Singapore began its Infocomm journey in the early 80's with the aim of transforming the Singapore Government into a world-class user of Information Technology (IT).

Since its first government-wide IT initiative - the Civil Service Computerisation Programme, Singapore has already rolled out well over 1,600 public services online for public users. Infocomm has greatly enhanced Singapore’s competitiveness by raising productivity and reviewing and revising business processes.

In a dynamic and rapidly changing world, Singapore's innovative efforts in using IT have been recognised internationally.

In fact, following reports from 2002 to 2008, Singapore has proved this by consistently being in the top five positions in the World Economic Forum’s Global IT Report. In the latest ranking for 2008 - 2009, Singapore was ranked fourth globally and the only Asia-Pacific economy in the top ten positions.

Singapore's eGovernment systems and solutions have also made headlines on several occasions. For example, Singapore's Online Business Licensing Service (OBLS) was a winner of the United Nations Public Service award in 2005. This service was created to foster a pro-business environment and better customer service for businesses in Singapore. Over the last few years, new advanced features were introduced to the OBLS portal to allow existing businesses to update, renew, and terminate their licenses. Today, users can use OBLS to search the licenses they need by selecting the appropriate business activity.

This service has allowed businesses to enjoy cost benefits of more than S$41 million (as of 31 Dec 2006) and reduced approval time from an average of 21 to 8 days. The licensing system has indeed transformed from a regulatory bureaucratic regime to a customer-centric one-stop service.

EnterpriseOne Portal was also created in 2006 with the objective to aid local enterprises find the answers they need to start, sustain and grow their businesses. This 24/7 portal is equipped with the necessary assistance to provide enterprises with comprehensive, holistic and timely G2B information and services. It is also supported by a call centre and walk-in operations.

As part of our plans to partner taxpayers in nation building, Singapore’s Income Tax e-Filing system has enabled our taxpayers to file individual income tax returns online with greater ease and convenience. Each e-filed return saves our government S$2.70 on mail processing, screening of tax return, data entry, image preparation, records management as well as on postage. The latest report in April 2009 shows that 91% of Singapore tax payers are filing electronically.

One-Stop Government Bill Payment is another online service that enables customers to access various website to make online payments for any of their government bills and fines.

In May 2006, Singapore unveiled its IT masterplan for the next five years. Termed “iGov2010”, it strives to deliver service and operations towards a higher plane of excellence by 2010, through a seamless integrated government environment.

All information is accurate as of December 2009