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Ethos Issue 4, Apr 2008
Ten Tips: How to Create a Next Generation Public Service Super-Portal
Rosina Howe-Teo
LTA’s strategy was to adopt a 90-day “battle call” in the initial period, where a new function or service would be introduced every three months. A “What’s Coming” column on the portal anticipated upcoming improvements. Short intervals between roll-outs allowed much needed time to make vital adjustments and to mitigate possible risks in earlier judgment.
When embarking on radically new initiatives, trials and pilots were also taken in order to gauge public reactions and allow for fine-tuning of plans and systems before a full-scale launch.
By adopting a phased approach, surprises for the project team were minimised and user confidence accelerated with each successful launch of new features.
7. OFFER NEW SERVICES THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE BEFORE
Through the use of a single portal, LTA has closed the digital divide among the companies in the use of ICT. This provided the opportunity for the private sector to synergise activities and seek new way to deliver integrated services that have not been possible before. One such spin-off is the Electronic Vehicle Recall Service (EVRS).
From time to time, car manufacturers would issue notices for the recall of vehicles for parts replacement. These recalls are also mandated by LTA to comply with road safety and road-worthiness standards. Prior to EVRS, motor agents would send notices to car-owners based on their purchase records. The success rate of such recalls was less than 70% and inventory costs were high.
With EVRS, motor agents leverage on ONE.MOTORING to notify affected vehicle-owners, whose addresses are kept up-to-date in the portal’s central database due to road tax renewal regulations. Now, timely notifications are sent to affected vehicle owners, while motor dealers are able to better manage their inventory of rectification parts, and LTA achieves higher levels of vehicle road-worthiness. Since its introduction, the EVRS has garnered positive feedback from motor dealers for improving productivity, lowering business costs and enhancing overall efficiency.
8. MAINTAIN A COHERENT BRAND THAT IS RELEVANT, WITH A CLEAR CORE BUSINESS
With a hybrid portal offering both government and commercial services, a strong branding is essential to pull everything together. The name ONE.MOTORING was derived from the portal’s vision of “one-stop motoring”.
Four strategic thrusts underpin ONE.MOTORING’s brand-value proposition:
- Content: The portal must be informative, up-to-date and easy to use to promote self-service.
- Community-centric: It must be built with the end-user in mind, including the various interest groups among the public.
- Collaboration: It should be an amalgamation of efforts by the private and public sector, with LTA being the catalyst to transport the landscape of land transport services.
- Commerce: The portal will harness the capabilities of Internet technologies and provide alternative service-channels for transactions to be conducted over the net.
These fundamental principles have guided the development of the portal. As early as 1999, private-public-partnership strategies, definition of customer segments and elements of branding and marketing were already being adopted, in order to sharpen the portal’s focus.
9. DO NOT JUST OUTSOURCE, BUILD ACTIVE PARTNERSHIPS
LTA outsources the technical development and day-to-day operations and maintenance for ONE.MOTORING services to a technology partner. Marketing and business development activities are included as part of the overall agreement. However, LTA takes joint responsibility for overall business development to ensure that the portal stays focused and remains relevant to its primary stakeholders.
A joint business-development team from LTA and the service provider determines the annual work plan for the portal. Related key performance indicators are used and quarterly reviews conducted to align progress and discuss issues. New initiatives are determined collectively to ensure that these do not conflict with the Authority’s goals, while keeping an open mind to offerings of new ideas and opportunities by partners.
The working style of the public service and commercial partners can be radically different. However, instead of being overly guarded with each other, openness and transparency are key to bridging these differences.
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