Another feather has been added to the throne of the Singaporean government just ahead of the country's 52nd NDP. The country has been rewarded for its continuous efforts to bolster citizen services through digital technology. For consecutive three years now, Singapore has been placed at the top at the latest Waseda-IAC International E-Government Ranking list.
Singapore has always been highly praised for key factors of the country like network preparedness and e-participation since the first edition of the study by distinguished academics from Japan's Waseda University and member universities of the International Academy of CIO (IAC) came out in 2005.
The nation has led the pack in e-government services in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013. While Singapore secured the second spot in 2012 and 2014, just behind the United States, for the last three years the country has continued to be at the pinnacle. The United States, on the other hand, had slipped to the second spot in 2016 and has come down to the third this year. Denmark has taken the second spot on the list this year, up from the 4th position last year.
A key development of the said survey for this year's ranking of total 65 countries shows that its focus is shifting from e-government to digital government as the world moves towards digital innovation and digital economies.
Artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing have also increased several notches compared to last year. However, only a few countries like the US and Denmark have embraced AI and IoT entirely, with Singapore, of course, not lagging behind at all.'
Singapore has already accepted and identified AI and IoT as well as immersive media and cybersecurity as significant areas for future developments.
Singapore has always been hailed as a model for connectivity in the digital world, with some serious speed in broadband services and smart digital services.
The Smart Nation and Digital Government Office of Singapore, which operates from the Prime Minister's Office, will harness emerging technologies further, in order to serve the citizens better, reported Asia One.
According to a recent Accenture survey, 86% of Singapore's public-sector agencies have made important structural changes to their workforce to implement new technologies. This figure is far higher than the global average of 40%.
