WWLegal.com :: e-Government Online Business Licensing Service was awarded the UN Public Service Award 2005

e-Government Online Business Licensing Service was awarded the UN Public Service Award 2005
Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 12:00 AM

The Online Business Licensing Service was awarded the UN Public Service Award 2005 in the category of "Application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Government: eGovernment". The award was given to recognise the Singapore Government's efforts to streamline, simplify and integrate the application of licences from various agencies, to save time and costs for enterprises.

The annual UN Public Service Award seeks to recognise institutional contributions made to enhance the role, professionalism and visibility of the Public Service. The Award has drawn attention to some of the best practices and innovations in the Public Service all over the world. In 2004, 10 nominees were selected out of the 193 nominations received for the Award. This year, Singapore is the only country in the Asia and the Pacific region to receive the Award for the application of ICT in e-Government.

Led by MTI as well as the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and project-managed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the OASIS initiative was started in 2001. The three agencies worked in close partnership with 30 Government agencies to review over 250 business licences. As a result, 11 business licences were removed, while several other licences were merged or converted into lifetime licences. Business process re-engineering was also carried out to streamline the processes for licence applications, and remove unnecessary requirements. Next, infocomm technology was strategically harnessed for integrated and concurrent processing, resulting in a one-stop integrated Online Business Licensing Service (OBLS), accessible via http://www.business.gov.sg/licences .

Today, this Online Business Licensing Service (OBLS) offers businesses a total of 69 licences from 19 Government agencies. It allows 80% of all start-ups in Singapore to apply online for the licences needed to start their businesses. This includes businesses in the Public Entertainment, Education, Import and Export, Food & Beverage and Telecommunications sectors which can apply for multiple licences through an integrated customised e-form and make a single consolidated payment.

As a result of the integrated application and concurrent agency processing, businesses can now enjoy time and cost savings when applying for licences from their desktops, anytime and anywhere. With the OBLS, the average processing time for licence application has been reduced significantly. An example is the time taken to incorporate a company, which has been reduced from five days to less than a single day. Since its launch in 2004, the OBLS has served more than 8,000 businesses. The OBLS has also resulted in cost savings of S$11.4 million to businesses.

News