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Singapore
a front-runner in developing national information
infrastructure*
The Government of Singapore pronounced
its vision of becoming an Intelligent Island
in early 1992. This was one and a half years
before the United States Government's National
Information Infrastructure (NII) initiative
and more than two years before the European
Union's Bangemann report. The systematic approach
has helped Singapore to make significant progress
in integrating public sector information systems.
The IT2000 vision was to be materialized through
three main components, namely the development
of national information infrastructure, the
promotion of content digitalization and the
development of multimedia industries. An existing
Committee on National Computerization was upgraded
to a high level National IT Committee. The National
Computer Board (NCB) was entrusted to implement
the national information infrastructure. More
recently the role of NCB has been converted
to that of a "Chief Information Officer (CIO)"
providing strategic planning advice to the Government.
In 1994 the World Competitiveness report ranked
Singapore as the second most competitive country
because of its people and pro-trade government
policies and support. Singapore enjoys an advanced
telecommunication infrastructure with island-wide
ISDN availability since 1989, a teledensity
of 45.5 telephone lines per 100 persons, and
154 computers per 1000 persons. Personal computer
penetration at home is about 30 per cent. Computer
literacy amongst employees in Singapore was
ranked second highest in the world. The IT industry
in Singapore has been growing steadily, almost
20 per cent on average, the record being 34
per cent in 1994. Total IT revenue for 1994
was five billion Singaporean dollars, with $S2.8
billion from the domestic market and $S2.2 billion
from the export market. Hardware sales contributed
to 74 per cent of the total sales, whereas the
shares of software and IT services were about
11 and 15 per cent respectively. Total IT workforce
supporting the industry was about 20,000. The
two local universities and four polytechnics
produce about 2,000 IT related graduates and
diploma holders a year.
A mix of centralized
and distributed planning
The National Computer Board (NCB) was set
up as a statutory board under the Ministry of
Finance to plan, coordinate, implement and manage
the Civil Service Computerisation Programme
(CSCP). The primary goal of the CSCP is to increase
the efficiency and effectiveness of the Civil
Service through innovative application of IT.
The development work of public information systems
is done increasingly through partnerships with
private industry. About 900 of NCB's 1,400-strong
professional staff are deployed to various government
offices to advise them on information systems
development. Civil service-wide systems, IT
infrastructures, professional standards and
practices are developed and set by the NCB to
ensure maximum return on investment and civil
service-wide system integration. The NCB evaluates
IT project proposals submitted by the ministries,
and advises the Government on matters that require
integration, coordination and standardization
across ministries. It is also the sole procurement
agency for computer hardware and software for
the Civil Service.
Each ministry is responsible for obtaining
its own computerization budget. They have the
flexibility to prioritize their computerization
requirements and manage their unique local systems.
The Ministry Information Steering Committee
is the highest level decision making body concerning
the computerization plan and budget of the particular
ministry. Each ministry has a computer information
system department, whose professional staff
are provided by the NCB. The director of the
department is usually a senior administrative
officer of the ministry, while the technical
leadership is provided by the Information System
Manager who is a NCB staff member. About 900
NCB professionals are deployed in the computer
information system departments of some 30 government
ministries and departments.
Achievements of the Computerization
Programme
The CSCP's many successes have spurred increased
effort and interest in IT development projects,
from both the Government and the private sector
alike. By the end of 1995, some 800 systems
had been put in place in the public sector,
bringing the total worth of all CSCP projects
to $S655 million. Ongoing efforts included the
implementation of forty-five new development
projects worth some $S96 million. There were
about 40,000 PCS installed in the Civil Service
of the total staff strength of 60,000. A cost-benefit
study conducted in 1988 showed that for every
dollar of computerization investment spent by
the Government, a return of 1.71 times has been
realized.
The following highlights some of the recent
applications delivered under the CSCP:
(a) One-Stop Non-Stop
(OSNS) Service
The aim is to bring government services to
the public at their convenience. Various government
application systems are linked and deployed
to minimize multiple form-filling and multiple
trips to different government departments. In
addition, information kiosks will be installed
at public places, for example at the community
centres, libraries, MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)
stations, and major bus interchanges to enable
public to access government information easily,
or submit government application forms, pay
government taxes, car park fees or fines, or
renew licences at places most convenient to
them.
OSCARS.
