Singapore launches platform to make e-government transactions faster

MYINFO, a consent-based platform that seeks to make e-Government transactions - such as applications for public housing flats, the Baby Bonus scheme or polytechnic admissions - faster and easier for citizens, was officially launched on Thursday.

Opted-in users of MyInfo will only need to provide their personal data once to the Singapore government. By clicking the "Retrieve MyInfo" button located on online forms, the participating e-Government service will be able to retrieve data fields from the user's profile for automatic field population.

"Citizens often ask why they need to give different government agencies the same data about themselves repeatedly for separate transactions. We must aim to remove that inconvenience and friction," said Civil Service head Peter Ong on Thursday.

He was addressing government chief information officers and public sector leaders from Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the US at the inaugural Digital Government Exchange, a closed-door dialogue hosted by Singapore.

MyInfo is currently available for 10 e-services across six government agencies, among them the Housing Development Board, Ministry of Social & Family Development, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Ministry of Manpower.

By 2018, most SingPass-authenticated e-services will be linked to the MyInfo platform.

Mr Ong said: "We are also looking to increase the number of personal data items that could be shared, and expand the use of MyInfo to secured commercial transactions, such as those for banking."

Users can register for a MyInfo profile at www.myinfo.gov.sg using their SingPass accounts.