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With the growing demand for digital services during the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore allowed access to citizen services via a digitalised identification certificate called Singpass. The national digital identity is critical to achieving the country’s vision of improving the lives of citizens, creating opportunities for businesses and transforming the capabilities of government agencies. To do this, the government must ensure secure, reliable, and complete online citizen identity and centralisation of databases across different government services.
Mohit Sagar, Group Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, OpenGov Asia, believes Singaporeans trust their government as, over the last 50 years, it has been working to instil confidence and create an environment of transparency. However, Mohit acknowledges this is an exception, not the rule as other Southeast Asian countries do not enjoy the same level of trust from their citizens.
Despite a quite high level of trust from Singaporeans, the government still needs to improve in many aspects, including data management. Mohit emphasises that it only takes one or two critical breaches to radically diminish faith. Therefore, the public sector needs to take this issue seriously.
In the previous article, Sascha talked about transforming digital services in the public sector and how SolarWinds can help governments in their digital transformation journey. He explained most organisations, both public and private, want to increase their presence with more services and better access. Hence, they’re always exploring ways to provide more digital offerings across any platform and device—anytime, anywhere.
For this to happen, he says, the public sector must leverage technology across the entire gamut of services, from birth, education, and living to taxes, business, registrations, and more. Technology is no longer an enabler but a disruptor of business models. It can improve lives in a way previously unimaginable.
Digitalisation and Citizens’ Trust
Digitalisation at a national level, including developing secure digital services, must be a participatory process, The question is how can governments involve the public in the digitalisation process and bring citizens into the ecosystem? Mohit believes this will be the next step for Singapore to increase the trust of its citizens.
Sascha first acknowledges that in many countries, there is still a trust issue. This apart, one or two generations are still not tech-savvy, which hampers involving them in the digitalisation processes. Sascha feels governments need to explain the necessity of digitalisation in a better way—to all audiences.
The public sector needs to make sure nobody is left behind and everyone understands how digital services work. Governments need to be open and communicate to the public about the reason why they implement certain projects or initiatives. They must clearly spell out the specific benefits of digitalisation, so citizens are aware of the positive impacts of governments’ projects.
As citizens demand more digital services, the government needs to be using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to ensure agencies offer the right services seamlessly. The Cloud First initiative in the Middle East is a good example. IT experts deployed a multi-cloud strategy: sensitive data is kept on a private cloud hosted in-country with no external access and then used the public cloud for other things as it offers more resources and high-end tech.
Managing Sensitive Data Securely and Reliably
Trust in government is fragile, Mohit says. While it takes a long time to build, it is easily broken. Against this backdrop, how does the public sector convince citizens that their sensitive data is used for their benefit safely and reliably?
The answer to this, Sascha opines, is understanding the massive difference between merely collecting data and managing data. The latter involves a specific plan to intelligently, securely, and consistently collect data and then use it efficiently, safely, and appropriately. The other aspect of managing data is how long the agencies can keep it and who has access to it.
Government agencies need to be extremely open about how they use the data and must do everything in their power to keep the data safe. Ideally, they should be able to explain the use of data to citizens. While almost every country has a Data Protection Act to regulate data management, the issue is what happens when there is a problem.
Sascha reiterates that there is no such thing as 100% security, but governments can mitigate risks. Many technologies are available to help minimise the chances of breaches, including SolarWinds cybersecurity risk management and assessment tool, Access Rights Manager (ARM). Simple IT risk assessment software helps enforce cybersecurity policy with automated secure account provisioning. By simplifying cybersecurity risk management, organisations can scale to meet many security and compliance mandates.
With so many constantly evolving compliance standards, scaling to meet IT risk and security assessment requirements can feel impossible. As a lightweight cybersecurity risk assessment tool, ARM is built to enable scalability by providing a central place for IT compliance management and to assess organisations’ greatest security risks: user authorisations and access permissions to sensitive data. ARM generates custom cybersecurity risk management reports on user access to sensitive data and alerts organisations if accounts are created with insecure configurations.
Sascha realises discussing specific technological tools is too complex for the average citizen to understand, so governments need to simplify the explanation by using layman terms. Open communication will enforce trust as citizens will appreciate governments take the time to ensure public participation. Sascha says risks are the price we have to pay for convenience.
Risk Assessment of Sensitive Information
With the privilege of having a massive amount of citizens’ data comes the responsibility on how to use it, Mohit stresses. While he concurs, Sascha explains the issue is complex and tricky. Irrespective, doing a risk assessment on the level of sensitive information to ensure its protection is essential and crucial.
The fact is, governments and authorities might not know what and how much data they have. This then becomes the first step—learn what data is on hand and where it is. Governments then must categorise data by specifying the data they have, the purpose of the data, and what they want to do with the data. Based on this, risk levels for the data can be assigned. The more sensitive the information is, the security needs to be higher.
There are various methods and tools to assess risks, including SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM). The tool can improve security posture and quickly demonstrate compliance with a lightweight, ready-to-use, and affordable security information and event management solution. SEM is, in essence, another pair of eyes watching 24/7 for suspicious activity and responding in real-time to help reduce impact.
