High aspirations, stark realities

High aspirations,
stark realities:
Digitising government in South-east Asia
A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit
Sponsored by

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2016
High aspirations, stark realities:
Foreword 4
About the report 6
Executive summary 8
1 Aiming high 10
Figure 1: Technology laggards 11
Figure 2: South-east Asia by the numbers 12
2 Clouds, data, analytics and smart things 14
Figure 3: Beyond mobile 14
Cloud computing 15
Figure 4: Keeping up-to-date with cloud 15
Box: The Singaporean G-cloud 16
Big data and analytics 17
Towards a smart society 18
Figure 5: Making us healthier and smarter? 18
Box: An IoT initiative in Thailand 19
3 What holds digital government back? 20
Figure 6: Having it, and knowing how to use it 20
Infrastructure impediments 21
Box: Greater wireless capacity needed 22
Priority: standardisation for data sharing 22
The user perspective: connectivity divides 23
Figure 7: Citizens struggle to access and use digital services 23
Box: Public- and private-sector divergence 24
Conclusion 26
Appendix 28
Contents

4 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2016
Foreword
A surprising finding from the research is
that security risks are not considered a
significant barrier to adoption of technology
by governments, as respondents believe that
security concerns may partially be overcome
by setting up ‘private’ government clouds.
Both strands of this thinking appear to be at
odds with earlier studies, which suggested
that security is a major concern and is not
necessarily addressed through developing
private clouds.
An October 2014 survey of almost 300 CIOs
from ten countries in the Asia-Pacific region,
conducted by Microsoft, indicated that 79%
of respondents were concerned about security
and privacy of cloud solutions.1
Another
more extensive survey of cloud security
and encryption conducted by the Ponemon
Institute in 2012 also highlighted security
concerns; it, however, suggested that
sensitive and confidential information was
already then being transferred to the cloud
and that the trend would likely continue.2
This study observed that organisations
transferring sensitive data to externally
based clouds share three important
characteristics: 1) They understand security
and have a ‘strong security posture’;
2) They believe that the cloud provider has
the primary responsibility of protecting
data; and 3) They are more confident in the
cloud provider’s ‘actual ability’ to protect
Cloud services, big data analytics and the
Internet of Things can transform the public
sector. While the opportunities appear to be
innumerable, restricted primarily by finite
budgets, barriers to adoption commonly
emerge in three areas: quality of infrastructure,
legal framework and skills. Comprehensive
coverage and bandwidth are important
infrastructure requirements but cost of access
can impede take-up, a problem which countries
can potentially manage by reducing entry
barriers in their telecommunications sector.
Facilitating adoption requires clear rules
relating to data collection, storage, sharing,
privacy and security. Deep digital and analytical
skills are critical since without these, countries
will find it challenging to turn information
into insights. Easing the skills constraint will
require a reassessment of both education and
immigration policies.
Respondents from all five South-east Asian
countries covered by this survey acknowledge
the importance of these technologies. Indeed,
they all aspire to harness them for providing
better and more efficient e-government, but
countries are constrained by the three barriers
identified above to a greater or lesser extent.
The results vary across countries, perhaps
reflecting their levels of economic development
and size. Singapore and Malaysia have made
the most progress, with the former well ahead
of the rest.
1
http://news.microsoft.com/apac/2014/10/27/microsoftciosurvey/
2
http://www.ponemon.org/local/upload/file/Encryption_in_the_Cloud%20FINAL_6_2.pdf. This survey canvassed the views of 4,140 executives from
seven countries in different regions.

5© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2016
data than their own. Clearly, cloud service
providers have had success showing best-in-
class security, privacy and trust measures.
So, while the approaches to security and
trust remain somewhat divergent, what
is uniform is that governments across
South-east Asia all have high ambitions
when it comes to digitising their services.
They are motivated by the benefits and
are aware of the barriers to realising
these ambitions. This report lays out
what might be a set of practical solutions
to help governments overcome these
impediments and help citizens across
the region reap the rewards.
Ashish Lall
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
National University of Singapore