With OSCARS, or the 'One-Stop Change of Addresses
Reporting Service', Singaporeans no longer need
to report separately to various government agencies
on their change of address. They can update
their residential addresses at any neighbourhood
police post. The National Registration Office's
database, which is linked to more than 90 neighbourhood
police posts and eight police stations, will
then transmit the updated data to all subscribing
agencies by the next working day. There are
eleven such agencies currently linked to OSCARS,
including the Central Provident Fund, Post Office
Savings Bank of Singapore, Registry of Vehicles
and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. With
more than 140,000 addresses changed every year,
OSCARS not only brings about greater convenience
to the public, but also leads to substantial
productivity improvement for the Civil Service.
(b) Greater Efficiency
for the Public Services
Many IT projects under the CSCP help to improve
the overall efficiency and responsiveness of
government bodies, leading to substantial savings
in time and effort, short queues and increased
productivity for all concerned.
National Registration Identity Cards (NRIC)
for Singapore Citizens and Residents. Involving
2.3 million citizens and permanent residents,
the 3-year conversion exercise was completed
in October 1994. The achievement was made possible
only by re-engineering the registration process,
re-designing the workflow and converting sequential
processes into parallel steps, thereby cutting
down what was a two-hour delay for the registration
of a new NRIC into a few minutes' wait for each
person. The new NRIC plastic card is forgery
proof. It allows the printing of the card holder's
name in English and ethnic characters such as
Chinese, Tamil and Jawi.
Inland Revenue Integrated System (IRIS).
It is developed to enable the Inland Revenue
Authority of Singapore (IRAS) to simplify and
streamline work processes as well as to reorganize
from a non-integrated tax type structure into
function based entities to provide one-stop
services to taxpayers. Introduced in 1994, the
system has begun phased implementation in February
1995 and will be completed by early 1996. With
IRIS, the IRAS will replace manual with pipeline
processing. The pipeline is an automated system
which will process the bulk of tax cases with
minimal human intervention. The rest, about
20 per cent, which are big revenue or complex
cases, are streamed out of the pipeline by built-in
criteria and rules to be processed by tax officers.
The system will free tax officers from routine
and mundane work, allowing them to focus on
more complex cases.
(c) Integrated Information
Sharing
Realizing the importance of information sharing
and maintaining data integrity for common data
items used in the various computerized systems,
three data hubs have been established for the
CSCP. They are the Land, People and Business
Establishments data hubs. Steering committees
normally chaired by the permanent secretaries
of the related ministries are formed to set
policy for the definition, collection, maintenance
and sharing of the common data.
Land Data Hub. The Land Data Hub made
possible the sharing of 26 categories of land
related data among its 30 subscribers. The system
was completed in 1994. It introduced an on-line
remote access facility to four government departments,
allowing users to display and print maps at
remote locations using personal computers. The
Hub's major users include land master planning
by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, planning
of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines by the MRT
Corporation, and the compilation and analysis
of state land ownership statistics by the Ministry
of Law's Land Office.
(d) Technology Showcases
AlphaNet. As part of the initiative
towards a paperless Civil Service, AlphaNet,
a conglomerate of e-mail networks that offers
convenient electronic communication among 230
administrative officers, was launched in December
1994. The project was designed to increase departmental
interaction and service-wide information sharing.
AlphaNet was completed in a compressed time-frame
of six months.
Technology Court. A high-tech court
was introduced for the first time in Singapore
in 1995. Using multimedia and digital audio
recording technology, it allows trials to be
conducted without the involved parties' physical
presence in the courtroom and permits cases
to be presented on multimedia. The Technology
Court will also provide access to a host of
information through Internet and LAWNET. The
latter provides access to several useful services
for the legal profession. These include the
Case Law Database, the Subsidiary Legislation
Database, the Lotbase of the Registry of Land
Titles, the Registry of Companies and Businesses,
Biznet, the Bankruptcy Search System, and the
Supreme Court Notices System.
CORENET. The NCB, the Ministry of National
Development, and the Construction Industry Development
Board (CIDB) jointly kicked off the CORENET
(Construction and Real Estate Network) project.
It is an integrated network linking public and
private sector organizations in the sector to
automate regulatory approval of building plans,
construction procurement process and exchange
of information. CORENET involves the re-engineering
of business processes in the sector to achieve
a quantum leap in turnaround time, productivity
and quality. It will cut down on turnaround
time for developers, resulting in savings, higher
productivity and better quality buildings.
Tampines Regional Library. It was designated
a prototype library in the Library 2000 vision.
In addition to its traditional facilities, the
new library offers a wide CD-ROM collection,
access to the Internet, Teleview and Biznet,
self-service kiosks, and an IT gallery showcasing
the latest developments in computer technology.
