Singapore's Gov 2.0 movement to focus on 2-way communication exchange with citizens

By eGovAsia Editors | Jan 24, 2011

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SINGAPORE -- Speaking at the first Singapore GovCamp, Information, Communication and the Arts Minister Lui Tuck Yew said that Government 2.0 or Gov 2.0 movement will focus on providing easier access to public information to facilitate two-way communication between a government and its citizens.

"Many governments around the world are proactively seeking to improve their public-private partnership, as well as citizen engagement and empowerment. Many are calling this the "Government 2.0" movement, or “Gov 2.0” in short," said Yew.

Gov 2.0, explained Yew, is a nebulous concept. It means different things to different people. It can refer to the use of information technologies to drive a transparent government, promote collaboration, and engage citizens through a Web 2.0-style of service design and delivery. Or the term can be simply associated with the use of social media, both within and outside of government.

"What I see as common to these definitions is the focus on providing easier access to public information, and the use of technologies – specifically Web 2.0 technologies – to facilitate two-way communication between a government and its people with regards to service delivery and citizen engagement," he said.

Like many governments around the world, Singapore is at the forefront of implementing egovernment services with the end view of finding ways to deliver better services through technology. In its 30-year e-Government journey, Yew said the Singapore public sector has been exploiting infocomm technologies to radically transform public administration and service delivery.

"This has, in many ways, benefited the public sector in the form of greater productivity and efficiency gains. Similarly, our citizens and businesses have enjoyed higher levels of convenience and cost savings when using public services," he said.

With Gov 2.0 or “Gov-with-You” approach, Yew said the public sector ought to embrace a collaborative culture where it accepts that some services can be more effectively developed and delivered in partnership with the private and people sectors. 

Singaporeans, he added, with the exception of a vocal minority, are generally less forthcoming in engaging the government on national policies. This is reflected in a study conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies, where only eight percent of the survey respondents indicated that they had made their views on public policy issues known to the government.

"However, the same survey also found that more Singaporeans do want a greater say in policy-making, compared to 12 years ago. I am hopeful that Singaporeans can come together and actively co-create services with the government and participate actively in policy formulation," Yew said.