About the report
Our thanks are due to the following people for
their time and insights (listed alphabetically
by last name):
• Louis CASAMBRE, executive director, ICT
Office, at the Department on Science and
Technology, Philippines
• CHAN Cheow Hoe, Government Chief
Information Officer, Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore (IDA)
• Ilham HABIBIE, chairman of the Indonesian
National ICT Council (DETIKNAS), Indonesia
• Richard MOYA, CIO at the Department of
Budget and Management, Philippines
• Bambang HERU Tjahjono, director-general
for informatics applications, Ministry
of Communication and Information
(KOMINFO), Indonesia
• Dato NG Wan Peng, chief operating officer,
Multimedia Development Corporation
(MDeC), Malaysia
• King Wang POON, director of the Lee Kuan
Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at the
Singapore University of Technology and
Design (SUTD), Singapore
• Sarun SUMRIDDETCHKAJORN, executive
director, National Electronics and Computer
Technology Center (NECTEC), Thailand
High aspirations, stark realities: Digitising
government in South-east Asia is a report
from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU),
commissioned by Microsoft. Kim Andreasson
was the author and Charles Ross was the
editor. The report draws on a survey of 300
senior respondents: 150 from the public
sector and 150 from the technology sector.
All respondents hail from Singapore, Malaysia,
Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
The survey findings were supplemented by
interviews with senior public-sector managers
and other experts as well as wide-ranging desk
research. The objective: to understand the
drivers and inhibitors of public-sector digital
adoption within government organisations
and among citizens.
The EIU bears sole responsibility for the
editorial content of this report. The findings do
not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor.

Executive summary
Cloud computing is the top technology
priority today for South-east Asian
governments. ‘The cloud’ enables access to
the latest technologies without the need to
upgrade existing hardware or software—a
crucial benefit for cost-conscious government
agencies. Big data and analytics and the
Internet of Things (IoT) also figure prominently
in the list of technology trends of importance
to public-sector organisations. These
technologies and related trends are integral
to the development of ‘smart societies’ in
which everything is digitised across
government sectors.
Institutional challenges limit public-sector
adoption. Insufficient ICT (information and
communications technology) infrastructure,
in terms of bandwidth, speed and connectivity,
is the primary barrier to greater public-sector
technology adoption in most of the region.
High-speed broadband networks, for example,
are required to reap the full benefits of online
education, e-health and other public-service
areas requiring large amounts of data to be
transferred quickly. Limited ICT skills amongst
staff also seriously hamper digital government
initiatives. Finally, a lack of data sharing
between government agencies is hampering the
benefits of big data and analytics.
Enhanced efficiency, increased convenience
and cost savings are at the heart of digital-
government strategies around the world.
Governments in many countries are digitising
and automating internal processes and shifting
external service delivery to online platforms.
Benefits are beginning to accrue in the form
of improved cost efficiency and better citizen
engagement, and some governments are
beginning to monitor the benefits at a service-
by-service level. In South-east Asia at least one
government—that of Singapore—is among the
world’s leaders in this sphere, and the others
aspire to reach similar levels.
However, the 300 public-sector and
technology-sector executives surveyed for
this report agree that most South-east Asian
governments are not effective in implementing
new technologies. Along with other senior
officials and experts interviewed by The
Economist Intelligence Unit in five of the
region’s countries (Singapore, Malaysia,
Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand),
they also highlight a raft of obstacles—
notably involving infrastructure and skills
shortcomings—that need to be surmounted for
digital government to become a reality.
The key findings of the research are as follows:

A variety of digital divides impede citizen
uptake. The greatest of these is a connectivity
divide in terms of access to broadband, which
is increasingly necessary to conduct more
advanced online transactions. A persistent
affordability divide means even those having
physical access to broadband find it too
costly to obtain it. Mobile phones often
overcome these challenges but government
services are not always designed for the
mobile environment. Many citizens lack
the skills to use the services on offer, but
poor design means that even those with the
access and skills cannot use the available
services effectively.

3
http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21569716-new-attempt-reform-public-services-through-data-efficiency-transparency?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/
efficiency_by_transparency
4
https://www.gov.uk/performance
5
https://www.ida.gov.sg/Tech-Scene-News/Facts-and-Figures/Survey-Reports/Annual-eGovernment-Perception-Survey-Citizen-Conducted-in-2014
6
http://web.kominfo.go.id/sites/default/files/Prioritas%20Kominfo%20210-214.pdf
7
http://i.gov.ph/
Aiming high
1
Other governments in the region aspire to
reach similar heights. Malaysia’s Public-Sector
ICT Strategic Plan 2011-2015 set a bold target
of making 90% of all government services
available online and having 90%
of all transactions conducted via digital
channels by the end of the period (under the
slogan “Do More with Less”). In Indonesia,
expanding online access to public services
and making them more user-friendly were
among the top five priorities of the Ministry of
Communication and Information Technology
between 2010 and 2014.6
Thailand’s ICT
Policy Framework (2011-2020) calls for
‘smart government’ to improve internal
efficiencies within agencies and improve
access to government services for the public.
In the Philippines, the Integrated Government
Philippines (iGovPhil) project is central to
implementation of the e-Government Master Plan
of 2013-2016, which aims to improve government
processes and provide better services.7
However, there is a yawning gap between these
aspirations and the realities on the ground,
judging by the survey of public-sector officials
and technology-sector executives conducted
for this report. No more than one-third of
respondents believe that South-east Asian
public-sector organisations are very effective in
implementing new technologies, leaving two-
thirds to suggest they are not (Figure 1).
Public-sector organisations around the world
are looking to technology to improve internal
and external efficiency through greater use
of electronic government (e-government,
also referred to in this report as digital
government). For citizens, online services
offer greater convenience and save time.
For government, digitising public services
can also cut costs. A 2013 study by the UK
Cabinet Office found that digital public-sector
transactions are on average 20 times cheaper
than if conducted by phone and 50 times
cheaper than if done face-to-face.3
Indicative
of the potential benefits, the UK government
has started to track 800 services on a
central dashboard to analyse the percentage
of people who use the service online, the
cost per transaction, completion rate and
user satisfaction.4
Given the obvious—and often measurable—
benefits of e-government, South-east Asian
countries are following suit. This is exemplified
by Singapore. The city-state conducts an
annual e-Government Customer Perception
Survey to assess adoption of key initiatives
and to identify areas for further improvement.
The 2014 survey found that eight in 10
respondents had visited a government
website in the past year and that more than
nine in 10 were satisfied with the online
service they used.5