SEM comes with hundreds of pre-built connectors to gather logs from various sources, parse their data, and put it into a Common Readable Format, creating a central location to easily investigate potential threats, prepare for audits, and store logs. It includes features to quickly and easily narrow in on the needed logs, such as visualisations, out-of-the-box filters, and simple, responsive text-based searching for both live and historical events. With scheduled search, users can save, load, and schedule their most commonly used searches.
Regrettably, governments are under attack 24/7 from bad actors across the world and cannot be expected to manage everything entirely in-house. Out-of-the-box thinking could mean governments hire white hat hackers to see if there are loopholes in the system. Fortunately, most cyberattacks are unsuccessful. The caveat to this is that agencies may not know right away if an attack was successful or, in the event of a breach, the extent of the damage.
Cooperation and sharing of information on attacks and risks is one way to stay ahead of the issues. Laws and policies go a long way in international and regional cooperation. There are laws about cyber safety; Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) provides a baseline standard for the protection and storing of personal data both online and offline. In January 2021, the PDPA Act was updated with further stipulations where organisations are obliged to notify the Personal Data Protection Commission in the event of a significant data breach. Similarly, Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulates the protection and processing of personal data; one of the many parts of GDPR is that if there is a successful breach, organisations have to report it to the local authority.
The Trade-Off Between Safety and Sharing
Since there’s no such thing as total protection from cyberattacks, especially as they are increasingly more sophisticated, the question becomes what is the government doing or need to do if sensitive data gets compromised? Should governments be vocal or be circumspect?
Sascha recognises the trust will decrease if citizens are informed of a breach. But if governments do not go public, sooner or later, the truth will come out. When people get to know at a later stage, it could prove to be disastrous reputationally and trust-wise. The sooner governments take citizens into confidence, the sooner they can put in place countermeasures.
The pandemic has been instrumental, indeed catalytic, Mohit firmly believes, in driving digital transformation and, to a large extent, sharing of information. To contain outbreaks, manage cases, and render services, COVID-19 has literally forced agencies, that may not have otherwise, to share data. While this has been useful, the challenge is how does the government ensure consistency, interoperability, and ease of sharing of databases across departments while retaining security? Is there a trade-off between safety and sharing?
When it comes to sharing data between different agencies, there is a collective responsibility, albeit tiered, Sascha feels. Even if the data gets compromised in a different department, the department that is the original holder of the data will be held accountable. The final responsibility rests with whoever owns the data in the first place even though the security incident happens in another department. When requiring data, it is incumbent on the requesting (other) agency to prove data will be secure and report its risk management strategy/measures to the sharing (first) agency.
In Singapore, citizens use their National Digital Identity (NDI) for almost all transactions. To improve NDI, Sascha recommends end-to-end encryption (E2EE)—a system of communication where only the communicating users can read the messages. While it’s not always easy to prove the authenticity of the information, E2EE would be the preferred option. Moreover, the government must continually remind citizens to secure themselves while using digital technologies.
One SolarWinds product that could be helpful for the public sector is NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, which provides an overview of data traffic flow inside the organisation. The tool collects traffic data, correlates it into a useable format, and presents it to the user in a web-based interface for monitoring network traffic. Organisations can also set alerts to be notified if a device stops sending flow data, so you can efficiently remediate the problem.
Another tool is the permission management tool. New Technology File System (NTFS) controls the specific shared resources end-user accounts have access to. By configuring the user account, group member, and domain access permissions applied to network drives, files, and folders, administrators enable individual end-users to share and exchange resources and can improve security by restricting access to sensitive or confidential materials.
Currently, machine learning can spot and analyse anomalies in the systems faster. The adoption of machine learning does not mean organisations don’t need analysts, but analysts are still required to improve the situations and provide more creative solutions that machine learning cannot offer.
While in most cases, technical reasons are the cause of issues or glitches, governments must not become lax to potential security lapses. Even if the instances look harmless, governments need to still watch out for those scenarios. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the government, and the public sector must be vigilant all the time, round the clock.
While this is the bottom line, looking into everything meticulously and comprehensively is resource-intensive and practically impossible, if it is entirely dependent on people and done in-government only. Partnering with experts that have the technology, the tools, and the infrastructure will save time, money and free up human resources for more critical tasks, allowing governments to better serve citizens and deliver on their mandates.


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OpenGov Asia has recognised GovTech for the public sector’s evolving digital use. The agency has streamlined government operations and broken new ground with its Virtual Intelligent Chat Assistant (VICA). The project is part of GovTech’s ongoing efforts to develop and deploy chatbots to fill gaps in government services and enhance the lives of citizens.
VICA is the most recent citizen assistant platform from GovTech, utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create more efficient and beneficial chatbots for government agencies to manage and for end users. The ‘Ask Jamie’ Virtual Assistant will eventually be replaced by VICA.
The engine-neutral platform employs cutting-edge tech to enhance performance and precision. VICA utilises natural language processing engines, machine learning and AI to enhance virtual and phone interactions between Singapore government institutions and residents or businesses.
This platform not only learns and interprets conversations but also offers businesses the ability to design and train chatbots, features that Ask Jamie did not provide. The automated processes provided by VICA make it easier for agencies to onboard and “train” their chatbots.
