Government to grant ICT contracts to businesses

Most of the tech initiatives will roll out in Q3.

The government will grant a series of information and communication technology (ICT) contracts throughout the year, in which over 80% of the contract value will be for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), according to Government Technology Agency.

Of the total contract value, 60% will be allotted to five digital platforms, which are Singapore Government Technology Stack (SGTS), National Digital Identity (NDI), Smart Nation Sensor Platform (SNSP), Moments of Life (MOL), and Adaptive Digital Workplace (ADWP) for public officers.

SGTS is a technology stack that enables public agencies to design, develop and deploy digital services more quickly and securely. With the use of the commercial cloud and cloud-native services, agencies can spend less time in building digital products for clients.

NDI is a digital credential for users to transact with government and businesses using a single trusted digital identity. It is said to be used to build new services and improve the security and user experience of existing services. In line with this, the government will also launch “SG-Verify”, a facility for businesses to perform secure identity verification and data transfer through QR scanning. It is expected to roll out on Q3.

On the other hand, SNSP is a nationwide sensor platform to help public agencies enhance situational awareness and provide more pre-emptive and responsive services to citizens by collecting, sharing and analysing data. The Lamppost-as-a-Platform trial will commence in Q3 in one-north and Geylang, which will assess the efficacy of leveraging lampposts to provide connectivity to and power various kinds of sensors.

MOL is the integration of different government services, to be delivered to the citizen. MOL was first launched in June 2018 for families of young children below six years old and will be expanded to include new services that cater to other key life stages in Q3.

Lastly, ADWP is a digital platform for public officers to work more productively and collaborate better with other officers. As part of the public sector’s shift to commercial cloud, cloud-based Microsoft 365 suite of products will be progressively rolled out starting from Q2.