S$2.2b of Singapore govt infocomm tenders up for grabs in fiscal 2015

THE Singapore government on Wednesday announced that around S$2.2 billion worth of public sector infocomm tenders will be up for grabs during fiscal 2015. Procurement will focus on areas such as digital and data services, web services, infocomm infrastructure as well as the development of the smart nation platform.

This year's proposed spending is higher than last year's final figure of S$1.95 billion. Among the major initiatives announced at the 2015 industry briefing was the Singapore Custom's plan to combine TradeNet, TradeXchange and Customs backend systems into one system, tentatively called National Trade Infrastructure once the current contract expires in 2017. This will be a keystone project for the government. The government hopes that the new National Trade Infrastructure will boost national productivity and advance Singapore's competitiveness through a digitalised and integrated supply chain.

The government will also introduce a new Corporate Pass (Corppass) which will be a one-stop authentication and authorisation system for corporate users to access multiple government e-services and mobile services on behalf of their company.

Jacqueline Poh, managing director of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), said as the nation moves towards realising its smart nation vision, the government is actively engaging citizens, businesses and the technology industry. "We seek to gain better insights into the kinds of applications that people need and build new digital government capabilities to deliver great experiences to them. This is also the time to invest in the infrastructure that will be foundational to the smart nation," she added.