of ICT development—suggests that user
expectations pose a continuing challenge
to public-sector organisations and rise over
time. “Content and services may not meet the
requirement of savvy users,” explains Ng Wan
Peng, chief operating officer of Malaysia’s
Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC).
“People in Singapore are sophisticated at
using e-services and expect more from the
services,” adds Chan Cheow Hoe, Government
Chief Information Officer at the Infocomm
Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).
To be sure, there are large country variations
in this perception, which appear counter-
intuitive at first glance. More than one-half of
Indonesian respondents say the public sector is
very effective in technology implementation, as
do four in 10 Philippine respondents. In stark
contrast, only about one-fifth of respondents
from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore believe
this to be true. That perceptions are so low in
Singapore and Malaysia—the former which is
usually a world leader and the latter a regional
second in many international comparisons
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Total
0% 10%
57%
23%
40%
20%
23%
33%
20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Figure 1: Technology laggards
Countries “very effective” at implementing new technologies (% of respondents)
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit

Figure 2: South-east Asia by the numbers
(select countries)
Sources: UN E-Government Development Index; The State of Broadband 2015, a report by the Broadband Commission; World Bank World
Development Indicators
Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand
UN E-Government Development Index 106 52 95 3 102
ranking, 2014
Internet users (per 100 people), 2014 17.1 67.5 39.7 82 34.9

Fixed-broadband subscriptions 1.2 10.1 23.2 27.8 8.2
(per 100 inhabitants), 2014
Mobile-broadband subscriptions 34.7 58.3 28 156.1 79.9
(per 100 inhabitants), 2014
Fixed-line broadband affordability 6.9 2.4 8.6 0.4 5
(as a % of GNI per capita), 2013
Total population, 2014 254.5 29.9 99.1 5.5 67.7

GDP per capita, current USD, 2014 3,492 10,934 2,871 56,287 5,519
and to a lesser extent Malaysia, far outshine their
neighbours (see figure 2). This report explores
the technology drivers of digital government
in the region’s major countries, and seeks to
understand the different factors that inhibit
greater public-sector technology adoption—by
both governments and citizens—in them.
“The challenge going forward is that all the
basic work has been done and we have to meet
greater expectations.”
The uneven development of public-sector
technology across the region is also reflected in
actual e-government usage where Singapore,

Clouds, data, analytics and
smart things2
Cloud computing, big data and analytics,
and the Internet of Things (IoT) all figure
prominently in the list of technology trends
of importance to public-sector organisations
in South-east Asia today. Mobile devices,
on the other hand, are well down the list,
suggesting that the opportunities presented
by mobile saturation have already been
seized upon. It may also reflect a growing
focus of governments on the cost-effectiveness,
security and scalability of online public
services, and the value lying in the data
that they generate. (Figure 3)
It was once assumed that mobile technology
was integral to spurring usage of online public
services in Asia, providing a leapfrog-type ability
to reach the masses of citizens without fixed-line
connections. Today, however, at least in South-
east Asia, government agencies are according
higher priority to other technologies. Indeed,
digital technologies are advancing quickly, and
the priorities they are accorded by governments
can change just as rapidly. “Technology is just
a tool,” explains Bambang Heru Tjahjono,
director-general for informatics applications at
the Ministry of Communication and Information
(KOMINFO) in Indonesia, indicating that the
priority of technologies depends in part on a
country’s strategic direction.
Cloud computing
Big data and analytics
The Internet of Things
Mobile devices
Social networking
Cyber security
Software-defined networking (SDN)
Basic computer literacy
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
37%
27%
25%
17%
16%
21%
11%
11%
Figure 3: Beyond mobile
Most important technology trends for organisations (% of respondents)

