in the "e-Citizen" website, covering areas such as commerce and trade, national defense, education, employment, family, medical health, housing, laws and regulations, and transportation.
(1) Demand-oriented, establish an open e-government information platform
Relying on the powerful functions and good basic conditions of the Internet, Singapore pays attention to the government in the process of developing e-government Website construction. Targeting at the three major customer groups of enterprises, citizens and foreigners, three main entrances have been opened to provide demand-oriented user services.
Enterprise portal:
Through the enterprise portal, Singapore enterprises can enter 4 quick connections. By using these four connections, companies can query information from application for establishment to personnel employment, tax payment, financing, exports, online bidding, patent applications, statistical reports and other information.
Citizen Portal: Through the Citizen Portal, Singapore citizens can quickly check frequently used information and services, such as health, job hunting, rights protection, online tax payment, travel, residence, etc.
Foreigner Portal: Through the non-Canadian and international customer portals, foreign students, businessmen, tourists, workers, etc. can query the different information they need. This portal not only provides convenient information services for foreigners, but is also an important tool and channel for promoting Singapore, enhancing international competitiveness, and attracting foreign investment and foreign talents.
(2) Establish a specialized agency and unify planning and leadership
As a government-led e-government development model, the Singapore government has specially established the "Information and Communications Development Authority" to be responsible for e-government comprehensive and coordinated development. The Singapore government has specially organized and established a cross-departmental committee with the participation of major committees, bureaus and other institutions - the "National E-Commerce Action Committee", which is responsible for coordinating and promoting the realization of e-economy, e-government and e-society. Target.
(3) Promote open government affairs and focus on external services
Relying on and serving the policy of "open government affairs", governments at all levels in Singapore make extensive use of powerful government websites at different levels to provide The society discloses a large amount of government affairs information, such as important activities and speeches of national leaders, the latest developments in government work, procedures and related information for people to register, register and other matters, etc., with a "single window", "one-stop", " All-weather” features.
(4) Improving the quality of the people
The Singaporean government attaches great importance to citizen quality education. The government invests a lot of manpower and financial resources in talent education and training, and strives to improve the informatization level and skills of the people. The government requires officials and civil servants at all levels to have certain information knowledge and operational skills. This has laid a good mass foundation and talent foundation for the implementation of e-government.
(5) Pay attention to legal protection and introduce new ones
In 1998, the Singapore government revised the "Computer Misuse Act" introduced in 1993, adding "behavior that interferes with or hinders legitimate use" , "entering computer systems to commit crimes under authorized or unauthorized circumstances" and "disclosing passwords to enter the network, making illegal profits and causing losses to others". At the same time, the government has also formulated supporting "Information Security Guidelines" and "Electronic Authentication Security Guidelines" to better protect the development of e-government and e-commerce.
4. The significance of Singapore’s successful e-government experience to our country
Nowadays, the development of Singapore’s e-government is quite mature and has become a comprehensive and highly capable online service station. model of e-government. Some governments in the United States and Canada have used Singapore as a model to build their own e-governments. The construction of e-government is still in its infancy in my country, and it is meaningful to learn from Singapore's successful experience. This article puts forward the following suggestions:
(1) Take the government as the leading role and plan the development of e-government affairs in a unified manner
E-government affairs is an all-round change of the government and needs to be led by the government and take unified actions. Establish specialized agencies to clarify government functions. Through overall planning and strengthening management, we will establish a cross-departmental e-government construction and management organizational guarantee system, establish a strong business collaboration mechanism, and design the e-government system with public services as the center, integrating the electronic intranet, electronic external network, Make overall plans for the construction of interactive systems and application systems, and build an integrated e-government overall solution.
(2) We must put the needs of the public first
Effectively implement service-oriented and reflect the purpose of "citizen-oriented". The essence of e-government is to achieve system and management innovation, optimize services, and improve efficiency through technological applications. Government portals are the main window for e-government to the public. We must adhere to the principle of "people-oriented, service object-centered", take user needs as the starting point and foothold of the construction of government portals, and improve user satisfaction of e-government public services. , improve public trust in government services.
(3) Legislate first and promote the promulgation of relevant regulations
Currently, my country’s laws and regulations related to e-government lag behind as a whole. Basic laws and regulations such as information disclosure and electronic signatures have not yet been implemented. This has brought obstacles to the sharing of resources to a certain extent, and also restricted the use and promotion of application systems.
(4) Vigorously improve the quality of the people and lay a good mass foundation for the implementation of e-government
The human factor is the key to the smooth implementation of e-government and is related to the quality of e-services and efficiency. Therefore, our government leaders must be far-sighted, strengthen their confidence, and increase investment in informatization construction. Vigorously train e-government talents and improve the informatization knowledge, network application and management level of civil servants and information managers of enterprises and institutions.
(5) Standardize standards and improve the basic conditions for e-government
The integration and standardization of e-government implementation are key issues in the process of e-government construction. Information construction must be supported by standardization, and in particular, standardization must play a guiding role to ensure its technical coordination and overall effectiveness. Integration and standardization are the basic tasks of e-government construction and the prerequisite for e-government systems to achieve interconnection, information sharing, business collaboration, security and reliability.
5. Conclusion
Our country must analyze the development path of foreign e-government and actively learn from the advanced experience of foreign governments in developing e-government. As long as we adhere to "people-oriented" and "user-oriented" guiding ideology, strengthen government guidance and unified planning, and promote e-government information projects in a planned manner. At the same time, it is just around the corner to strengthen the construction of laws, regulations and e-government systems and build our country's e-government into a world-class e-government.
References:
1. Wang Yuanfang. Singapore’s successful e-government experience and its enlightenment to my country [J]. E-Government, 2007(11).
2. Fang Min. Comparison of E-Government between China and Singapore [J]. Journal of University Library and Information Science, 2006(5).
3. Wu Peng, Deng Sanhong. Singapore E-Government Case[J]. E-Government, 2005(11).
4. Zhang Jun. Enlightenment of Singapore’s e-government on my country’s e-government construction [J]. E-Government, 2005(11).