Press Releases

Portal to be managed by private sector

The public can now enjoy not only government services, but also services offered by the private sector from a single access point. This is made possible through a partnership between the Government and the NCS Group.

MyeCitizen portal was first launched by the government in 2002. One of the more popular services offered on this one-stop portal is the subscription to SMS and email alerts so that the public can be reminded of events such as road tax renewal, passport renewal etc. As at December 2006, there are more than 64,000 subscribers to MyeCitizen^[1]. To bring together the expertise and resources of the public and private sectors so as to deliver value-for-money services to the public, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) decided to let the private sector manage the portal, and to offer related services by integrating the People-Public-Private sector services and processes.

Through an open tender, NCS Group was appointed to provide relevant third-party private sector online services and content to complement the government services currently accessible on the portal. NCS Group will also be responsible for the operations, maintenance and marketing of the portal.

New Features on MyeCitizen

The public can now enjoy the following new features on MyeCitizen:

(i) Customised Homepages
The public can now have faster access to e-services as they can customise their homepages by pre-selecting channels suited to their needs. These channels include MyTravel, MyHome, MyKids, MyFamily, MyCareer, MyInvestment, MyNS, MyRecreation and MyVehicle.

(ii) Personalised Services
In the past, a registered user would need to go to more than one portal or government agency to complete their transactions. With the revamp, the portal now lists services from both government and private organisations, offering a one-stop online service for users. For a start, two new services have been introduced - Moving House and Travel Buddy. See Annex A for screen shots of services.

By this September, Moving House and Travel Buddy will be personalised according to users' profile and usage patterns. In addition, users will be alerted to other related government e-services all at one go according to their needs. For example, in the Travel Buddy service, the system will "recognise" the user's profile, such as an NS man, and prompt him to notify MINDEF of his overseas travel and purchase travel insurance.

(iii) Receive Service Alerts
Citizens can also visit the portal to subscribe to new email and SMS alert services on government services such as CPF contributions.

The MyeCitizen portal revamp is in line with the iGov2010 masterplan to enhance government e-services. With the public becoming more sophisticated infocomm users, it is necessary for the government to continue to improve the quality of e-services through bundling of public and private sector e-services to meet the lifestyle needs of the public.

Commenting on the new portal, Ms Tan Kar Joo, Senior Director, e-Government Policies and Programmes of the IDA said, "The partnership between the Government and NCS Group is timely and appropriate as meeting the lifestyle needs of an individual today involves services from both government and private sectors. With the industry's extensive experience and commercial tie-ups, it is therefore appropriate for companies such as NCS to manage and operate the portal, to bring together government services and those of commercial offerings," added Ms Tan.

Said Dr Chong Yoke Sin, CEO, NCS Group, "MyeCitizen Portal is designed to provide individuals with a very friendly, intuitive and personalised one-stop experience. NCS works very closely with both MOF and IDA to build and develop MyeCitizen Portal into a vibrant online community that promotes and enhances the lifestyle experience of working, living, learning and playing. To make the portal more attractive, an array of commercial tie-ups including promotions and discount packages is injected to further enrich the portal's offerings, and bring added value to the community."

---

^[1] SingPass is needed to access MyeCitizen. For information on eligibility for and application of SingPass, please refer to http://www.ecitizen.gov.sg/singpass/index.htm

JOINTLY ISSUED BY INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE, MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND NCS GROUP