This accomplishment earned GovTech the prestigious OpenGov Asia Recognition of Excellence Award, which will be presented at the 8th Annual Singapore OpenGov Leadership Forum 2023.
Chatbot advancement to improve citizen experience
In addition to providing a simple FAQ, VICA improves transactional services in numerous other ways. Streamlining transactions provides greater convenience and access to government services and information, as well as quicker and more direct responses to user inquiries.
Taxi drivers and hawker stall owners, for instance, can use the IRAS chatbot to request assistance with tax filing. The Municipal Services Office’s OneService Chatbot, Kaki, which allows residents to easily report municipal issues via WhatsApp and Telegram, is also powered by VICA.
VICA-powered chatbots provide the public with timely updates, such as the Gov.sg chatbot, which provides COVID-19 updates and disseminates important government announcements in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
Using NLP technology has allowed VICA-powered chatbots to better understand and interpret human language, particularly in the context of Singaporean English, thereby improving overall user experience. It is possible to create more structured conversational flows by defining intents, entities and context management – the building blocks that provide directions to chatbots and allow them to meet the needs of users.
VICA provides detailed analytics and insights into the performance of the chatbot as well as user conversations. With this information, the team can identify areas for improvement to enhance performance and accuracy.
Technology is constantly evolving, and the team is continuously on the lookout for and learning about new AI trends. Hence, VICA has been experimenting with a Generative AI programme that can understand written prompts and respond with helpful assistance in real-time since mid-2022.
VICA’s development involves the gradual integration of cutting-edge technology that meets the requirements of the entire government. These technological upgrades will include a unified chat frontend to ensure consistent branding across all government ministries and agencies – Singpass Integration, Live Chat Escalation, and support for various chat platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.
As part of the closed beta programme with internal testers, the VICA team has been utilising these technologies to improve the quality and efficacy of the chatbots with citizens.
Developers also want to reduce the time and effort that their agency partners have to invest in training and maintaining their chatbots. While the team has always been receptive to new technologies, they take a measured approach, through progressive internal testing phases with the selected partner agencies before launching to the public.
The strategy is to determine how technological advancements can benefit not only the agency partners but also citizen users.
VICA intends to surpass FAQ-style chatbots with near-human conversation capabilities in the long run. It intends to combine services and transactional capabilities so that chatbots can assist users with their inquiries and complete transactions.
Given the potential risks and shortcomings associated with the development of intelligent development of platforms, it is vital to have an ethics framework in place. This will allow developers to plan for and be aware of the pitfalls and limitations of AI, which include:
- Accuracy: Models can give false responses that sound convincing
- Bias: Inherent biases may exist in the training dataset, which can be difficult to pre-empt due to the lack of information. This could then manifest in the model’s responses;
- Harmful content: To create a safe and healthy environment for users’ interaction with chat apps, chat moderation is important to monitor and regulate user input messages against inappropriate and offensive content;
- Data governance: When interacting with chatbots, users may inadvertently volunteer personal and confidential data through the chatbot’s prompts.
It is essential to encourage interactions with them and provide feedback to ensure that chatbots are performing as intended and to improve their overall performance.
Despite the functionality and enormous potential of generative AI, VICA has placed a high priority on governing its use to ensure that such technology is employed in an ethical manner benefitting both end users and society.
To mitigate the risk of unintended prejudices and ensure adherence to data governance rules, it is crucial to adopt an intentional strategy for the collection and transformation of raw data into useful and insightful outputs. Such a strategy can help ensure that the data is handled fairly and responsibly and that any potential risks are addressed pre-emptively or proactively. Moreover, this approach ensures that the resulting outputs are accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
About the team
The organisation recognises the importance of aligning team members towards a shared vision and objective, regardless of their diverse backgrounds. With a diverse team, each member can bring their unique perspectives and expertise to the table. Working collaboratively, the team can leverage these diverse perspectives to generate innovative problem-solving strategies.
The VICA team fosters an atmosphere of open communication and encourages feedback, creating a cooperative environment where team members feel heard and valued. This establishes a safe place where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.
They frequently organise team-building activities outside of work to foster camaraderie, build stronger relationships and create a more cohesive team dynamic. They believe this approach can lead to more innovative solutions and better decision-making.
Defining clear objectives and goals is crucial for the success of the VICA team. Every team member understands that they are working towards a common objective, providing a sense of purpose and direction.
Clear missions and defined tasks allow the team to stay on track and ensure that their efforts are moving the project forward in the right manner. This approach helps ensure that everyone is aligned and focused on achieving the same goals, which ultimately contributes to the success of the project.
The VICA team has implemented a robust project management framework that outlines the roles and responsibilities of team members at each project stage. They adhere to budget planning procedures to manage costs effectively. This framework helps ensure that everyone is clear on their responsibilities and contributes effectively to the project’s success within the specified budget.
The VICA team has adopted an agile approach that emphasises adaptability, speed and continuous quality improvement. The team uses retrospectives to evaluate what works well and what doesn’t, identifying opportunities for future improvement. This enables the team to quickly make adjustments and continuously improve the project’s quality, resulting in a more successful outcome.