The library uses IT extensively, facilitating
discovery and learning to equip the public for
the information age. The work prepares Singapore
to move towards a digital library, which will
greatly enhance Singapore as a learning nation.
On-Line Library Services. In a move
to expand its reach through cyberspace, the
National Library launched the first on-line
library service known as NL.Line through the
Internet. Internet users can now access information
on the library, search through catalogues, place
book reservations, renew book loans and request
for home delivery beyond library operating hours,
without ever having to leave their homes.
IT in Education
Computers are used extensively to enable a
more effective and efficient administration
of the education system in Singapore. More important,
they are also being introduced as tools to enhance
the learning and teaching experience of the
students and teachers. By the end of 1995, 74
computer systems had been developed to support
the administration in the Ministry of Education
(MOE) headquarters, 198 primary and 151 secondary
schools, and 14 junior colleges. Each year,
MOE deals with a student population of about
440,000 and a teacher population of 21,000.
Core information systems developed included
the Pupil Information Systems, Teacher Information
Systems, School Information Systems, Financial
System, Examination and Pupil or simply Posting
Systems. Two mainframe computers were being
deployed to support about 3000 on-line users.
Under a School Link project, about $S32 million
had been provided to equip the schools with
PCS and to link them through the local area
networks and the Ministry computer network.
Another $S50 million was proposed to upgrade
the application systems for schools and training
of 21,000 teachers on the use of IT. The project
enables teachers to access information about
the pupils, the school financial system, and
to share data and lesson material from the PC.
It reduces tedious data transfer and consolidation
as well as ensures consistency in reports to
the Ministry of Education. Back in 1988, the
School Link project was given the Exemplary
Systems in Government Award by the URISA (Urban
and Regional Information Systems Association)
in US.
An average of 12 teachers per primary school
have been trained through a 15-hour course to
implement Computer Based Learning (CBL). Another
two teachers per school were trained as CBL
coordinators through a 100-hour course. In the
secondary schools, teachers are trained in 15-hour
CBL courses according to their subject areas.
The concentration today is to encourage CBL
for subjects such as Mathematics, English and
Science.
From 1995 onwards, the MOE will provide computer
equipment as standard resources for all primary
schools. Depending on the enrollment, every
primary school will get one or two computer
laboratories, with each laboratory having about
40 multimedia computers. The Singapore Totalisator
Board has also set aside S$S40 million for schools
to buy computers. A programme to accelerate
the use of IT in primary schools (AITP) was
initiated to provide six pilot primary schools
each with 100 personal computers and a wide
range of multimedia educational courseware.
Students will be able to use the computers for
project work, enrichment of general knowledge
and remedial lessons. The courseware will enable
teachers to facilitate exploration and discovery
by their students.
The Students' and Teachers' Workbench project
(STW) is a collaborative effort between the
MOE and the NCB. It aims to support learning
by providing access to media-rich courseware,
facilitating communication cum collaborative
learning and providing students and teachers
with tools designed for an enriched learning
environment. Teachers will be able to customize
teaching and assignments to suit the learning
abilities of students. Students can gain access
to a vast amount of multimedia material on the
systems to prepare for assignments seek knowledge.
When the system is eventually linked up to the
national information infrastructure, students
can learn from both schools and homes. The pilot
project for STW will cover six secondary schools
and courseware for secondary one physics. The
prototype system was scheduled to be ready in
January 1996.
Internet was introduced to the Ministry of
Education, 14 junior colleges and 20 secondary
schools through a dial-in service in July 1994.
In September 1995, 700 user accounts had already
been issued. By the middle of 1996, the facility
was targetted to be accessible by all schools
in Singapore via dial up lines.
Internet Service for the
Government
The Government Resources and Information Network
Project (GRIN) promotes the use of Internet
in the Civil Service. The NCB helps to bring
Internet service to relevant users in the public
service, conduct awareness seminars, user training,
and helps packaging of information for the Civil
Service. Several government ministries have
already started to use Internet as a channel
to communicate their ministries' programmes
and publish relevant information and data electronically
to the public. InfoMap, the Singapore one-stop
home page at the Internet, provides linkages
to several government web pages, and information
about Singapore such as Singapore's Facts and
Figures, property prices, places of interest
for tourists, and on-line art exhibitions. This
information is published by the Department of
Statistics, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA),
the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, and Art
Museum.