This notion is reinforced by the survey, where
cloud computing’s most important benefit (as
judged by nearly half of respondents) is access
to the latest technologies, without the need
to upgrade existing hardware or software (see
figure 4). Overall, nine in 10 respondents also
agree (40% ‘strongly’) that the greater use
of cloud computing by the public sector will
improve efficiency.
Cloud computing
“At present, cloud computing and cloud
hosting are number one,” says Richard Moya,
chief information officer at the Department of
Budget and Management in the Philippines,
when asked about his government’s technology
priorities. “Cloud is important because it
enables us to deploy systems quickly, allows us
to test systems early and lets us offer online
services to the public 24/7 without having to
increase personnel and resources.”
Figure 4: Keeping up-to-date with cloud
Top 4 benefits of cloud computing (Rank percentage of respondents)
Government and public sector IT and technology suppliers
Access to the latest technologies 1st (41%) 1st (51%)
(eg, no need for hardware and software upgrades)
Accuracy 2nd (35%) 2nd (29%)
(eg, improved record management)
Collaboration 4th (23%)
(eg, improved working culture)
Convenience 3rd (30%) 3rd (22%)
(eg, no need for an in-house IT department)
Cost 4th (20%)
(eg, reduced fixed costs and flexible pricing models)

Only a minority of respondents (35%) strongly
believe that security issues will limit the
potential of cloud computing in the public
sector. Security concerns are realistic when
it comes to storing sensitive information on
public clouds, but these can be addressed with
the development of private clouds in which
security is enhanced (see box).
Globally, the International Data Corporation
(IDC), an IT research firm, expects total
spending on cloud IT infrastructure to
grow by 24% and reach US$32.6bn in 2015.8
It sees spending on traditional non-cloud
infrastructure, on the other hand, declining
by 1.6% in 2015. Cloud spending in 2015
is estimated to represent one-third of all
8
https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25946315
9
United Nations E-Government Report 2012 (page 26)
10
http://www.egov.gov.sg/egov-programmes/programmes-by-government/cloud-computing-for-government
The Singaporean G-cloud
Whereas public-sector and technology-sector managers in other South-east Asian countries
cite access to the latest technologies as the leading benefit of cloud computing, those in
Singapore focus on other advantages, namely convenience (32%), accuracy (28%) and cost
(27%). This may be a result of the cloud’s wider adoption in the country. According to the
United Nations (UN), one area of its cloud leadership is “the use of private cloud computing
for leveraging ICT infrastructure and services.” 9
The private cloud was developed primarily for one simple reason: security. “The government
has a lot of classified data,” explains Mr Chan, Government Chief Information Officer at the
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). “We have to ensure that these are
well maintained and secured. To ensure greater control and security, we developed our very
own private cloud or Government Cloud in Singapore. However, we want to provide agencies
with cloud options.” As a result, it developed a hybrid cloud model in which public data takes
advantage of the economies of scale of public clouds while storing sensitive information in
the private one.
The Singapore Government Cloud (G-cloud) aims to provide an IT environment in which
all public-sector agencies are connected to the same infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS)
to provide secure web hosting and meet governance requirements. In 2014 the G-cloud
was expanded to include software-as-a-service (SaaS), which enables agencies to use the
same operating systems, applications and databases. More recently, the government has
been expanding the service through a ‘CloudStore’ in which business analytics and security
services, including qualified offerings from industry for government agencies, will be
made available.10

spending on organisational IT infrastructure,
up from 28% in 2014. South-east Asia
generally lags behind other regions in
cloud adoption. According to the Business
Software Alliance (BSA), an advocacy group
for the global software industry, Singapore
ranked fifth in cloud computing adoption
among 24 countries around the world in 2013;
Malaysia (13th), Indonesia (21st) and Thailand
(23rd) all lagged behind. (The Philippines were
not part of the ranking.)11
Governments are recognising that releasing
public-sector data can help organisations
generate new products and services and
find other innovative ways to use such data.
Such ‘open government data’ initiatives are
flourishing around the globe due to their
economic benefits. A 2015 study by the OECD
estimated the public-sector information market
to be around US$97bn in 2008 and could
have grown to around US$111bn by 2010.12
“Governments are keen to leverage growing
amounts of data to create better services for
constituents,” says Ms Ng of MDeC.
The survey respondents agree, citing big data
and analytics as the second-most important
technology development for their respective
organisations. “The trend in data and analytics
is a very important one, and its potential can
only be fully realized by making data accessible
and usable to the public,” confirms King Wang
Poon, director of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for
Innovative Cities at the Singapore University of
Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore.
However, South-east Asian countries have
generally been slow to join the open data
movement. To date only Indonesia and the
Philippines have signed up to the Open
Government Partnership, an international
initiative to provide more public-sector data.13
Singapore is striving to build the world’s first
‘smart nation’ through increased access to data
in order to leverage technology to its fullest
extent.14
“There is strong high-level support
for the Smart Nation initiative,” says Mr Poon.
“There is much more readiness and willingness
to share data across government departments
and externally, and we would all like this to
move along more quickly.”
11
http://cloudscorecard.bsa.org/2013/
12
OECD, Assessing government initiatives on public-sector information: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5js04dr9l47j-en
13
http://www.opengovpartnership.org/countries
14
https://www.ida.gov.sg/Tech-Scene-News/Smart-Nation-Vision

