Co-creation part of Singapore's 'Gov-with-You' strategy

Singapore’s e-government strategy will shift from “Gov-to-You” to a “Gov-With-You”, which includes a roll out of more citizen engagement initiatives leveraging on social media in the next five years.

Speaking at the recent Singapore GovCamp, MICA Minister Lui Tuck Yew said that the Government 2.0 movement was bringing citizens and governments closer together.

“Gov 2.0 is a nebulous concept. It seems to mean different things to different people. What I see as common to other 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.”

Singapore continues to take advantage of new technologies to improve public administration and service delivery. Likewise, the government actively solicits stronger citizen participation.

“Technology is now providing us with new possibilities and platforms for such citizen engagements. In Singapore, the use of Web 2.0 technologies or social media has grown significantly over the past two years.

“This growing popularity of social media cannot be ignored. REACH [the government’s citizen engagement agency Reach Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home] and government agencies alike have started to leverage these social media sites to reach out and connect with a larger segment of the population,” Lui stressed.

The Minister also gave a peek at its future citizen engagement plans.

• In the next five years, the government is planning more initiatives that will leverage social media and facilitate two-way communications between the government and citizens, to tap into the collective wisdom and resources of netizens in the search for answers.

• It will require a major shift from a “Gov-to-You” mindset, to a “Gov-with-You”mindset, to fuel innovation and encourage co-creation with citizens, Lui said.

• The shift from a “Gov-to-You” to a “Gov-With-You” mindset is central to the new masterplan, which aims to engender a collaborative government that co-creates and connects with the people.

• The new masterplan will focus on three strategic thrusts—co-creating with the private and people sectors to bring about higher value for citizens and businesses; connecting with citizens to involve them in shaping public policies; and, catalysing transformation within the whole-of-government to be immersed in the same enabling technologies and culture.

Mr Muhd Hanafiah, Director of MICA’s Industry Division, told FutureGov Asia Pacific:

“The Singapore government is currently developing the next e-Government masterplan, and more information will be provided when the masterplan is ready to be launched later this year.”

-futuregov.com