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Proyek VICA (Virtual Intelligence Chat Assistant) adalah platform layanan chatbot yang bisa digunakan sebagai dasar pengembangan berbagai layanan chatbot di berbagai instansi pemerintahan Singapura. Platform ini ditenagai dengan Kecerdasan Buatan (Artificial Intelligence/ AI) dan pembelajaran mesin (Machine Learning/ ML) agar chatbot yang dikembangkan oleh berbagai instansi pemerintahan bisa memberikan respons yang lebih ‘manusiawi’ kepada warga dan berbagai perusahaan di Singapura.
Layanan platform chatbot VICA dikembangkan oleh GovTech, yaitu Badan Teknologi Pemerintah (Government Technology) yang mendorong transformasi digital ke berbagai instansi pemerintah di Singapura. GovTech mengembangkan VICA sebagai perbaikan dari layanan chatbot sebelumnya; Ask Jamie.
Untuk membantu VICA memberikan jawaban yang lebih natural dan akurat, GovTech memanfaatkan teknologi NLP (natural language processing) terbaru dengan platform mesin-agnostik. Menerapkan kecerdasan buatan dan pembelajaran mesin membuat VICA mampu mempelajari dan menafsirkan percakapan dan meningkatkan interaksi ketika ‘diajak bicara’ secara virtual maupun lewat telepon. Sebagai sebuah platform, VICA juga digunakan oleh berbagai instansi pemerintah lain untuk melatih chatbot yang mereka kembangkan. Fitur ini sebelumnya tak ada di platform chatbot Ask Jamie.
VICA merupakan bagian dari upaya GovTech untuk membangun dan menggunakan chatbot guna menjembatani pemerintah dengan warga dan swasta. Kepiawaian dan inovasi GovTech ini mendapat atensi dari OpenGov Asia untuk mendapatkan penghargaan OpenGov Asia Recognition of Excellence Award yang akan diberikan pada Singapore OpenGov Leadership Forum 2023 tahunan ke-8.
Chatbot pintar
Dalam wawancara dengan CEO dan Pemimpin Redaksi OpenGov Asia, tim pengembang VICA menyebut mereka telah meningkatkan berbagai fitur untuk memperbaiki cara chatbot anyar ini dalam melayani pengguna. VICA bisa memberi jawaban lebih cepat dan sesuai konteks sehingga ia tak hanya menjawab pertanyaan berdasarkan jawaban yang sering ditanyakan atau sesuai template semata. Hal ini membuat pengguna merasa lebih nyaman ketika berinteraksi dengan VICA.
Sebagai sebuah platform, VICA juga digunakan untuk mengembangkan chatbot instansi pemerintah lain. Contohnya adalah chatbot IRAS yang digunakan wiraswasta seperti supir taksi atau pemilik kios jajanan untuk meminta bantuan dalam pengajuan pajak. Kaki, chatbot layanan terpadu dari Kantor Layanan Kota bisa yang akan menampung laporan dan keluhan warga soal masalah kota lewat WhatsApp dan Telegram.
Selain itu, platform chatbot VICA juga bisa memberikan informasi terbaru secara real-time kepada warga. Contohnya, chatbot Gov.sg yang memberikan pembaruan status COVID-19 dan pengumuman pemerintah dalam bahasa Inggris, Mandarin, Melayu, dan Tamil.
Agar interaksi dengan VICA lebih ramah pengguna, tim memanfaatkan teknologi NLP untuk bisa memahami dan menginterpretasikan bahasa manusia. Namun, bahasa utama yang paling baik diinterpretasikan VICA saat ini adalah bahasa Inggris Singapura.
“Dengan memahami maksud pertanyaan, siapa yang menanyakan, dan konteks pertanyaan, ini akan jadi bahan arahan bagi chatbot untuk memberikan jawaban yang memuaskan kebutuhan pengguna, sehingga alur percakapan bisa lebih terstruktur,” jelas tim VICA.
Agar performa VICA makin bagus, tim juga melengkapi platform ini dengan analisis data. Hasil analisis itu memberikan gambaran terperinci tentang kinerja chatbot serta bagaimana kinerjanya atas percakapan pengguna. Hal ini membuat tim VICA bisa mengidentifikasi hal yang bisa diperbaiki untuk meningkatkan akurasi VICA.
Ketika memanfaatkan AI, terdapat kekhawatiran masalah etika dari kecerdasan buatan yang digunakan. Sebab, pada beberapa kasus, AI kerap memberi jawaban yang menyesatkan atau tidak sesuai etika. Tim VICA menyadari hal dan sepakat kalau model AI bisa memberikan respons yang salah namun terdengar meyakinkan.
Jawaban yang keluar dari model AI juga bisa terkontaminasi oleh bias. Bias bawaan ini mungkin terjadi imbas dari kumpulan data yang digunakan untuk melatih model AI itu. Namun hal ini bisa jadi sulit dicegah karena kekurangan informasi yang dimasukkan dalam data latihan AI tersebut. Bias dan jawaban menyesatkan tadi kemudian nampak dalam respons AI atas pertanyaan pengguna.
