The growing ‘e’ in e-Government

By Chong Kok Keong, SVP, CrimsonLogic | Nov 27, 2011

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Today’s governments are looking at technology to facilitate conversations with citizens for better governance. Governments have realized the importance of actively engaging citizens in a meaningful two-way dialogue to garner feedback, better evaluate existing policies and quicken decision making process.

According to Gartner, worldwide enterprise IT spending is projected to total US$2.7 trillion in 2012, a 3.9 percent increase from 2011 spending of US$2.6 trillion. While enterprise IT spending growth is slowing (from the expected 5.9 per cent increase in 2011), Gartner noted that despite the global economic challenges, enterprises will continue to invest in IT.

We see the global IT spending as a reflection of government IT expenditure which should continue to grow. In particular, there are a few strong catalysts driving investments and changes in e-Government programs such as:

Cloud: Government agencies are drawn by the on-demand nature of computing resources and the inherent elasticity, which allows IT resources to be scaled very quickly as and when desired. This is especially relevant in view of the increasing volume of information which the public sector has to deal with, coupled with a country’s growing population and increasing connectivity of its people to access public information and services.

Mobility: The democratization of mobile technologies has seen the proliferation of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and this has created a seismic shift in how governments communicate with their citizens. In addition to websites and portals, governments have to address the increasing number of citizens who are looking for information via their smart devices. According to Frost & Sullivan, the number of smartphones sold in Asia Pacific is expected to reach 100 million this year and by 2015, this number is expected to reach nearly 500 million. With usage in smart devices expected to take a giant leap in the near future, demands for government services on these platforms will only grow in tandem.

Social Media: The permeability of social media has made it a powerful digital medium, serving as a barometer on public sentiments and a platform to influence opinions. This was clearly manifested during the Singapore General Election 2011. The power of social media is another impetus for governments to explore and invest in technology as it is fast becoming a key consideration in designing any interactive e-Government program.

Collaboration: Governments are now seeing a need to integrate and consolidate services from various agencies onto a one-stop platform – for example a government cloud that will enable interoperability and standardization, where common public services can be aggregated into a software-as-a-service model on the cloud, streamlining processes across agencies, and maximizing cost savings to the administration.

Security challenges: Dealing with mobile devices and applications require special handling, especially in terms of security. Most of the secure technologies which are applicable for web security are not as effective and useful when applied on a mobile platform. The inherent roaming and mobile nature of devices today have also caused security challenges in which the content and personal information that were downloaded may be unintentionally exposed.

The increasing number of applications available for download also brings concern such as malware that reside in an untrusted application. According to a Symantec study, there was a 93 percent increase in web-based attacks and a 42 percent increase in mobile vulnerabilities in 2010. The potential for malicious attacks is massive, especially when you are dealing with government agencies and sharing extremely sensitive or personal data.

There are multiple ways to protect to enhance mobile security. One way is through the installation of antivirus software where the onus is on the individual to ensure that his device is secure. The deployment of mobile device management solutions that allow security policies to control the access of the multiple channels should be put in place. Additionally, data encryption should also be deployed to secure sensitive information.

Cloud implementation also faces the security concerns. Large organizations, such as governments and enterprises are still not readily adopting cloud despite tremendous interests shown; and the key holdback is clarity on security policies.

Although there are many mature and proven security solutions, cloud adoption is hampered by the lack of clear security policies and guidelines in governing the outsourcing of existing infrastructure and applications onto the cloud; and putting the right policies in place are proving to be challenging.

There are some positive signs that things are beginning to move in the right direction. The Singapore government, known to be a leader in technology adoption, is expected to devise a new set of guidelines soon in governing the cloud usage for various agencies in order to accelerate adoption, providing precedence for the private sectors to follow suit.

With innovative solutions from service providers and clearer security policy guidance that are forthcoming, it is expected that cloud adoption will pick up pace and accelerate in the next 12 months for many organizations to benefit from the cloud.

The way forward

We believe Singapore is one of the most advanced governments embracing e-Government and can be a model for many other countries. The Singapore government has announced its eGov 2015 Masterplan to address the changing landscape of technology, increasing popularity of social media, growing number of technology savvy citizens, and the constant push for better collaboration.

The plan is for the organization to be transformed into a ‘collaborative government that co-creates and connects’ with its people. It will also focus on three strategic thrusts – to co-create, connect and catalyze.

The enablement of ‘co-creation’ initiatives through mGov and data.gov.sg, allows for the active participation from both citizens and business users to create new e-services in collaboration with the Government. Continuing on its next phase of the mGov program, the government is now looking towards providing an even more enhanced mobile experience.

The ‘connect’ initiative provides the platform to engage citizens through social media, while the ‘catalyst’ initiative focuses on the collaboration within and outside the government, which leads to more partnerships with the private sectors to drive innovation, much like a Public-Private-Partnership model.

Looking ahead, Singapore continues to push the technology barrier with innovative solutions that will predict and anticipate the needs of citizens. An ‘anticipatory government’ can push government services to go the extra mile by profiling the needs of citizens and bringing the engagement experience to a new level.

We believe that online and mobile technologies is fast becoming foundational in the government-to-citizen ecosystem, providing an exciting way forward to the next level of e-Government.

About the Author
Mr. Chong Kok Keong has recently been appointed as CrimsonLogic’s Senior Vice President who will be responsible for developing and implementing the company’s strategic plans. He joined CrimsonLogic in 2006 as Vice President of the eGovernment Business Division, the unit that encompasses solutions & consulting, business development, business planning & international operations, and alliance management.