IDNet, the inter-department network set up
seven years ago, connects the various mainframe
and minicomputers throughout the Civil Service.
IDNet enables the various departments in the
Civil Service to share computer applications
and data, as well as to exchange information.
It is a key infrastructure to the one-stop non-stop
services such as the OSCARS and the provision
of electronic mail for the Civil Service (IDEmail).
In 1995, the network supported 83 service-wide
applications used by more than 4500 civil servants.
To meet growing user demands, a new network
infrastructure is being evolved. IDNet II will
run the TCP/IP protocol and support access to
both Digital and IBM host computers which are
widely used by the Civil Service. The number
of users supported will be doubled to more than
10,000 when the enhanced IDEmail is fully implemented.
The enhanced IDEmail will merge a diversity
of e-mail systems currently used by the various
ministries in the Civil Service. It will then
become a truly inter-departmental communications
system.
Data Centre
The NCB Data Centre, formed in 1993, consolidates
mainframe computer operations for several government
departments, achieving economies of scale through
shared system software and consolidation of
skills. A post-implementation review to assess
the benefits from establishing the Data Centre
showed a 20 per cent savings in recurrent costs.
The Data Centre has been maintaining a high
average uptime of over 99 per cent since its
inception. Computing facilities in the Data
Centre include three IBM mainframes with a total
computing power of 360 MIPS, and a total disk
storage of 1,440 Gbyte. It uses various database
management systems such as DB2, IMS, ADABAS/NATURAL,
and IDMS. As of 1995, the Data Centre serviced
over 10 government ministries and departments.
It supported about 340 application systems,
10,000 users, a network of more than 250 data
lines, and 5,000 PCS and terminals. The Centre
itself had about 100 staff.
Creating and maintaining a high quality of
application development remains one of the key
challenges for the CSCP. Efforts in developing
an application development methodology, computer-aided
design tools, security measurements and quality
certification are some of the steps taken so
far.
New Thrusts for the CSCP
The CSCP has moved from implementing application
systems for individual ministries to increase
internal efficiency, to integrating inter-ministry
applications, and ultimately to enable a one-stop
non-stop government service. The vision of the
CSCP is to bring timely and useful government
information and services to the public in the
most cost effective and convenient way. New
initiatives currently undertaken by the CSCP
are:
- Paperless Office
- Electronic Procurement
System
- Business Process Re-engineering
- New delivery channels
like Internet or information kiosks
- Use of emerging technologies
like smart card
- Making government information
more accessible to the public
Under the paperless office initiative, there
will be more extensive use of electronic mails
and mails-enabled applications, electronic document
management systems, automated workflow and formflow,
and better information sharing through workgroup
computing. An electronic procurement network
will be piloted to link the Pharmaceutical Department
of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of
Finance with approximately 1,000 suppliers electronically.
The system will enable electronic posting of
government tenders, and require suppliers to
submit tender information electronically. Eventually,
the supplier may allow automatic replenishment
of stocks by the suppliers when they get low,
and facilitate electronic payment.
Business process re-engineering for the ministries
with IT as an enabling tool will be carried
out. For example, the Inland Revenue Authority
of Singapore has gone through a major business
re-engineering exercise to streamline the tax
processing procedures. The Immigration Department
hopes to cut down the waiting time and improve
turnaround time for the processing of employment
passes for foreign workers and passport renewals
through business process re-engineering .
A pilot project is being planned to use smart
cards for frequent visitors to Singapore. It
will be tried at the Woodlands Checkpoint by
allowing the smart card holder to pass through
an autogate without manual checking by the Immigration
officers. There is also a plan to provide a
smart card for civil servants to facilitate
secure electronic transactions for the Government.
Plans are also underway to make government information
more accessible to the public.
Under the National High Speed Testbed project,
plans are being made to deliver a "Virtual Government"
to the public. The objective of the Testbed
is to provide a platform for testing applications
that require high communication bandwidth. Information
kiosks connecting to the testbed will allow
the public to make on-line interactive inquiries
or applications to government departments via
videoconferencing.
The implementation and maintenance role of
the NCB will be soon corporatized and eventually
privatized. Ministries will soon have the flexibility
to source from the industry the best IT providers
to implement their computerized systems. The
corporatized entity will be subject to commercial
discipline. Therefore it will be able to achieve
greater efficiency in its resource utilization,
and greater flexibility to enter into strategic
alliances with other IT vendors or users. The
NCB will change its roles to focus on planning
and designing civil service-wide infrastructure,
applications and standards; supporting the CIOs
(Chief Information Officers) in the various
ministries; and linking government information
systems to the private sector and the public.