Untuk menjaga pembicaraan yang sehat, model AI juga perlu menyaring konten yang ditanyakan pengguna. “Moderasi obrolan diperlukan untuk memantau dan menyaring pesan yang dimasukkan pengguna untuk mengatur respons AI terhadap konten yang tidak pantas dan menyinggung.”
Etika lain yang dipertimbangkan tim pengembang VICA adalah soal tata kelola data. Saat berinteraksi dengan chatbot, pengguna mungkin secara tidak sengaja memberikan data pribadi dan rahasia secara sukarela akibat perintah chatbot.
“Terlepas dari fungsi dan potensi AI generatif yang sangat besar, kami memastikan teknologi ini digunakan dengan cara yang etis dan menguntungkan pengguna dan masyarakat,” tegas tim VICA.
Untuk mengurangi berbagai risiko disinformasi, misinformasi, bias, dan masalah etis lain, tim memastikan efisiensi dan kegunaan tiap informasi yang dikumpulkan dan ditransformasi sebagai bahan data mentah pelatihan model AI yang mereka kembangkan. Hal ini juga dilakukan agar mereka mematuhi aturan tata kelola data yang berlaku. Selain itu, mereka pun senantiasa memeriksa umpan balik pengguna agar chatbot yang dikembangkan berfungsi semestinya.
Ketika ditanya soal pengembangan VICA ke depan, sejak pertengahan 2022, tim pengembang telah mulai bereksperimen dengan program AI Generatif. Program ini bisa memahami petunjuk tertulis dan merespons dengan bantuan yang bermanfaat secara real-time.
Dalam jangka Panjang, VICA akan terus disempurnakan dengan teknologi terkini yang paling sesuai dengan kebutuhan Whole-Of-Government. Mereka akan mengembangkan antarmuka obrolan terpadu sehingga branding pada chatbot pemerintah lebih seragam di semua kementerian dan lembaga. Selain itu, mereka juga berencana melakukan integrasi VICA dengan Singpass, memperbanyak fitur Live Chat, serta integrasi dengan platform chat seperti Whatsapp dan Telegram.
Selain itu, tim VICA juga telah menjajaki teknologi kemampuan percakapan tingkat lanjut seperti yang digunakan oleh ChatGPT. Mereka tengah menelisik teknologi ini dalam program beta tertutup dan tengah melakukan pengujian internal untuk meningkatkan kualitas dan kenyamanan pemakaian chatbot. Langkah selanjutnya adalah menerapkan cara yang dapat mempermudah para mitra GovTech ketika mengadopsi platform VICA ketika mereka ingin membuat chatbot sendiri. Dengan VICA, mereka bisa mempersingkat waktu dan mengurangi kerumitan dalam melatih serta memelihara chatbot mereka.
“Kemajuan teknologi apa pun harus bisa memberikan pelayanan yang lebih baik bagi mitra instansi dan warga, itu sudah menjadi DNA kami,” tegas tim VICA
Cita-cita jangka panjang lain adalah membuat chatbot VICA bisa digunakan sebagai media transaksi. Jadi, chatbot ini tak sekedar bisa menjawab pertanyaan saja, tapi juga bisa terintegrasi dengan operasional layanan pemerintah. “Kami juga selalu terbuka untuk teknologi baru dan siap melakukan kalibrasi melalui fase pengujian internal, sebelum meluncurkan layanan itu kepada warga.”
Membangun tim inovatif
Tim VICA lantas membeberkan sejumlah cara yang mereka lakukan untuk memastikan inovasi berkelanjutan dan keberhasilan program.
“Dengan menetapkan tujuan dan sasaran yang jelas, setiap anggota tim akan terbantu untuk memahami bahwa mereka memiliki tujuan bersama yang jelas, sehingga setiap orang memahami tugas dan tanggung jawab masing-masing.”
Di tahap awal, tim membangun kerangka kerja manajemen proyek. Kerangka ini membantu peran dan tanggung jawab anggota tim untuk pembagian beban kerja yang sehat di setiap tahap proyek. Kerangka ini juga berguna untuk penentuan perencanaan anggaran agar biaya bisa dikelola secara efektif. Tim juga menciptakan suasana yang terbuka terhadap berbagai umpan balik, sehingga setiap anggota tim bisa dengan bebas dan merasa aman dan didengar ketika mengajukan pendapat.
Untuk mengukur dan mengevaluasi keefektifan kerja, tim VICA mengadopsi metodologi Agile. Metode ini dianggap lebih fleksibel, cepat, dan bisa membantu tim untuk meningkatkan kualitas kerja mereka. Sementara dalam proses pengembangan produk, mereka mendapat manfaat dari metode Scrum dan Kanban. Sebagai bahan evaluasi, tim juga mengandalkan retrospektif untuk mempelajari kembali apa yang berhasil dan apa yang tidak. Bahan ini lantas digunakan untuk perbaikan produk di masa mendatang.
Ketika berinteraksi dengan tim yang berbeda latar belakang, tim VICA memulai proyek dengan membangun rasa saling percaya dan menyelaraskan visi dan tujuan bersama. Sehingga, tiap anggota bisa memiliki cara masing-masing untuk berkontribusi dengan caranya yang unik. Dengan menyatukan semua pendapat berbeda ini, mereka dapat menciptakan dan menemukan solusi inovatif untuk berbagai masalah.