In order to fully capitalise on smart initiatives,
however, cloud and data/analytics must be
combined with technology advances in other
areas, such as the Internet of Things (denoting a
wide universe of everyday objects communicating
with each other through embedded sensors) as
well as newer, emerging technologies (see box).
Drones, for instance, can monitor and police
remote areas by taking pictures, and are helpful to
countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia
with vast land masses stretching across thousands
of islands.
Extending the benefits of technology into such
areas as education, healthcare and transportation
involves efforts to ‘digitise everything’ by
converting manual tasks into bits and bytes.
Cloud computing and big data and analytics are
not the only technology trends that feed into this
broader vision but they are core to the efforts.
Cloud computing is seen by survey participants
as having the biggest potential impact on
public-sector service delivery—both today and
three years from now—in the areas of health,
education and finance, while having lesser impact
in security/policing, social security/welfare and
labour/employment (Figure 5).
Health
Education
Finance (eg, taxes)
Social security/welfare
Labour/employment
Security/policing
Don’t know
0% 10%
23%
40%
20%
20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
59%
42%
51%
43%
45%
39%
31%
36%
26%
38%
33%
33%
Now
In 3 years
Figure 5: Making us healthier and smarter?
Where cloud computing will have the biggest impact, now and in 3 years (% of respondents)
Towards a smart society

An IoT initiative in Thailand
Gartner, an IT market research company, forecasts that 4.9bn ‘things’ will be connected globally
in 2015 and expects this number to grow to 25bn by 2025.15
Governments and public services in
South-east Asia will be among the beneficiaries. “Technologies that are related to sensors and
data analytics are among the most important trends for the public sector today,” says Sarun
Sumriddetchkajorn, executive director at the National Electronics and Computer Technology
Center (NECTEC) in Thailand.
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, a southern province in Thailand, a local team developed an innovative
solution to better track and manage flooding, which is a big problem in the region.16
(In
November 2002, a flash flood resulted in estimated losses of more than 10m Thai Baht.)
Wireless sensors at 15 remote sites around the province now enable monitoring of water flow
and precipitation levels. The information collected can be used to forecast flooding patterns
and send warnings to government agencies and local communities via email or SMS. Officials
and residents can also use a standard web browser or their mobile devices to access real-time
information, thus helping to prevent future disasters.
15
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2905717
16
rdo.psu.ac.th/sjstweb/journal/33-2/0125-3395-33-2-227-235.pdf

26%of respondents strongly believe
that their country is well-prepared for
cloud computing in the public sector
What holds digital government back?
3
primary challenges (see figure 6). In this context
it may not be surprising that only one-quarter
of respondents strongly believe that their
country is well-prepared for cloud computing in
the public sector.
Understandingthebarrierstotechnology
adoptioninanycontextrequiresanalysisfrom
twoperspectives,thatofproviders(inthiscase
governments)andofend-users(citizensand
businesses).InmuchofSouth-eastAsia,both
strandsofanalysisrevealdifficultobstaclesinthe
wayofgreateradoptionofdigitalgovernment.
Within governments, the foremost barriers
are of an institutional nature. Insufficient ICT
infrastructure (in terms of bandwidth, speed and
connectivity) and staff ability to use technology
effectively (according to 40% and 39% of survey
respondents, respectively) are cited as the
Organisational ICT infrastructure
Lack of technology standards
Staff ability/skills to use ICTs
Affordability/funding
Budgeting and procurement policies
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Government/public sector
IT and technology supplier18%
23%
20%
37%
32%
28%
46%
44%
36%
18%
Figure 6: Having it, and knowing how to use it
Top 5 barriers to greater use of ICT in the public sector (% of respondents)

