Virtual Government in Singapore

Governments are a strategic necessity, as they provide the overarching administrative machinery to ensure that national (and citizens’) needs are taken care of. The need for the civil service to be more cognizant of citizens’ concerns has been reiterated in several recent studies (e.g., Tarabanis, Peristeras, & Koumpic, 2000; Janssen, Wagener, & Beerens, 2003). People interact with the government for a variety of needs, for example, payment of bills for utilities, seeking approvals for licenses, and so on. While this has served citizens well, there is a general perception that governments are generally lackadaisical in terms of response times. Citizens and businesses in today’s society have high expectations and demand that their governments be more responsive to their needs. Though upping of civil service head count and decentralizing of official machinery have met with a good degree of success, it has been at the expense of a cost factor which may not be that easy to justify or sustain in the future, especially when there are so many pressing sectors of the economy needing fiscal injections. Any productivity increments achieved in maximizing use of government manpower and resources through various enabling tools means that the savings realized can be deployed back into the economy. The emergence of the Internet has given governments an opportunity to act in this regard. This has given rise to what is known as e-government.