United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

ICA’s mission is to ensure that the movement of people, goods and conveyances through our checkpoints is legitimate and lawful. We administer and uphold our laws on immigration, citizenship and national registration fairly and effectively. Among other services, ICA’s Service Centres cater to the issuance of identity cards and passports to the population of Singaporeans, Permanent Residents, and foreigners with long-term pass stay in Singapore.

Currently, ICA provides a suite of online services to allow the public to apply for / replace these documents. Applicants can check the application status with ICA over the phone. After approval, a letter would be sent to the applicant with an appointment to collect the document. The appointment itself can be changed online or through the phone.

As part of ICA’s continual improvement to enhance services provided, several areas were identified as points where service delivery could be enhanced:

A) There has been an increase in the number of applicants calling ICA to check the status of their applications. While such calls can be handled by our customer relations officers, the nature of these requests are better handled through the web itself, as it provides visual proof for the public (compared to verbal assurance over the phone), allows the public to print out such documents online, and is available “24 x 7”. Current phone-in requests can only be attended to during office hours where officers are available to do the necessary checks.

B) ICA frequently encounter overcrowding and extended waiting times at issuing counters for documents (i.e. Passport, Identity cards, and Long Term Pass cards), particularly during the eve of public holidays and school holidays. There has been an increase in the volume of applicants over the years, and overcrowding frequently occurs because of centralization of all these services within the ICA building itself. Despite the fact that such applications can be done online, there is still a necessity for applicants to physically turn up at ICA itself to collect their documents. The issuing of documents at ICAB is also contingent on the opening hours of ICA. Moreover, as the Singapore Biometric Passport (BioPass) was issued in 2006 with a 5-year validity period, ICA anticipates an increase in the number of applications as the first wave of people who adopted BioPass in 2006 starts to expire.