Sementara untuk menjaga kebersamaan dan kolaborasi yang efektif dalam tim, mereka memperbanyak waktu bersama lewat sesi curah pendapat (brainstorming), proyek bersama, hingga kegiatan team bonding. Mereka pun mengembangkan budaya untuk menghargai kontribusi dan menghormati pendapat setiap anggota tim. Inisiatif ini menjamin tiap pendapat didengar serta memberikan lingkungan yang aman bagi tiap anggota untuk berbagi pandangan yang berbeda.
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Singapore and Indonesia reaffirmed their strong and long-standing economic ties; and to explore opportunities in the development of Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, both nations welcomed the Letters of Intent submitted by Singapore-based businesses from a variety of sectors, including construction, telecommunication and finance. This collaboration in renewable energy and the digital economy was expanded.
Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Renewable Energy Cooperation.
Both countries will facilitate investments in the development of renewable energy manufacturing industries, such as solar photovoltaics (PV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Indonesia, as well as cross-border electricity trading projects between Indonesia and Singapore, under the terms of the MOU.
Recognising the synergies shared by Singapore’s and Indonesia’s tech ecosystems, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto also signed the MOU on the Singapore-Indonesia Tech:X Programme.
The MOU will establish the Tech:X Programme, which enables young tech professionals from Singapore and Indonesia to work in each other’s countries, strengthens ties between the two nations’ tech ecosystems, and enables young tech professionals to pursue expanding opportunities in the digital economy.
“Through the Tech:X Program, we hope that young tech talent from both countries will be able to learn from one another, gain exposure, and expand the capabilities of both countries’ tech workforces,” Minister Gan says.
Ministers Gan and Airlangga also witnessed the signing of nine partnership documents between Singapore and Indonesia companies on 15 March 2023, in conjunction with the Leaders’ Retreat. In addition to health tech and ed-tech, the partnerships are in the digital economy.
The annual G2G platform, as well as the Singapore-Indonesia Six Bilateral Economic Working Groups (6WG), facilitate close economic collaboration between Singapore and Indonesia.
The 6WG platform addresses economic collaboration in the following areas: Batam, Bintan, Karimun, and other Special Economic Zones: Investments, Manpower, Agribusiness, Transportation, and Tourism.
Singapore and Indonesia have close commercial and investment ties. With bilateral trade totalling S$76.4 billion in 2022, Indonesia is Singapore’s sixth-largest trading partner. Since 2014, Singapore has been Indonesia’s top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with Singapore’s investments in Indonesia totalling US$17.5 billion by 2022.
OpenGov Asia earlier reported that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently met at the Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat. This was the sixth Leaders’ Retreat for Prime Minister Lee and President Joko Widodo and the first to be held in Singapore since the COVID-19 pandemic.
During President Joko Widodo’s two terms in office, the relationship between the two countries had significantly improved, according to both leaders. This laid the groundwork for them to collaborate in new ways that are profound, multifaceted, forward-looking, and beneficial to both countries.
The ratification of all three agreements under the Expanded Framework was celebrated by the Leaders. These included the Agreement on the Realignment of the Boundary between the Jakarta Flight Information Region (FIR) and the Singapore FIR, the Extradition Treaty, and the Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The Leaders anticipated the next step of obtaining International Civil Aviation Organisation approval for the new arrangements under the FIR Agreement so that both countries could implement all three agreements at a mutually agreed upon date. The resolution of these enduring issues demonstrates the maturity and resilience of bilateral relations.
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Within a year of its commencement, the innovative education model FORTE (Financing of Return to Employment) has shown excellent early outcomes for both local career seekers and employers as the first groups of South Australian students transition from training to employment.
The FORTE pilot programme, which commenced in May 2022, is supported by the Department for Industry, Innovation, and Science. It provides high-quality training at no cost, aimed at equipping 150 South Australians with the necessary digital skills to work in the state’s rapidly growing hi-tech sectors.
Under the FORTE model, local training providers such as Generation Australia, General Assembly, _nology, and 42 Adelaide deliver the training, which is initially funded by private investors. Running for a duration of three years, the pilot programme has shown encouraging early indicators. Over 40% of recent FORTE graduates have already secured jobs at various tech companies.
The remaining graduates are currently actively seeking employment and attending interviews, with the FORTE team providing support to ensure they are matched with appropriate job opportunities within the next three to six months.
The South Australian Government will only make repayments under the FORTE model when a participant has demonstrated a successful employment outcome, meaning that they have secured work in their desired field, achieved higher income, and generated higher income tax as a result. By implementing this approach, the FORTE model ensures that the South Australian Government only funds labour force interventions that are effective.
According to the Founder & CEO of FORTE, talent is abundant throughout South Australia, and the programme aims to provide everyone with the opportunity to learn new in-demand skills, attain financial independence, and reach their full potential.
The FORTE model guarantees that the South Australian Government only invests in labour force interventions that have proven effectiveness. The CEO believes that there is an abundance of talent in South Australia and that the programme is designed to provide everyone with an opportunity to learn new in-demand skills, achieve financial independence, and reach their full potential.