It may be surprising that cyber security is
low on the list of challenges cited by survey
respondents to public-sector technology
adoption (mentioned by 16% of them),
especially given the number of high-profile
attacks around the world. “Security is not a big
issue because most data are already publicly
available,” asserts Richard Moya, who emphasises
that sensitive information such as private and
national-security-related data should not be put
in the public cloud. (And, as discussed earlier,
private clouds can address many public-sector
data security concerns.)
the challenge of connecting everyone,” says Mr
Habibie. “We have yet to connect the last mile,
meaning offices and hospitals that use lots of
data to conduct, for example, tele-medicine,” he
explains. “Limited access to ICT infrastructure
in remote areas is a particular challenge for
local governments,” adds Mr Heru of KOMINFO.
However, innovative initiatives can help
overcome these deficiencies (see box).
Building a ‘smart society’ also necessitates skills
to develop local solutions to local problems, an
area in which many South-east Asian countries
struggle. “The lack of human resources is a big
barrier,” says Ilham Habibie, chairman of the
Indonesian National ICT Council (DETIKNAS), who
highlights the importance of having educated ICT
staff to achieve a thriving digital environment.
“Technology cannot be implemented by itself,”
adds Mr Sumriddetchkajorn of NECTEC, who
underscores the point that organisations must also
develop talent. “In other words, people, processes
and ICT together lead to high effectiveness.”
Inadequate ICT infrastructure is a greater
problem—in reality and perception—in some
countries than in others. Survey respondents
in Singapore (12%) are the least concerned
about infrastructure, while those in Indonesia
(58%) and the Philippines (55%) express the
greatest concerns. In part, this is due to the
uneven development of affordable broadband
infrastructure, which enables more advanced
services such as e-health, e-education, and
other public-sector services that require faster
speeds for delivery.17
In Indonesia, for example,
‘first mile’ broadband infrastructure is expected
to reach all the country’s regions by the end of
this year. “But it is a fallacy to believe we have
actually covered Indonesia as there remains
Infrastructure impediments
17
EIU, The future of broadband in South-east Asia: http://www.economistinsights.com/technology-innovation/analysis/future-broadband-south-east-asia

Greater wireless capacity needed
Many of the technologies deemed by survey respondents as important for the public sector
rely on—or benefit from—the ability to access them over wireless networks at high speeds.
However, the rapid growth of mobile devices in use, including smartphones, creates the need
for greater capacity to transfer large amounts of data. Existing networks either do not have
appropriate reach to rural areas or are already operating at close to full capacity in many places.
A big barrier facing developing countries in building out mobile broadband networks is often
insufficient spectrum allocation—a necessary technical development that allows operators to
utilise unused wireless frequencies. Successful spectrum management can potentially bring big
benefits. The GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association), an association of mobile operators,
estimated that the Asia-Pacific region can unlock US$1 trillion in GDP through better spectrum
efficiency between 2014 and 2020.18
To resolve the issue, many countries are looking to convert ‘TV White Space’—unused spectrum
allocations for television broadcasters—into wireless frequencies for mobile devices. Singapore,
for example, started this process in 2014 in order to improve capacity.19
But the technology
may hold even greater promise in large developing countries as it can be used to provide
broadband access to rural areas in a cost-effective way, enabling them to seize on the potential
of technology trends such as cloud computing.
on common data formats, for example,
can negatively impact initiatives in cloud
computing, which thrive on common systems
and databases. “Siloed legacy systems which
can’t communicate with each other are a major
challenge,” agrees Louis Casambre, executive
director of the ICT Office at the Department
on Science and Technology in the Philippines.
“The public sector must take a ‘whole-of-
government’ approach, because citizens just
want government services and don’t care which
government organisation is offering it.”
A reluctance, and inability, to share data
across public-sector agencies and departments
is no less intractable an obstacle to digital
government. “The biggest challenges to greater
ICT use generally within the public sector
involve coordination and communication
among institutions,” says Mr Heru. The lack
of willingness to share data is only the first
obstacle to overcome. “The second,” according
to Mr Poon, “is how to make different data
sets work together in terms of standardisation
and interoperability.” A lack of agreement
Priority: standardisation for data sharing
18
GSMA and AT Kearny: The Mobile Economy 2013
19
https://www.ida.gov.sg/About-Us/Newsroom/Media-Releases/2014/180-MHz-of-Spectrum-to-Be-Made-Available-for-Use-with-Implementation-of-
TV-White-Space-Regulatory-Framework