In other words, the NCB's new role will be the
Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Government.
| * The text of this article is based on
the paper "Public Services Through Information
Technology - The Singapore's Experience"
written by Ms Chin Tahn Joo, National Computer
Board, Singapore for the Expert Group Meeting
to Review Computerization Development, organized
by ESCAP from 12 to 15 December 1995.
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Australian
Government determined to put clients first
In March 1995 the Australian Information
Technology Review Group made recommendations
directed at making information technology a
more efficient and effective means of achieving
the objectives of the Government. As many of
those recommendations can be adapted for a wider
use in the region, the Newsletter briefly introduces
the Group's report "Clients First: the challenge
for government information technology".
Clients First makes recommendations
for the Government in the following areas: policy
development, planning mechanisms, encouraging
innovation, management initiatives, people issues,
cross-agency activity, purchasing reform and
outsourcing guidelines. Some of the recommendations
were directed at identified problems and some
to major strategic redirection. The Review Group
found that there was room for reform in how
the Government used information technology to
develop policy and conduct its administration.
However, the greatest potential lay in transforming
the quality, range and relevance of government
client service delivery. The report categorizes
those clients as job seekers, welfare beneficiaries,
hospital patients, school children and tax payers.
The Group's leading argument was that the Government
needed to develop a service vision that puts
clients first. "Information technology and corporate
planning processes needed to be closely drawn
together so that changing the business can be
enabled by the use of technology."
Several recommendations were made regarding
the acquisition and use of information technology,
starting from the creation of information bases
that could be used as an essential planning
resource. Government purchasing should pay attention
to vendor capability rather than detailed specification
of information technology systems, involving
more widespread use of partnering arrangements.
Benefits could be achieved through cross-agency
uses of information technology and sharing of
information technology staff. The skills of
IT staff should reflect an understanding of
the business needs of the public sector. In
some cases, outsourcing would enable the agencies
to concentrate in their core activities and
in improving agency focus on their business
needs.
Information systems that have for historical
reasons been developed for administrative functions
within agencies should be rationalized to reduce
duplication and provide greater cross-agency
flexibility for programme delivery. Communications
and computing were now inextricably linked and
similar rationalization of data networks should
occur to achieve scale economies and operating
efficiency;
The report recommends also that privacy guidelines
that were developed in an information systems
environment dominated by central computing should
be reviewed to take account of the potential
benefits offered to clients and the Commonwealth
by new systems approaches. Readers with access
to the full Internet can browse a hypertext
version of Clients First report at URL
http://www.finance.gov.au/pubs/itrg/itrg-tc.html.
Office of the Chief Government
Information Officer
One of the concrete proposals was the creation
of the Office of the Chief Government Information
Officer (CGIO). The objectives and functions
of CGIO include
- chairing the Government
Information Services Policy Board;
- providing leadership
to government agencies in the realization
of the potential of information technology,
having regard to the Government's industry
development objectives and established information
privacy practices;
- developing for Ministers'
consideration an Australian Public Service
"blueprint", which builds on overseas experience,
for the more efficient and effective use of
information technology:
- including, but not
exclusively, a focus on technology while maintaining
a premium for user and service delivery;
- recognizing that users
(such as line departments) are in an important
position to determine what is appropriate
to their needs and those of their clients;
and
- ensuring a commitment
to connectivity and interoperability of services
wherever possible, together with a recognition
that some common underlying telecommunications
and computing standards will need to be adopted
across the government to ensure such connectivity
and interoperability;
- identifying and promoting
solutions to address common requirements across
agencies where this is feasible and fruitful
- promoting the "lead agency"
concept whereby agencies active in a particular
area receive assistance to develop solutions
which may have wider applicability across
government;
- identifying areas in which
government information technology standards
are necessary;
- collecting and disseminating
information on the global use of information
technology relevant to the delivery of Commonwealth
Government Services; and
- providing advice to the
supply divisions of the Department of Finance
on agency bids for information technology.
The Office of Government Information Technology
(OGIT) was established as recommended and Andrew
MacDonald was appointed as the Chief Government
Information Officer in July 1995. He is supported
by the Government Information Services Policy
Board, its subsidiary bodies and numerous technical
groups on various technological and policy domains.
Government Information
Services Policy Board
The Government Information Services Policy
Board (GISPB) had the following terms of reference
to assist the Chief Government Information Officer
(Newsletter excerpted them from http://www.ogit.gov.au).
