New e-government initiatives mean Singapore citizens can send their views on policies to the island's government through a public blogging space and also their mobile phones.
The Singapore government's role in fostering connectivity and e-government was outlined at a forum session on 'Re-inventing Government for a Digital World' at ITU Telecom World yesterday by KT Leong, deputy chief executive of the Infocomm Development Authority.
'With blogging becoming a lifestyle in the digital world, we have also allowed constituents to pen their thoughts on a personal blog section,' said Leong. 'We also recognize that mobile services are prevalent in the digital world and have thus allowed people to message the government with their feedback using their mobile phones.'
Leong said Singapore was now into its sixth National ICT Plan and third e-government plan, which have already put more than 1,600 public services online and integrated the processes of more than 30 government agencies.
Last month, the wireless Singapore initiative went live, providing island-wide coverage for citizens and for visitors, according to Leong.
The move, he said, reflected the government's concern that all citizens should 'reap the benefits of ICT and use ICT effectively in interacting with the government.'
'It is almost inevitable that we will widen the digital divide if special attention is not paid to bring those on the wrong side of the divide up to speed,' Leong said.