the toughest challenge for increasing end-user
demand for online public services. A dearth of
ICT skills among end-users is the other major
challenge to greater citizen adoption (cited by
44%). (Figure 7)
interest or understanding of its benefits. Another
is a digital divide between urban and rural areas
in which the latter often find themselves with
inadequate broadband speed and reliability to
take advantage of advanced online services.
“The cost of Internet and computing devices is
another challenge,” says Mr Moya. Only Singapore
and Malaysia are below the affordability target
of 5% of monthly income set by the Broadband
Inadequate or unevenly developed ICT
infrastructure is just as large a barrier to end-
user uptake of digital government services as
it is to the government agencies which provide
them. Over half (52%) of respondents cite this as
Country divides in connectivity come into focus
again from the user perspective. In Singapore with
its dense fixed- and mobile-broadband networks,
only 30% view ICT infrastructure as a major
barrier compared to almost two-thirds (63%) in
Indonesia and Thailand. Beyond actual broadband
cables, there are other associated barriers to
greater usage of digital government services. One
is low Internet penetration, often due to a lack of
The user perspective: connectivity divides
Figure 7: Citizens struggle to access and use digital services
Top 5 barriers to greater public demand for public sector services via ICTs
(rank percentage of respondents)
Government and public sector IT and technology suppliers
Lack of skills among users to use ICTs 1st (53%) 2nd (35%)
Country ICT infrastructure 2nd (50%) 1st (54%)
(eg, bandwidth, speed, connectivity)
Price of ICTs for users 3rd (35%) 4th (23%)
Security concerns and trust 4th (22%) 4th (23%)
(eg, relating to data protection and privacy)
Lack of content/service availability 5th (18%)
(eg, some public sector services are unavailable online)
Gaps between technology ownership and service 3rd (27%)
delivery channels
(eg, lack of computers and smart phones to take
advantage of cloud computing services being offered)

Public-and private-sector divergence
The 150 public-sector officials and 150 technology-vendor executives in the survey are in
agreement on many issues but not all. Differences in opinion emerge in particular regarding
barriers to ICT adoption and the potential for cloud computing.
Both government and technology-sector respondents view a country’s ICT infrastructure as
the greatest challenge to increasing end-user take-up of online public-sector services (see
figure 6). However, public-sector respondents are considerably less concerned about their
own infrastructure issues than are technology suppliers. The former are more concerned about
their staff’s ability and skills to use ICT (see figure 7). Similarly, public-sector officials also
view affordability/funding as an institutional barrier to a greater extent than tech-sector
respondents, which may be attributed to the fact that they need to compete for budget to pay
for any ICT investment.
Resource constraints also permeate respondent views about cloud computing, where
affordability is seen as a far greater concern for public-sector officials than for technology-
sector executives (cited by 34% and 20% respectively). When it comes to cloud computing,
public-sector respondents find it much harder to value the return on investment (37%)
compared to their private sector counterparts (26%).
aware of the benefits of online service delivery
but do not have the infrastructure or skills to
use it.
“The challenge for the public sector is to make
services easier to use,” says Mr Casambre. In the
Philippines, almost one-quarter of all households
have broadband subscriptions. Among those, it is
estimated that 9 of 10 have a Facebook account.
“Government services need to be present on social
media,” adds Mr Moya, whose own department has
a Facebook page from which it links to relevant
services. Once users get to them, he believes, the
development of simple user interfaces by creating
customer friendly portals will serve to greatly
enhance usage.
Commission for Digital Development.20
The
Philippines government, like those of other
South-east Asian countries, provides for free
Wi-Fi in certain places to help lessen this burden;
however, users often browse the Internet with
a mobile phone, which can create device access
limitations as services are often designed for
computer usage.
Studies often find that low usage is attributed to
low awareness of the benefits of online services.
However, few survey respondents (13%) believe
a lack of knowledge about available services
or cultural preferences for service delivery via
offline channels are a major brake on demand
growth. The inference is that users are generally
20
http://iif.un.org/content/broadband-commissiondigital-development

Conclusion
• Prepare for convergence: Information and
communication technologies should not
be viewed in isolation from one another,
as larger benefits accrue from combining
them. Likewise, a holistic view of both
problems and solutions on both the supply
and demand sides is required. Poorly
designed services may be a supply-side
issue, but if nobody can use them due to a
lack of infrastructure, there is no point in
addressing them in isolation.
• Think out of the box: Hybrid cloud solutions
are effective in minimising data security
concerns while reaping the benefits of
international economies of scale. Such
innovative thinking can be applied to other
areas as well, such as using TV White Space
in wireless spectrum allocation to help
overcome geographic divides.
• Realise that less can be more: For the
past decade the UN, amongst others, has
measured progress in e-government by
counting the number of services offered
online. But the realisation is dawning that
fewer services which are better designed are
more appreciated by actual users. Rather
than requiring citizens to file tax returns, for
instance, the forms can pre-filled and mailed
to recipients who only need to confirm them.
‘Less is more’ is helping governments to
improve the user experience and to meet
rising citizen expectations.
Digital government is beginning to deliver
tangible results to societies in many parts
of the world, in terms of both public-
sector efficiency and citizen engagement.
Governments in South-east Asia are keen to
realise the same benefits, and Singapore and
Malaysia have made a credible start at setting
digital government in motion. This report
makes clear, however, that difficult obstacles
impede government efforts to turn aspiration
into reality.
Above all, public-sector organisations in
most of the region are not considered
effective in implementing new technologies,
whether due to inadequate infrastructure
or a shortage of skills. There are other,
emerging challenges to address. For example,
data localisation regulations and demands
for ‘sovereign clouds’, in which data must be
stored within a country for cyber security and
privacy reasons, are growing around the world.
“Data sovereignty is one of the challenges
to cloud computing. Public cloud providers
need to work closely with government to
understand the key concerns around classified
data. It’s not impossible for some classified
government data to be hosted on a commercial
cloud model with some variations,” according
to Mr Chan.
Our research suggests a few lessons for
governments in the region looking to transform
public service delivery through technology:

Appendix: Survey results
1. What is your primary industry?
2. In which country are you personally located?
3. Which of the following technology trends are most important to your organisation today?
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Government/public sector
IT and technology supplier
51
49
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
20
20
20
20
20
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Cloud computing
The Internet of Things
Mobile devices
Social networking
Cyber security
Software-defined networking (SDN)
Basic computer literacy
37
27
25
17
16
21
11
11

4. In your opinion, how effective are public sector organisations in implementing new technologies?
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Very effective at implementing technology
Somewhat effective at implementing technology
Neithereffectivenorineffectiveatimplementingtechnology
Somewhat ineffective at implementing technology
Very ineffective at implementing technology
33
51
13
3
1
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
(eg, access to bandwidth, speed, connectivity)
Lackoftechnologystandards(eg,noagreementordisagreement
onwhichcloudsolutionstouseacrossagenciesanddepartments)
Organisational culture
(eg, resistance to change)
Lack of understanding of senior management
regarding the benefits of ICTs
Migration to ICT-based service delivery
is a low priority
Security concerns
Confidence and trust of service providers
Regulation
40
23
39
16
29
20
11
13
16
7
7
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Country ICT infrastructure
(eg, bandwidth, speed, connectivity)
Gapsbetweentechnologyownershipandservicedeliverychannels
(eg, lack of computers and smart phones to take advantage
of cloud computing services being offered)
Lack of skills among users to use ICTs
Culture
(eg, a preference for service delivery via non-ICT channels)
Price of ICTs for users
Lack of content/service availability
(eg, some public sector services are unavailable online)
Lack of knowledge about available services
Security concerns and trust
52
22
44
13
29
19
13
23
5. In the country in which you are located, what are the greatest challenges towards greater demand for public
sector services via ICTs?
6. In the country in which you are located, what are the greatest institutional and technical challenges towards
greater usage of ICTs generally in the public sector?

7. In the country in which you are located, what are the greatest institutional and technical challenges towards
greater usage of cloud computing specifically in the public sector?
8. How important is cloud computing technology to the public sector today?
9. How important will cloud computing technology be to the public sector three years from now?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
(eg, access to bandwidth, speed, connectivity)
Lackoftechnologystandards(eg,noagreementordisagreementon
whichcloudsolutionstouseacrossagenciesanddepartments)
Organisational culture
(eg, resistance to change)
Lack of understanding of senior management
awareness of benefits of ICTs
Migration to ICT-based service delivery is a low priority
Security concerns
Confidence and trust of service providers
Regulation
36
28
34
16
27
23
13
8
20
9
8
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Very important
Somewhat important
Neither important, nor unimportant
Somewhat unimportant
Very unimportant
57
37
5
1
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Very important
Somewhat important
Neither important, nor unimportant
Somewhat unimportant
Very unimportant
Don’t know
63
31
5
1

10. What are the most important benefits of cloud computing in the public sector?
11. In which public sector areas can cloud computing make the biggest difference today?
12. In which public sector areas can cloud computing make the biggest difference three years from now?
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Access to the latest technologies
(eg, no need for hardware and software upgrades)
Accuracy
(eg, improved record management)
Collaboration
(eg, improved working culture)
Convenience
(eg, no need for an in-house IT department)
Cost
(eg, reduced fixed costs and flexible pricing models)
Innovation
(eg, reduced cost for new initiatives)
Standardisation
(eg, same software used across agencies)
Time savings
(eg, shared infrastructure and information
minimises in-house work to deliver services)
Better delivery of public sector services
Greater security
46
32
21
26
18
12
14
16
9
6
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Health
Education
Finance (eg, taxes)
Labour/employment
Security/policing
Don’t know
42
43
39
36
38
33
3
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Health
Education
Finance (eg, taxes)
Labour/employment
Security/policing
Don’t know
59
51
45
31
26
33
3

13. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements
My own understanding of cloud computing in the
public sector has improved in the last three years
My country is well-prepared for cloud computing
in the public sector
The increase in cloud computing by the public
sector is likely to improve efficiency
Security concerns limit the full potential of
cloud computing by the public sector
Valuing the return on investment is hard when it
comes to cloud computing in the public sector
0% 20% 40%
Strongly agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know
60% 80% 100%
35
26
40
35
32
54
49
48
50
46
9
21
10
12
16
1
3 1
11
2 1
4 2

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