C) Issuance of identity cards that are temporary in nature (e.g. Long Term Pass cards for foreigners who needed to stay in Singapore for finite periods of time) belies the need for a proper channel for collection of such documents upon cancellation / expiry (It is a statutory requirement for holders to surrender them). There is also an incentive for ICA to remove these cards from circulation to avoid misuse. To encourage card holders to return these cards, a convenient method to facilitate their return should be identified, and should be provided in preparation and anticipation of such returns. Currently, efforts are being carried out to remind organizations to return these cards on their staff’s/student’s behalf.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
ENCORE aims to implement alternative service channels to alleviate the crowding of existing ICA channels (e.g. counters, phonelines) throughout the application-to-collection process without increasing the ICA staff headcount, without increasing the number of actual counters at ICA building as there is a strict limit to the amount of space available in ICA building. There is also the critical requirement that existing authentication / issuance regime not be compromised by the creation of alternative channels. Mindful of these restrictions, the initiative nonetheless aims to provide distinct benefits to the applicants that use our services. CONNECTING THROUGH ACTIVE PARTICIPATION BY APPLICANT Through the technologies employed under ENCORE, applicants are empowered to make choices over where and when they will collect their documents – they are not restricted by geography and the limitations of opening hours on ICA’s part. Furthermore, the applicant’s application status is readily available online at any time of the day and there is much more choice and convenience offered to the applicant when using ENCORE. VALUE-ADDED SERVICE ENCORE also adds value by changing how the application status is tracked. Instead of tracking the status on a piece-meal basis, the new enquiry system is more customer-centric and treats the applicant as a unique entity with potentially multiple businesses with ICA. This greatly helps applicants manage their applications much better. TIME SAVINGS Less time is also spent by the applicant to access any of these services offered by ENCORE. When enquiring about their application status, the user can do so online instead of spending time calling and talking to ICA’s customer relations officers. During collection, the applicant can also choose to collect his/her document at any location that would incur less travel time for him. The service expands ICA’s capacity to deal with applications without being constrained by a limited geography (one issuing location vs. multiple points) or manpower (operating hours and limited manpower). MULTIPLE CHANNELS, MINIMUM VISITS, AND MANY BENEFITS Ultimately, ENCORE embraces ICA’s strategic thrust of providing Multiple Channels for our services, requiring the Minimum number of Visits on the part of the applicant, and providing Many additional Benefits for using it.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Through the inspection of ICA’s user experience during the entire application process, we discovered that while the internal processes were streamlined, the various touch points with the applicants / public posed some challenges which had potential room for improvement. ENCORE was proposed jointly by ICA Corporate Communications Division, Services Centres, and Technology Division to enhance these touchpoints – enquiry, collection, and return activities – with technology. ENCORE would develop alternate channels for the processes owned by individual units within ICA. There were multiple stakeholders in this project : Passports and identity cards for citizens come under the purview of the Citizen Services Centre (CSC); identity cards for permanent residents come under the purview of the Permanent Resident Service Centre (PRSC); Long Term Pass cards issued to foreigners with need to stay in Singapore for extended periods (e.g. foreign students) are issued by the Visitor Services Centre; and the ICA Call Centre is managed by the Corporate Communications Division (CCD) Technology Division gathered the diverse requirements of these parties and proposed separate solutions based on the nature of the requirements. For the enquiry of application status, an online portal would require inputs from each Service Centre’s core application-handling systems, requiring maintainance by different technology vendors with different status updates. In the end, 17 types of processes were identified and an open tender was called to select a vendor to integrate all data components into the iEnquiry web portal. For the collection of documents, two tracks were developed. First, a partner was identified with the ability to provide alternative collection outlets, with the capability to ensure that proper processes were carried out to ICA’s satisfaction. The project was overseen by Director of CSC, who championed the project and held discussions with the partner to ensure that the Alternate Site Collection project could be deployed smoothly. Once the requirements were confirmed, an open tender was called to select a vendor to provide the necessary applications and hardware. In the second track, Technology Division sought the help of industrial partners to explore the development of an automated dispensing system for documents, with a biometric authentication interface. Called iCollect, this is expected to be the first in the world to automatically dispense documents upon authenticating the correct person, and is currently in the development stage. Recognizing multiple existing channels for the return of Long Term Passes, the iReturn kiosk adds value to the process that goes beyond mail-ins, drop-boxes, and even turning up at the ICA manned counters. PRSC identified weaknesses in each of these methods and addressed them completely with the implementation of iReturn. iReturn verifies that the card is indeed cancelled or expired before accepting it, and upon receiving the card, will print a receipt to the depositor. This ensures that no “junk” deposits are mixed with the actual cards, and provides a proof of the return. Unlike previous return processes, iReturn logs the return of the document so that the daily returns can be tallied and audited, improving the overall accountability of the return process.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
