Singapore’s JTC : IT’s building blocks

Like all good e-governance projects, eCREAM started not with technology, but with people. JTC wanted to re-invent itself into a customer-centric organization, which, in a government setup, requires shedding layers of bureaucracy. It also needed a robust IT infrastructure; one built on tough framework, which would leverage a set of databases and infrastructure components.

JTC also hired from the top drawer. They asked consultants Authur D'Little to run a complete Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) exercise. Once their strategy was set, JTC moved to issues on the ground. It hired Accenture for business and technical expertise, and Avanade for technical implementation. It was agreed that JTC would construct on Microsoft .NET architecture, and rely on Microsoft for the OS and the database. The workflow would be managed with Tibco, while CA's Aion business rules package was to be deployed as part of the three-tiered, clustered Web architecture.

The company took a four-phased approach to ensure manageability, and also because this enabled them to chart a course that gave their employees several morale-boosting milestones. Deploying its manpower intelligently was one of JTC's strengths; one which ensured a smooth rollout. This sensitivity was reflected in the way they communicated job security to their people.

eCREAM's benefits to JTC's external customers were also so immense that they adopted it with gusto. "Our customers have been receptive to trying out our e-applications. On our end, we smoothened the change by going onsite to teach our customers the use of online applications, by setting up self-help kiosks at our counter, and by providing publicity booths during our customer events," says Yap.

Another advantage to eCREAM is centralization. Earlier, JTC had four zonal offices to handle all the manual work, but thanks to the new system, all these activities have been moved back to the head office. eCREAM didn't only save money, it also brought more in.

eCREAM's benefits to JTC's external customers were also so immense that they happily adopted it. Another advantage to eCREAM is centralization. Earlier, JTC had four zonal offices to handle all the manual work, but thanks to the new system, all these activities have been moved back to the head office.

JTC isn't resting on its laurels. It is moving ahead at full steam with new ideas for eCREAM.
But, all said and done, the chief success of eCREAM can perhaps be traced to one important fact-eCREAM was envisaged as a module to ensure better customer satisfaction, and this focus has been retained two years after the application was first rolled out.

Here's a lesson all e-government initiatives can benefit from-start with the customer, and end with them.

The Person Behind It

Yap Chee Yuen

Group CIO and CKO, JTC

The corporation is committed to helping customers stay competitive, to be responsive to their needs and to be creative in continually providing solutions that exceed customer expectations.