Digital Services Awards 2024: Excellence in Digital Government Services and User Experience

Singapore, 28 November 2024

The fourth edition of the Digital Services Awards (DSA) celebrated the outstanding contributions of 44 individuals, private organisations, and government agencies across 10 categories for their efforts in advancing digital government services and enhancing user experiences.

Held at the Lifelong Learning Institute, this year’s DSA event attracted over 1,800 attendees both physically and virtually via livestream. Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information & Health, and Minister-in-Charge of GovTech, was the Guest-of-Honour and presented the awards to the winners.

In his remarks, Mr Goh Wei Boon, Chief Executive of GovTech stated, “We are proud to celebrate the contributions of individuals and organisations driving advancements in digital government services. By fostering strong collaboration between government, industry, and citizens, we can better keep pace with innovation and ensure our services remain relevant, user-centric, and inclusive. Together, we are shaping the path towards realising the vision of Smart Nation 2.0.”

Organised by GovTech and supported by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, the DSA is an annual event that has been recognising excellence in digital government services since 2021. In 2023, additional award categories were introduced to acknowledge the broader contributions of the Singapore community towards improving digital government services.

Two new award categories to recognise mobile experience and user-centricity

This year’s DSA, themed “Sparking Co-creation, Igniting Innovation”, highlights the vital role of co-creation and user-centric design in driving innovation and improving digital services.

In line with the theme, two new award categories were introduced to celebrate excellence in mobile experience and user-centricity: “Most Mobile Optimised Website (Government and Industry)” and “Most User-Centric Website (Government)”. These awards acknowledge both government and industry websites that deliver the best mobile experiences and demonstrate a strong commitment to meeting user needs.

The “Most Mobile Optimised Website” award category attracted over 40 nominations from a diverse range of sectors, including the government agencies, private companies, non-profit organisations, financial institutions, tertiary institutions, and media outlets. Meanwhile, the “Most User-Centric Website” award received nearly 20 nominations, all from government agencies.

The top 10 nominees in both categories were rigorously evaluated by a panel of expert judges, based on a set of pre-determined criteria. Bonus points awarded for exceptional innovation and proactive approaches in optimising websites for user needs.

Award nominations assessed through analytics, expert judges and citizens

To ensure that only the best digital services are recognised, every DSA nominee undergoes a rigorous four-month assessment process. This multi-stage evaluation involves technical scoring using GovTech’s Whole-of-Government Application Analytics (WOGAA) tool, along with expert reviews from industry leaders from Google, Microsoft, Meta, IBM, Thoughtworks, GovTech, and many more.

Additionally, over 200 citizens, including persons with disabilities, participated in evaluating the “Best Usability (Government)” and “Best Usability (Industry)” categories. Their feedback played a critical role in assessing the user-friendliness of digital services from both the public and private sectors.

Recognising outstanding citizen contributors

In recognition of the valuable contributions made by citizens to the enhancement of government digital services, nine individuals were honored with the “Outstanding Citizen Contributor” award.

Three awardees were selected through an open call for nominations across the Whole-of-Government, while six were selected from government-initiated tech communities, including Tech Kaki^[1] and CrowdTaskSG^[2].

The impact of these contributors was evaluated by a distinguished panel of esteemed experts committed to driving change and empowering lives through technology and knowledge.

For more information about the DSA, please visit the DSA website. ↗ (opens in new tab)

ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING GROUP

GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY AGENCY OF SINGAPORE

[1] Tech Kaki is an end-user community established by GovTech in late 2016 to involve citizens in developing government digital products and services. To date, Tech Kaki has over 6,000 members from diverse background. They actively participate in focus groups, user testing surveys, and other activities to co-create government digital products.

[2] CrowdTaskSG is a whole-of-government platform enabling agencies to co-create with citizens and gather insights to enhance digital services. To date, the plarform has over 37,000 active users who have participated in more than 330,000 tasks, including surveys, quizzes and verification requests. Their contributions have provided valuable insights for national initiatives such as BudgetMealGoWhere.

About Government Technology Agency of Singapore

The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) is the lead agency driving Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative and public sector digital transformation. As the Centre of Excellence for Infocomm Technology and Smart Systems (ICT & SS), GovTech develops the Singapore government’s capabilities in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, Application Development, Smart City Technology, Digital Infrastructure, and Cybersecurity.

GovTech builds tech for public good to improve the lives of Singaporeans and the economy, and supports public agencies in managing enterprise IT operations. Its other responsibilities include overseeing and safeguarding key government ICT infrastructure, as well as regulating public sector ICT procurement, data protection and cybersecurity. GovTech is a Statutory Board under the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.