Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

2005 Category 3: Singapore
cense in one visit, the system generated a single integrated application form. The
system then “intelligently” routed such information to various agencies. Applicants
could pay for all the license or processing fees in one consolidated payment via online
credit and debit payments. Concurrent processing of different licenses reduced
the time for the applicant to receive all the required approvals saving much time.
Once an application had been approved, the email and SMS alerted the applicant of
the change in status.
The initiative provides an effective platform to purge bureaucratic inefficiencies
within many government agencies. Extensive policy reviews were conducted and
systems re-engineered to allow the average processing time for licenses to be reduced
from three weeks to 12.5 days. In Singapore, 80% of all new businesses, approximately
30,000 enterprises annually, can now apply online through the OBLS
for one or more of the 69 licenses, which are commonly needed to start their businesses,
without resorting to offline means. Equally important, throughout the entire
business-licensing process, entrepreneurs will need to access only this single portal
for all their needs. As a natural extension to the online application service, the OBLS
allow applicants to complete license renewals, updates and terminations online. Finally,
8,000 businesses have benefited from the OBLS project by applying for their
licenses online. 87% of the feedback received has been positive.
For more information, please visit: www.mti.govt.sg
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