The programme aims to help Adelaide become a leading tech hub in the Asia-Pacific region. A great tech talent pipeline is essential for this goal to be achieved. Thus far, the initiative has contributed to bridging the gender divide in the tech industry. Women who are re-entering the workforce, especially those who have taken a break to raise a family, are a valuable talent pipeline that FORTE aims to tap into.
The Forte Tech Program is a three-month full-time training programme aimed at improving the tech skills of participants. The programme also includes career development services to assist participants in securing employment opportunities in the tech industry. These services include introductions to potential employers, assistance in crafting resumes and profiles, and one-on-one coaching.
The programme is entirely remote, enabling participants to work from home while receiving top-quality training, hands-on project experience, and ongoing support. The training focuses on fields such as Data Analytics, Software Development, and Cloud Computing, which offer excellent salaries, and flexibility and are in high demand for the future. In addition, the training comes at no cost to participants.
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Director General of Resources and Equipment of Post and Information Technology (SDPPI) at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Ismail, revealed that Indonesia is optimising technology by ensuring sufficient digital connection and working in concert with the private sector and the community. For its citizens to make the most of this technology, the government of the Republic of Indonesia is investing heavily in its development.
According to Ismail, Indonesia has a well-balanced strategy of infrastructure development and radio frequency spectrum management in place, which would speed up the nationwide rollout of digital infrastructure. However, Indonesia needs to harness an IoT-based platform that uses the country’s digital infrastructure to speed up digital transformation and promote innovation in day-to-day living.
“The Indonesian government has invested much in expanding access to the internet throughout the country, particularly in rural and isolated areas. While this is happening, the Indonesian government is working to speed up the spread of ICT applications and services across many sectors,” Ismail mentioned in an online session for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2023 titled “High-Level Policy Session 7: Ethical Dimensions of Information and Knowledge Societies/Bridging Digital Divides”.
The event attended by ministerial representatives from the European Union, Pakistan, Iran, Cambodia, India and the United Arab Emirates were in attendance. In addition, academics and representatives from foreign organisations were also in attendance.
Ismail points out that the government and the private sector need to collaborate with other actors as the infrastructure network expanded. As seen by the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia, the business sector was spurred to develop and implement several digitisation programmes in the education, healthcare, and SME support sectors.
“Such as student e-book libraries and e-chat programmes. The programme was designed to help educators and students in their academic pursuits. In addition, there is a database of digital web pages, including about 7,500 pieces of digital information. Using digital technology, they hope to create a more accessible education system for all members of our community, he explained.
Ismail said the programme has the potential to benefit over 40,000 educators and over 600 institutions this academic year through enhanced professional development opportunities. Over 20,000 educators and 16,000 pupils have benefited from private sector capacity development programmes.
The private sector in Indonesia has launched several programmes to aid the growth of SMEs. These programmes provide SMEs with resources, including startup funding, digital marketing courses, and more.
Several private sector personnel and over 16,000 partners began the programme to digitalise small and medium-sized businesses. From this, we can infer that the government is trying to promote the availability of digital services and apps,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the healthcare sector, the private sector helps to produce the PeduliLindungi health app during the recent Covid-19 outbreak. The collaboration from a local developer’s team, the Indonesian government’s Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics have sped up the development and improvement of the app.
During the pandemic “this application provides information about health and other relevant information,” the Director General of SDPPI of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics pointed out.
With over 100 million users, the software has been downloaded and is now used as an Indonesian Health Service Platform known as Satu Sehat Platform. The Platform is a unified health record system for locals. Director General Ismail cited that app as an example of one that is crucial to Indonesia’s healthcare system.
Indonesia’s government is constantly improving its public services to make them more effective and accessible to the people. Efforts to manage Indonesia’s National Public Service Innovation Network have officially commenced. (JIPPNas). The JIPPNas website has become a clearinghouse for innovative methods in public service throughout the country.
The website was created to compile all accessible statistics and information on the best public services and help Indonesia’s public and private sectors better understand how to develop innovation. The JIPPNas website is a hub for promoting innovation, especially in public services, thanks to the collaborative efforts of several different organisations.
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The Transport Minister, Michael Wood, launched the country’s first electric vehicle (EV) charging strategy, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. The strategy is titled Charging Our Future. According to Wood, the government’s vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, convenient, and reliable.
The strategy aims to offer journey charging hubs every 150-200 kilometres on main highways, a public charger for every 20-40 EVs in urban areas, and public charging at community facilities for all settlements with 2,000 or more people. Meeting the targets would see tens of thousands more EV chargers across the country, Wood said.
Emissions from the light vehicle fleet are the single largest source of transport emissions in New Zealand, partially due to having some of the most fuel-inefficient and emissions-intensive vehicles in the OECD. This is expensive and damaging to people’s health and the environment. “Switching to EVs would be like buying petrol for 40c/litre, which would make a big difference for household budgets,” he explained.
Last May, the government released Aotearoa New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan. The plan explored how the country would meet the first emissions budget for 2022–25 and put it on track to meet future emissions budgets. As per the strategy, transport is one of New Zealand’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for 17% of national gross emissions and 39% of total domestic carbon dioxide emissions.
