Can Singapore survive without 'apps'?

By Rohit Dadwal

The effects of mobile are everywhere. With Singapore's mobile penetration rate at 144 percent, among the highest in the world, almost every person you pass on the street has a mobile phone. Mobile devices are quickly becoming the preferred platform on which people access information as well as engage online services. This isn’t limited to just goods and services offered by private companies.

The Singapore government is investing $2bn on an e-Government Masterplan, eGov2015, as part of their strategic planning process for the next 5 years. This includes the launch of a mobile government services portal as a one-stop access point for government data. It is heartening to see the government embracing the future of mobile by investing so much into the mobile industry. The local government has realised that it is imperative that it considers how it can provide its citizens with access to government services on mobile applications.

Apps for convenience

What differentiates mobile from other mediums are the location-based services that can be offered on a mobile device. These can be through apps that track public transport like IRIS and SGBuses or even Shownearby that can tell a mobile user where the various nearby amenities are.

Apps for emergencies

Some apps can be beneficial to the user in times of emergency based on time, location or context. Citizens may need to access information or services on the go or when the usual channels of information/communication are disrupted. For example, mobile devices are usually the only devices that will work during electricity failures. When struck with natural disasters, mobile users can use their devices to check on weather forecasts, PSAs etc.

Apps for government services

The Singapore government has created mGov@SG, a government portal that contains various apps and services developed by its agencies. This makes it easier for Singaporeans to access various government services on the go.

Apps like Library in Your Pocket (LiYP) by the National Library Board allow you to search for books, renew book loans, read ebooks and online newspapers on your mobile device. Other such apps include MyTransport.SG, a mobile channel developed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) that users can check traffic conditions with, and the Housing Board app which allows users to view transaction prices of flats.

In his keynote address at the recent CommunicAsia 2011 conference, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Yaacob Ibrahim, said, “The convergence of social networking, location sharing and mobile devices has created new opportunities and challenges. Consumers are no longer just using their mobile phones for telephony or SMS, evident in the proliferation of tablets and other mobile devices over the last 12 months.”

But as government services move on to the mobile platform, security becomes an issue. Many government services require the use of personal login details like a SingPass. Government apps need to be built within existing ICT policies, development, implementation, operations and support processes and frameworks in order to ensure such public apps do not compromise a user’s personal information. It is necessary for the government to introduce identity verification for services that contain sensitive information, like CPF details and tax filing.

People are increasingly turning to the mobile web as a source of information and the Singapore government realises they cannot afford to ignore the habits of these users. It needs to start engaging citizens and offering services through apps as the mobile web proliferates, to stay relevant to the ‘digital natives’ and to be able to compete with private sector services.

Understanding the needs of citizens and businesses as well as exploring new means of igniting a growth in the development of new e-services is paramount to sustaining the government's lead as a connected first world society. One in which the state embraces new forms of technology to engage its citizens on a platform with which they are familiar.

Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association Asia Pacific

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