ENCORE was implemented via several stages. To handle enquiries on application status, iEnquire was developed to provide a one-stop service for the enquiry of application status filed under the applicant’s NRIC number (National Registration of Identity Card - a citizenship identification number), or an application number if the applicant is a foreigner. This means that if a citizen is replacing his passport, sponsoring for the student pass for a friend, and at the same time applying for the Permanent Residency for his wife who is a foreigner, he would be able to track the status of all three applications at one go via the centralized portal. This also provides a unified view of all the outlying business transactions ICA has with an individual. In the spirit of creating a unified enquiry portal, iEnquiry also incorporated an existing online verification portal that provided online authentication of identification cards (e.g. for homeowners to check if a foreign worker’s card is valid, and therefore eligible to rent a place). To alleviate the time spent by applicants in the collection of documents issued at ICA, ICA collaborated with an existing strategic partner – Singapore Post (SingPost), to act as an alternative collection point for these documents. Under this partnership, applicants can specify which SingPost outlet they would like to collect the document, and then collect the document at their own convenience. At the SingPost outlet, applicants can expect the same stringent verification regime as they would encounter if they are at ICAB itself (i.e. fingerprint verification as true owner of the document to be issued). ICA has also deployed a self-service kiosk (called iCollect) that can automatically issue documents upon verification – applicants can specify what type of documents to be collected at the iCollect, and the machine will warehouse the requested document (Passport or Identity card) beforehand. When the applicant arrives at the iCollect kiosk, he/she will verify himself/herself with multi-modal biometrics (fingerprint and facial) to confirm that he/she is the true owner of the document. The applicant then verifies that the document information (e.g. name on the passport) is correct before being issued with the document. There are plans to create more of such kiosks and make them run “24 x 7”. To encourage the return of Long Term Passes, ICA also created iReturn, a self-service kiosk for the return of Long Term Pass (LTP) cards. As the system is in its introductory stage, there are plans to create more of such kiosks and make them run “24 x 7”. The technologies and processes linked to the initiative were showcased via public media, including events such as ICA’s Workplan Seminar, where members of the media were invited to witness the exhibitions of ICA’s new projects. Additional exposure was ALSO created through newsprint as well.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
To ensure the best value for money, projects in the ENCORE were awarded based on an open tender process. As the products were not dependent on each other, they were developed separately and concurrently to ensure that ENCORE’s benefits can be delivered as quickly as possible. For Alternate Site Collection, changes to existing backend systems handling the movement of each type of document was first completed in early 2010, followed by the development of a set of web services to handle inventory management and issuance at SingPost. Hardware was later deployed for the launch of the service in October 2010. To mitigate risks, the service has been deployed in 2 phases, with the issuance of passports being deployed in the 1st phase, followed later on by NRIC and long term passes in the 2nd phase in first quarter of 2011. For iEnquiry, the tender was called at the end of 2009 and the system was completed mid 2010 and commissioned in November 2010. For iReturn, the tender was also called at the end of 2009, and due to the complexities of creating a new physical hardware, the system is currently in its pilot phase which commences in September 2010. As there was no precedence for iCollect, a proof of concept was pursued by ICA and showcased in early 2010. The tender was called in end 2010 and the system can be expected to be up and running by early 2012.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Being an improvement to how ICA provides identity services for members of the public, ICA is careful to consider the dangers of mis-issuance of document as well as information from the systems involved – be it allowing users to access data that do not belong to them, to SingPost issuing the wrong documents to applicants, to the possibility of documents being lost in transit. To avoid these complications, due process has been implemented to account for all documents from point to point. The delivery of documents from ICA to SingPost outlets are accounted for, in that the documents must be tallied before they can be accepted, accepted before they can be inventoried, and later inventoried before they can be issued. The same due process is expected from ICA officers handling the iCollect kiosk, where documents brought out from the secured document-production facility must be tallied and inventoried on the iCollect system. Even in the actual collection process, SingPost personnel must follow the proper authentication steps before issuance – this includes a thumbprint verification on the person’s identity with the identity of the applicant, and a verification of the same provided identity with the identity of the document to be issued. A similar process is used for iCollect, with the additional use of facial recognition technology as a second-factor authenticator. In the reverse case, while iReturn does not require the owner of the identity card to be the person returning, every card returned is logged with iReturn and a receipt is printed as proof. Even for online enquiries, iEnquiry requires applicants to log in using a “SingPass” (a web login authentication unique to a person’s NRIC - http://www.singpass.gov.sg/sppubsvc/abt-us.html ) or the application number specific to the applicant. When working with trusted partners like SingPost, their inputs were also actively solicited in the design of the final systems to be used. For example, SingPost’s inputs were obtained for the development of the inventory and issuing applications for the Alternate Site Collection project. As the creation of some of these alternative service channels are quite new to ICA, there are also plans to further expand the scope and size of the channels used for ENCORE.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
