Project information

StatusFinalist
URLGo to website
CategoryPublic Administration
Public services - administration and management
CountrySingapore
Operational areasUrban
Target groupsWomen, Men
Fixed connectionDialup, Cable
Wireless connectionWiFi
Access pointsGovernment office, Business, Home, School, Library, Cafe
InteractLandline Phone, Desktop Computer, Cellphone, Laptop
Software License TypesProprietary

Project location

Random images Challenge 2008

Charity Portal (CP)

  • Brief description
  • CP is the first online portal in the world which allows for an electronic registration of charity status and Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status, as well as an electronic application for a fund-raising permit.
  • Vision, Objectives and Goals
  • 1. The idea for a Charity Portal was first proposed by an Inter-Ministry Committee (IMC) on the Regulation of Charities and IPCs. The IMC comprises senior public servants from 12 government ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, Inland Revenue Authority, Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, National Council of Social Service. It was set up in October 2005 to achieve the following objectives: a. Develop a regulatory framework to regulate charities and IPCs, with a view to helping the sector to grow; b. Rationalise existing regulations and the roles and powers of the various regulatory agencies involved in overseeing charities and IPCs; and c. Streamline processes to facilitate registration, reporting and fundraising requirements of charities and IPCs. 2. The development of the Charity Portal fulfilled the IMC’s third objective. 3. The implementation of the Charity Portal was the culmination of a well-coordinated multi-agency effort comprising 12 government agencies such as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, National Council of Social Service, Registry of Societies and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. The policy aspects of the project were spearheaded by the office of the Commissioner of Charities (COC) under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) while the technical implementation was overseen by the Information Technology Division, also under MCYS. An external IT vendor was appointed after a rigorous tender process to design and develop the system. Throughout the process, extensive requirement study and user acceptance testing were conducted with the regulatory staff and the charities.
  • How does ICT contribute to the organisational objectives
  • The consolidation of information in a single database has enhanced reporting functions for information sharing across COC and its 6 co-regulators (Sector Administrators). The 6 sectors are a. Health; b. Education; c. Arts and Heritage; d. Social Service e. Community and f. Sports. Advanced and open standard technology have been deployed as the operational environment for hardware, software and peripheral equipment in CP. Re-usable building blocks are used extensively to heighten development process and reduce maintenance effort in the long run. The development of CP using the chosen platform and rapid ICT development methodology helps streamline the work processes across the 6 sectors. With the use of ICT, applications for Charity and IPC status can be submitted online and case management becomes more effective and requires shorter lead time. Case officer assigned to the case will be able to view all information online and route the case for approval without manual submissions. Being web-based, CP is easily accessible to strategic partners to facilitate immediate information exchanges across agencies. The consolidation of information in a single database platform has enhanced reporting functions.
  • Transferability
  • In order to replicate the project, a partnership between the Government and people or private sector would be necessary. A project team is required to conceptualise and implement the Portal. This team should comprise representatives from various government sectoral regulators representing different charitable sectors (health, education, arts and heritage, social service, sports), an IT project manager and IT professionals. While the team need not comprise representatives from the charity sector, it should nonetheless consult the charity sector as they would be one of the main users. The team should be ideally supervised by a senior Government official who can command the necessary resources to make the project a success.
  • Project summary
  • In summary, the role that ICT plays in Charity Portal (CP) was instrumental. CP has not only improved efficiency in public service delivery but also improved information transparency in the charity landscape, leading to greater self-regulation and informed charitable giving. The detailed achievements are: a. It is the first online portal in the world which allows for an electronic registration of charity and IPC status, as well as an electronic application for a fund-raising permit. b. Charity registration processing time has been cut down from an average of 3 months to 1 month, leading to a three-fold improvement in registration efficiency. This is made possible as the applicants will be guided by the Charity Portal to fill up and submit all the information and documents necessary to process the application. c. The charity regulatory structure, previously spanning across 12 government agencies (the office of the Commissioner of Charities and 11 Central Fund Administrators), is now rationalised and harmonized via the common Charity Portal platform to ensure consistency in regulation. For example, charity registration processes have been standardised on the Portal, thereby eliminating the differences in regulatory policy across the government agencies which handle charities. d. With the use of the Charity Portal, the productivity of regulatory staff has increased by 90%. With the Portal’s database, it now only takes a minute to search for relevant information regarding a charity rather than the usual 10 minutes required to cull information from various physical files. e. In addition, the adoption of an electronic paperless system is environmentally-friendly. The amount of paper saved each year is estimated to be 30,000 pieces of A4-sized paper, assuming the avoidance of an average printout of 125 pages per work day and 240 work days a year.