Dr Janil Puthucheary, Minister-in-Charge of GovTech Singapore signed a three-year Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on Digital Government Transformation, with Karen Makishima, Japan’s Minister for Digital. The goal of the agreement will be to share information and experiences in a variety of areas, such as artificial intelligence, cloud services, cloud identity, digital technologies, and even the pandemic response will be discussed.
This is a win-win collaboration for both countries and both agencies. Such exchanges will benefit the design and development of digital services for our citizens and businesses.
– Chan Cheow Hoe, Deputy Chief Executive, GovTech
Hoe continued by saying that they are looking forward to attending meetings that will encourage collaboration amongst the senior officials of each organisation. On the front of National Digital Identity (NDI), both nations will investigate the possibility of mutual recognition of verified credentials for the digital identities of their respective populations. Both the digital trade and the flow of people between the two countries will profit from this development.
The two nations will also work together to enhance their respective capabilities through the exchange of expertise, the co-organisation of training courses, programmes, and seminars, and the support of one another’s digital government events. In addition, the MOC will result in both countries producing a digital government report together as a joint effort.
The MOC will be also guided by the following principles: 1) Supporting open, inclusive, and transparent government, including the promotion of open standards and open-source technology; 2) User-centric design in the designing of digital government services to serve the needs of citizens and businesses; and 3) Supporting accessible services for all.
At a time when Singapore and Japan are commemorating 56 years of diplomatic ties, the new memorandums of cooperation provide both nations with further chances to collaborate as partners on digital transformation.
As stated, both nations can’t wait to witness the results of this latest round of collaborative efforts, particularly in terms of the Digital Government Transformation front as the Digital Agency of Japan is a recently founded organisation, having only begun operations in September of 2021 tasked with the responsibility of enhancing the online services and infrastructure of Japan’s public sector.
During the meeting, both the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, were there to witness the signing, which took place on digital tablets. The meeting was part of the former’ four-day working trip to Japan, which discussed international and regional developments, and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining an open and inclusive regional architecture.
Singapore Ratifies Montreal Protocol’s Kigali Amendment
Meanwhile, Singapore has ratified the Montreal Protocol’s Kigali Amendment (KA) to reduce global consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are commonly used as refrigerants in refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) equipment.
In addition to the regulations to mitigate HFC emissions that will go into effect on 1 October 2022 under the Environmental Protection and Management Act, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has introduced measures to assist the industry in shifting toward more climate-friendly alternatives.
These regulations aim to shift the market toward more environmentally friendly RAC technologies and equipment, require proper refrigerant handling during servicing works, and require the collection and proper treatment of spent refrigerants from decommissioned RAC equipment.
Singapore’s Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment stated that will continue to work closely with industry stakeholders to help them reduce HFC consumption and shift to more environmentally friendly alternatives.
