More Efforts Underway to Encourage Usage of Government Online Services

In an effort to spur greater usage of Government online services, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Finance have come up with a year-long campaign. To be included in this consumer education campaign will be educational advertisements through print and outdoor communication medium so as to increase awareness of government online services and spur adoption.

As part of the campaign, there will also be a six-month joint promotion between IDA, MOF and Network for Electronic Transfer (NETS) Private Limited, which will kick off next month (July). During the promotion period, which commences in July and end in December, online users will stand a chance to win attractive prizes when they make government payments online via two modes of payment under the eNETS payment infrastructure. The two modes of online payment include credit card and direct debit. The prizes include iPOD mini and HP notebooks. A 42" Plasma TV is up for grabs in the grand prize draw in December. Prizes are sponsored by NETS.

Ms Wu Choy Peng, Deputy Chief Executive of the IDA and Government Chief Information Officer added, "Through the promotion with NETS, IDA hopes to encourage more Singaporeans to go online to access government information and services. This is convenient for individuals and businesses. This promotion with NETS is in-line with our e-Government strategy to increase awareness and convenient access to electronic services."

The announcement of this campaign came as IDA and MOF shared with the public results of the e-Government Perception Survey on government e-services. The results were very encouraging as it showed more citizens are now using online services. In 2004, more than half the population in Singapore (57%) transacted with the government. The latest survey shows that of those who transacted with the government, nearly 9 out of 10 transact at least once with the Government electronically in the past 12 months. This is a notable finding in this year's survey, as this garnered a 15% increase from 73% in 2003 to 88% in 2004.

Government electronic services also fared well in service quality, where 8 out of 10 Singaporeans who transacted electronically with the Government are satisfied with the overall quality of electronic services.

The survey was conducted by research firm AC Nielsen earlier this year.