ENCORE uses extensive technology to achieve much of the aims. The projects require effort on the part of technology companies to integrate existing systems and provide new interfaces if none existed before. No server hardware is required as many of these systems rely on existing databases. A) Some interfaces are accessible as e-Services online (e.g. iEnquiry is accessible as a web portal, and SingPost staff use e-Services to access applications that are part of Alternate Site Collection project). Such services require hosting the eServices on the Singapore government’s web-hosting environment called SHINE, so that access could be provided via the Internet and applications hosted on the environment could be managed and protected from online threats. B) For kiosks like iCollect and iReturn, additional resources were needed to design and build the physical kiosk. The kiosks must be hardy enough to withstand a certain level of abuse so as to keep the documents within them safe, yet appear friendly and approachable. C) As collection requires authentication of the applicant, biometric readers were also used as part of the process. In the case of Alternate Site Collection, applicants need to verify their live fingerprint against multiple checks (database and actual document), while in the case of iCollect, a facial recognition engine equipped with camera has been added on top of the fingerprint verification. As with all technology developments, users and project managers were involved from the start of this project to ensure that the final deployment of these technologies fulfilled the operational expectations placed on them.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The initiative was supported by the budget from the Singapore government, while certain specific equipment used in Alternative Site Collection was purchased by SingPost itself. The ENCORE initiative is transferable in so far as it is applicable to the processes of most document-issuing government offices. The consolidation of enquiries on a unified web portal, or the identification of trusted partners to issue documents on behalf of the issuing authority, or even the creation of automated issuing machines are not ideas applicable onto to ICA’s situation. Indeed, many of these solutions are not new – what is more unique is the way the Programme uses existing solutions for document issuance. For example, ICA adopts the idea of the “jukebox” concept to automate the issuance of documents by adding a layer of biometric authentication, and the introduction of biometric screening to the parcel/mail collection process (where recipients can choose where to collect their parcels) to push the document-collection service to SingPost outlets. Similarly, the concept of providing one-stop services to customers so that they can manage all their transactions at a glance has been around for a long time, but the difference is that iEnquiry combines this customer-oriented concept with the strengths of having an existing identity-code framework.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Although this project was only initiated recently last year, however the figures received so far have been encouraging. Over 50,000 enquiries were made on iEnquiry since its commissioning 1 month ago. For Alternate Site Collection, operational since October 2010, more than 2000 collections were made through this system in a month. With the wave of renewals expected upon the expiry of the first batches of BioPass, the number is expected to increase. The need to replicate the authentication process from ICA staff to a third party (SingPost) or an automated system (iCollect) has taught us valuable lessons in ensuring that nothing valuable is lost in the process. For example, making a visual check of the applicant against the identity document’s photo may come as second nature for many of us, but it still requires the creation of a facial-recognition module to ensure that iCollect can do the same (if not better). With the implementation of iCollect, it will be the first self-service kiosk in the world to dispense Government-issued documents (i.e. BioPass, NRIC and LTP) which make use of secured biometric verification. This biometric methodology ensures that Government-issued documents will only be dispensed to the correct identified applicant. If the rollout is proven to be a success, future plans will include expanding this concept to include the issuance of other documents (e.g. driving license and work permits), and including other trusted partners of ICA’s (besides Singpost) to offer the service of allowing members of the public to collect documents at their premises as well. iReturn is currently in its pilot phase and has been receiving returns daily at a modest rate. The numbers can be expected to rise once the service is open “24 x 7”. Like iCollect, the iReturn’s strengths can be replicated for other agencies that require the public to return issued documents (e.g. work permits) Given the constraints in ICAB itself as a service window, ENCORE has shown that alternative channels are valid methods to expand existing services without increasing either manpower or physical counters. This also enables partners like SingPost to add value to their current businesses. More importantly, the applicant saves time and has choice over how best to access ICA’s services, all the while being assured that the same standard of verification checks have been put in place. These new service channels are also easily extensible without the increase in manpower or the addition of new physical counters. Service innovation is therefore achieved without any compromise to security.


Institution Name:		Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), Singapore
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		David Lee
Title:		Senior Technology Executive
Telephone/ Fax:		+65 6391 6275
Institution's / Project's Website:
E-mail:		chin_siew_fong@ica.gov.sg
Address:		ICA Building, 10 Kallang Road, Singapore 208718
Postal Code:		208718
City:
State/Province:
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information