" In consultation with other relevant policy
committees provide policy advice to Government
on information and communication service issues
in general, including the Government's role
in the provision and use of these services in
a way which meets economic and social objectives:
- facilitating and promoting
the adoption of an across government approach
to the use of information services by departments
and agencies, consistent with the current
framework of devolved responsibility and accountability;
- identifying opportunities
for coordination of infrastructure and delivery
of services, and promoting best practice among
departments and agencies including the use
of outsourcing and partnerships with industry;
- developing a vision for
IT and information services in Government
focussing on the delivery of client services
to the public;
- providing advice on,
and fostering sound practices in relation
to:
- policies for across
government approach to the development and
use of information services, including IT,
telecommunications and information networks;
- the potential for the
merger of smaller data centres and their support
structures and the savings that can be realized;
- the development of
and revision of guidelines for agency corporate,
information technology, telecommunications
and procurement plans and the integration
of all such plans into the corporate plan;
the development of mechanisms to make such
information available to industry in electronic
form and the facilitation of their ready updating
by agencies;
- the implementation
of more common standards in IT to enable better
communication and access to information across
agencies;
- promoting common benchmarking
across agencies as a mechanism to improve
efficiency and accountability;
- overcoming administrative
impediments in procurement, staffing and contracts
to outsourcing and partnering with industry;
- fostering a more innovative
approach to the development of systems, support
of legacy systems, and delivery of services,
including the use of the lead agency concept;
- establishing, in consultation
with the Australian Bureau of Statistics,
a database of information on the use of IT
and information services across agencies;
and
- being responsible for
disseminating global information on the Commonwealth's
use of IT."
Editors note: The Government Information
Services Policy Board (GISPB) was in October
1996 substituted by the Information Technology
and Telecommunications Policy Advisory Committee
(ITTPAC), which will provide the Government
with policy advice in regard to the implementation
of innovative and cost effective information
and service delivery. At printing of this issue,
the new terms of reference were not available.
|
Applause to Australians
After a recent visit to their pages,
the Editor warmly recommends all
readers to bookmark the Office of the
Government Information Technology (http://www.ogit.gov.au)
for future visits. Although all Australian
experiences may not be directly applicable
in technologically less advanced countries,
the pages include many useful documents
on policies, standards and practices that
could be used as the basis of setting
national policies in other countries.
The Australians have studied the experiences
of other countries in setting IT policies
and standards, and commendably make proper
references and acknowledgments of their
sources all through the pages. The OGIT
uses the Internet as their main domestic
dissemination media. The general public
and the whole global Internet community
have early access to their key documents.
Who says the public sector is not to be
transparent?
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Programme
Officer appointed at ESCAP
For the first time since 1989, ESCAP has now
a full-time regular budget professional officer
dedicated to public sector computerization.
Mr Ilpo Survo, who has previously been serving
the Statistics Division in various capacities,
was on 9 June 1996 appointed as a Programme
Officer in charge of public sector computerization
activities. Among his other previous responsibilities,
Mr Survo has been coordinating the development
of the ESCAP Statistical Information System.
More recently he has been also in charge ad
interim of government computerization. He
was a Research Fellow at the Pellervo Eeconomic
Research Insitute, Finland from 1985 to 1989.
Prior to joining ESCAP in February 1993, he
worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations as an Associate Professional
Officer, functioning as a Marketing Economist
attached to the Fertilizer Advisory, Development
and Information Network for Asia and the Pacific
(FADINAP) in Bangkok.
Unfortunately the staffing table of ESCAP's
public sector computerization programme suffered
a simultaneous setback as Mr Atsushi Ueda, a
non-reimbursable loan Expert in Computerized
Information Systems, generously funded by the
Government of Japan, completed his two-year
assignment with ESCAP.
ESCAP
Committee on Statistics to discuss public sector
computerization
The tenth session of ESCAP's Committee on
Statistics will be organized from 25 to 29 November
1996 at the United Nations Conference Centre
in Bangkok. According to its terms of reference,
the Committee will discuss not only issues related
to statistical development in the region but
also issues on information technology applications,
information resource management and public-sector
computerization. Public sector computerization
issues will be taken up under a separate agenda
item. The Governments have been invited to send
delegations consisting of senior officials from
national statistical offices (covering statistical
development) and agencies coordinating computerization
development in general in the public sector.
The discussions on public sector computerization
will be based on a paper the secretariat has
prepared on selected issues and country statements. | 
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