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Gaurav Raghuvanshi

That is, join the game. India, or even a city such as New Delhi, has little excuse for not emulating Singapore. Discover the numerous ways in which technology touches lives in the city-state.

SINGAPORE takes pride in calling itself a "wired with wireless" country. And surely, not without reason. It may be quite discreet at times, but the use of IT is all-pervasive in the island nation.

Whether it is public transport, healthcare, the education system or paying taxes, the country has taken great pains to use IT to make life easier for its citizens. It may be worthwhile to compare some of the IT initiatives with what we have in our country to see if some lessons can be learnt from the Singapore experience.

Public transport

A smart-card is all that it takes to travel anywhere in Singapore. The card has a pre-loaded value on it and while boarding the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport), one simply needs to tap it on a reader for the gate to open.

After the journey, you again tap the card on the exit and the system debits the ticket value. So, one does not need to look around the wallet for cash. The smart Singaporean simply taps the wallet at the reader and the job is done. The same card can be used in buses as well.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had suggested that the system should be adopted by the city's metro and bus systems, but nothing has been heard about it so far.

The cost of putting up the infrastructure may be on the higher side initially, but it can be spread across various services to recover the investment. So while the Singaporean would use the smart card for travelling, he can also buy a burger at McDonalds using the card and pay his library fine while he is munching it.

Immigration

Anybody who has travelled to Singapore would tell you that immigration is a breeze at Changi Airport. But perhaps the best place to see the system actually in operation is the island nation's border with Malaysia at the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Although over 2.2 lakh people cross over both ways on a daily basis, the security and immigration clearances are a matter of seconds. To speed up the process, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA) has employed biometric solutions, says the ICA Director (Planning and Technology), Jaswant Singh.

For the floating population of Singapore, which comes in daily to work or even to study, the Authority has provided them with smart cards that use digital finger-print recognition to clear the individual. The person simply has to insert the card in a slot and put his thumb on a fingerprint reader. The whole process takes less than 10 seconds.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority is also testing an iris recognition technology for persons travelling on motorcycles. The rider and his pillion simply have to peer into a camera-like device without even dismounting from their vehicle. The process, again, takes only a few seconds, according to Singh.

If the individual is not a daily commuter and has to use his passport for entry, the process is much like what happens at the Airport. Although the passenger does not realise it, the passport is photographed, the document checked for any tampering much the same way as your bank checks your Rs 1,000 notes and the photograph compared with the characters in the rogues gallery.

All details of the individual are also taken into the system. And if you are not fast enough, you may not get time to pick up a candy from the bowl that greets you on arrival at the counter.

Checking of the vehicles is also streamlined. Using the latest gamma ray equipment, the Authority officials can find out what is inside a container truck in just a few seconds. Indian authorities are also scouting for similar equipment.

With illegal border crossing being such a major issue in several parts of the country, biometric solutions can be explored in India as well. True, the Indian borders with Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh are long and porous, but technology can be used as a deterrent to some extent, at least at the regular entry points.

Healthcare

Being a developed country, Singapore boasts of a modern healthcare infrastructure. Patient records are completely digitised at government hospitals. A patient can approach any hospital and the doctor can cull out the case history in a few seconds.

Even at private hospitals like Mt Alvernia, the process is completely digital, except that printed records are also available as the facility gives its patients the freedom to consult any specialist of their choice.

Most large private hospitals in India do boast of modern IT infrastructure to maintain patient records and healthcare delivery. But the Government healthcare system has a long way to go before it can digitise even the most basic information.

The cost of networking all government hospitals across a state may be high initially, but it would be worthwhile for the amount of paperwork it would help eliminate and the convenience it would bring to the users.

The doctor's life will be easier because the patient's case history will only be a mouse-click away. Patients will be spared the trouble of lugging around huge files of medical records and spending more time completing the paperwork than consulting with their doctor.

Education and library systems

As early as 1999, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) had launched the "FastTrack@school" programme to encourage schools to leverage the power of broadband and develop interactive multimedia content. Over 120 schools have already adopted interactive broadband and multimedia content in their curricula and students can now benefit from an enhanced learning experience, especially in understanding difficult concepts.

Under another programme, called `Got to be connected', the Government has ensured that new users of IT technology can learn the use of computers and develop confidence in online transactions.

In India, most schools have taken the lead in IT education, but multimedia content has still a long way to go before it can make its appearance on the desktops of students. While most Indian students have basic knowledge of using a computer, very few use it for daily assignments and study. Some private schools have been working on developing multimedia content in the last couple of years. Surely, an opportunity for education sector entrepreneurs exists there.

One of the best applications of IT in daily life is seen in the library system of Singapore. Going to a library has been made so convenient that people actually find time to visit the facilities regularly. At the Jurong Regional Library, an experiment on a special floor for teens where they are left free to make all the din while they use the facility has been so successful it has patrons queuing up an hour before the library opens.

Singapore's National Library Board is using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tagging to keep track of its books much the same way as we track tigers in India. The time needed to loan a book from a library is just a few seconds, while to return, you sim<147,1,7>ply need to drop it in collection counters across the city at any time and electronics takes care of the rest, says Phoebe Su Kian Seow, Manager (Corporate Communications) at the Library Board.

Upgrading the library system may not be a high-priority area for any Government in India, but its importance cannot be over-emphasised for a country that still has a substantial chunk of population that is illiterate.

E-governance

With as many as 1,600 government services available online, a Singapore national does not need to visit any Government office for most of his needs to interact with the authorities. In fact, if somebody walks into a Government office, he or she is directed to the computer or has to cough up more money to avail of the same service.

"Initially, we nudged our citizens to use the e-governance platform by making counter services a little inconvenient. Now it is working well for us as most of the people prefer the 24x7 convenience it offers with at least 75 per cent of the population having already transacted with the Government electronically at least once," says the IDA Chief Executive Officer, Ching Yee Tan.

The Singapore Dollar 1.5 billion ($750 million) investment is yet to start giving returns to the Government, but it has already made an impact on the nation's economy, Tan says.

While several Indian state governments have made efforts to bring their services on the Internet, perhaps what is required is a clearer disincentive in visiting a Government arm in person. While the penalty of visiting the counter cannot be as severe as in Singapore, there has to be a clear advantage of conducting business on the Net for the e-governance initiative to kick off.

Singaporeans hate to stand in queues, Tan says. Perhaps Indians should also start realising the value of their time.

mail to:gaurav@thehindu.co.in

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