Fuelled by public sector spending on software, IT manpower and outsourcing, the Singapore government’s IT bill is expected to reach US$3.2 billion this year, according to estimates by Gartner.
The technology research firm said Monday that the new forecast represents an increase of 3.2 percent over the previous year’s spending, which covers items such as software, IT services, data centres, devices and telecoms.
In particular, IT services – which include consulting, technology implementation and IT outsourcing – will take up the lion’s share of the government’s IT bill.
“Government spending on IT services is expected to grow 3 percent in 2014 to reach US$1.9 billion, up from US$1.8 billion in 2013 – with the business process outsourcing segment growing 5.3 percent in 2014,” says Anurag Gupta, research director at Gartner.
Spending on internal services, which comprises salaries and benefits paid to those who develop and manage IT systems, will also grow by 2.7 percent in 2014.
However, spending on software will grow the fastest. By this year, the government would have spent US$350 million on software, or 10.6 percent more compared with 2013. This amount will be led by the growth in usage of business applications targeted at specific industries, according to Gartner.
“Singapore is one of the leading countries in adopting an eGovernment roadmap. We expect the government to explore new delivery channels especially through the cloud, ‘agile’ development methodologies, engaging citizens, and leveraging analytics to monitor overall department performances,” says Gupta.
Over the past year, the government has been touting its smart nation vision of tapping technology and sensors to improve the lives of citizens.
Last month, the Infocomm Development Authority called for proposals on implementing the concepts laid out in its smart nation blueprint. It has also announced a pilot service to encourage the use of data to improve business processes.
