SG government injects $3.8b for digital service revamp

This includes improvement in cloud and application services.

The government will spend up to an estimated $3.8b on info-communications technology (ICT) procurement this year, an almost 10% increase from last year’s $3.5b according to the Government Technology Agency.

The spending aims to transform government digital services used by both citizens and businesses, and re-engineering government digital infrastructure to support modern application development.  

The government said that it will build on the momentum generated by past years’ investments and serve to lock in the digitalisation gains brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) able to participate in close to 83% of the total potential procurement opportunities.  

An estimated $2.7b of the $3.8b will be spent on 250 projects to transform, integrate and streamline digital services across different sectors to create a more digitally empowered nation. 

This includes the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s new national business registry and regulatory system, development of GovTech’s LifeSG app and the expansion of the GoBusiness platform.

Meanwhile, 44% of the $2.7b will be used to help develop the government’s cloud, mainly the State Courts’ Community Justice and Tribunals System (CJTS), SmartGym app, and the SG Cares Digital Kampong.

“Developing these applications on the cloud increases agility and innovation, resulting in faster delivery of new public services for citizens and businesses. In addition, leveraging on cloud infrastructure increases resiliency and scalability, leading to better performance during periods of high demand. To date, the government has close to 600 systems on cloud and is on track to have 70% of eligible systems on the cloud by FY 2023,” GovTech said.