The Emissions Reduction Plan includes the action to rapidly adopt low-emissions vehicles including by improving EV-charging infrastructure across Aotearoa to ensure that citizens have adequate access to charging facilities. Although EVs are not a solution, they are a crucial part of a decarbonised transport system, complementing increased opportunities for adults and children to safely walk, cycle, and use high-quality public transport, the strategy wrote. The country needs an EV charging plan to provide certainty to all parties about the role government will play in supporting EV charging infrastructure.
These new targets will facilitate infrastructure to support different trips and journeys that EV drivers make as well as ensure that rural and provincial New Zealand locations are accessible for residents and visitors with EVs. Wood noted that the success of the government’s clean car policies means there are more than 69,000 EVs on roads, over 80% more than at the end of 2021. This strategy will ensure New Zealand can sustain the uptake of EVs as it is witnessing more people make the switch.
The Ministry will work with local government and industry across transport, energy, and other sectors to deliver on these initiatives. “We also want to make sure we’re working alongside the public. I hope everyone will take the opportunity to feed into the draft strategy and the discussion document,” Wood stated.
The country’s capital, Wellington, previously announced it aims to replace all fossil-fuel-powered passenger vehicles with electric alternatives by 2030. Last year, the Wellington City Council added 24 electric vehicles (EVs) to its fleet. As OpenGov Asia reported, by mid-August, there were 40 EVs for staff to use for daily operations.
A study by the New Zealand Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi) about Kiwi behaviour showed that on average, people don’t travel more than 20 to 50 kilometres a day. Introducing electric vehicles that are capable of a 250-300 kilometres range in one full charge will be the right match for most Council operations. As Wellington city is compact, there are many opportunities for people to change the way they travel throughout the city and have an impact on carbon emissions. More recently, the capital approved trialling a public e-bike share scheme, allowing residents and visitors to hire e-bikes to get around the city.
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The HKUST Business School conducted a comprehensive research study aimed at guiding policy and strategy development for Hong Kong’s regtech sector. The study highlights the pain points currently facing the industry and proposes measures that could strengthen its growth.
To create a more vibrant and innovation-friendly regtech ecosystem, regulators should consider leading in technology development, providing incentives for technology use, and issuing clear guidelines to facilitate technology adoption.
Regtech is a subsector of fintech that adds value to financial institutions and end-users of financial services by automating compliance processes and facilitating innovative customer services such as remote bank account opening. The Hong Kong Government recognises the significance of regtech as part of its fintech strategy and promotes its growth in the city.
To conduct the study, the research team collected insights from regtech solution providers and users, including senior management from banks, payment service providers, and asset management companies. The team used an online survey and focus group discussions to gather this information. Based on their findings, the team developed two reports that summarise their key observations and recommendations.
The research team identified the potential of regtech in automating financial institutions’ know-your-customer (KYC) processes and recommended establishing clear protocols for releasing government data for document verification purposes.
Additionally, the team proposed several solutions to address Hong Kong’s regtech talent shortage, including allocating more resources for on-the-job training, mandating IT courses for finance majors, and establishing an accredited regtech program that is widely recognised.
The Dean of HKUST Business School expressed that financial institutions are turning towards regtech to stay competitive and provide consistent value to customers amid a rapidly changing market with numerous regulatory requirements.
He hopes that this study will help policymakers, regulators, and industry participants to enhance the regtech capabilities of the city and accelerate industry growth. Additionally, the school plans to allocate more resources and focus on regtech research in the future.
The following are the recommendations provided by the HKUST Business School’s study on promoting regtech development in Hong Kong:
Creating a Friendly Regulatory Environment that Encourages Innovation:
- Establish clear guidelines with notes on interpretation and provide prompt feedback
- Provide incentives to the industry, startups, and academics to facilitate regtech innovation
Building a Connected, Inclusive, and Vibrant Regtech Ecosystem:
- Regulators to take lead in technology solutions to address pain points of the industry
- Build an inclusive regtech network through the facilitators
- Accreditation of regtech solution providers
Facilitating the Sharing of Data & Technology in the Regtech Community:
- Standardise the APIs for different banks to share data
- Provide shared databases and platforms to be accessed by different regtech stakeholders
- Allow successful sandbox projects to share solutions
Facilitating KYC Processes and Cross-Border Data Access:
- Establish protocols for verification of documents and identities (individuals and corporates)
- Collaborate with Mainland China to offer standardised procedures and data access
Solving Hong Kong’s Regtech Talent Shortage:
- Government and regulators to allocate more resources for on-the-job training
- Government to sponsor more internships, as firms may not have the resources to support student internships
- Government could provide living allowance to expatriates, or subsidise the companies that offer housing benefits to expatriates to increase their willingness to relocate to Hong Kong
- Higher education providers to include mandatory IT courses in the curriculum for finance majors
- Establish a widely accepted accredited program with regtech as a specialisation for graduates and practitioners to certify fintech and regtech talent
- Provide a clear path for the regtech profession and offer a more rewarding scheme and more interesting future prospects to attract students into the field.
The Policy Innovation and Coordination Office (PICO) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) funded the study.