Singapore's wired people+tech leadership = edge in recovery

THE pandemic has exerted pressure on every industry across every geography to get digital systems up and running quickly. For vital citizen services such as healthcare, government support services and education, Singapore government agencies and businesses have outpaced global peers in delivering innovative, secure digital offerings.

Singaporeans are not looking back.

From home, to work, to school and all the moments in between, Covid-19 has forced people to address 2020's challenges in new, digital ways. "How we get things done" is governed by a new rule book, and the nation's resolve to adapt to this "new normal" has activated a modern industrial revolution - transforming old, manual ways of doing things into innovative, digital workflows that makes the world of work work better.

Companies that have digitally enabled workflows can build or expand products or services on many dimensions in a matter of days instead of months, and are better equipped to manage rapidly evolving employee and customer experiences in the "new normal".

Telehealth, smart chatbots, mobile apps and distance learning are just a few of the latest digital service offerings that are now the rule rather than the exception. Greater choice is being championed by locals, seeking personalised, predictive digital services that just work better or fulfil their desires to self-serve. For employees, there is an appetite to work how they want to.

Accenture has found that 77 per cent say they want government to make it easier to interact with digital services; 71 per cent expect government to collaborate with global enterprises to drive innovation. Covid-19 has only heightened demand for services that respond, act and communicate in ways that complement human behaviour and experiences.

While most governments would shy away from bleeding-edge technology, Singapore has continued to innovate and deliver new technologies to benefit its citizens. The Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG), comprising SNDGO and GovTech, is leading the development of Smart-Nation infrastructure and applications, investing millions and partnering with industries to co-create and fast-track the adoption of digital payments, e-invoicing, as well as advanced digital tools such as OneService, ActiveSG, SingPass Mobile, LifeSG and more.

A big part of Singapore's digital leadership in 2020 stems from the government's sustained investment in digital preparedness. Long-standing partnerships between government and industry has built trusted capabilities in new technologies, driving the Smart Nation agenda. In the last decade, the government pledged to work with industries to build digital foundations, boost ICT and engineering capabilities and innovate with the fast-changing technology landscape.

If there is a silver lining to this crisis, it lies in the opportunity to rethink how we live and work.

BETTER WAYS TO LIVE

As the economy navigates recovery, the speed in delivering better ways to work and live will be a key focus for the country, with citizens' security and privacy top of mind. Digital trust is more important than ever, particularly for services where personal data is concerned. Citizens around the world are looking to their government to set new, national standards across industries, with the mandate for connected, secure digital capabilities.

In protected environments, the possibilities to accelerate personal, secure digital services are endless and rely on enduring collaboration. Fuelling "tech for good" requires common national risk and compliance standards to protect citizens and their data - and this calls for continued collective thinking.

Thanks to increasing availability of open government datasets, initiatives like the Developers.Data.gov.sg resource have seen more than 100 apps created by citizen developers. In the fight against Covid-19, the effectiveness of Singapore's TraceTogether tokens, facial recognition technology and contactless temperature scanners are just a few of the local innovations set to become mainstream globally.

The pandemic has shown just how quickly we can adjust to new ways; what would likely have taken several years to establish has been achieved in weeks, and in some cases, overnight: students transitioning to online learning, organisations mobilising their employees to work from home, medical practitioners offering virtual consultations with patients.

Digital experiences are table stakes. If an app can tell the second-by-second movements of a food delivery, then why not the processing of test results, a new passport or property taxes - and a unified payment system for all services?

People's expectations to seamlessly click, swipe and tap now extend far beyond a favourite retail brand to give unparalleled digital access to every citizen service. Underpinning these new ways of living and working are powerful cloud-based platforms, delivering secure and compliant digital workflows with intelligent automation.

The digital maturity of Singaporeans, coupled with strong technology leadership from the government and industry, has given Singapore an enviable edge on the path to economic recovery.