Singapore has joined the list of countries affected by COVID-19. Just like many others, the government of Singapore started studying all available options to fight this crisis effectively and with minimal losses. The government is focusing on finding an efficient way to communicate with the community and provide adequate and reliable information on the latest developments related to this pandemic. Since WhatsApp is widely popular in Singapore and caters to 4 million users, the app was chosen to complete this task.
The government of Singapore has formed the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), under the Prime Minister’s Office, to develop and provide safe digital services and applied technologies for individuals and companies. This government agency is a leader in ICT and related engineering fields. With the spread of COVID-19, GovTech established a new unit, dubbed CovTech, to deal with the consequences of this virus and launched technology-based digital services to protect members of society. GovTech drew a plan to deliver official information to individuals by using WhatsApp and limit the spread of false information that causes people to panic.
Accordingly, the government started using this app to share governmental updates in October 2019. However, the system was only tested in January of this year. The new system was implemented as part of the ICT infrastructure that was built as a response to the spread of COVID-19, which coincided with the rapid dissemination of fake news and people dreading the thought of reliving the events of the 2003 SARS outbreak. This technology (funded by the USD 4.02 billion COVID-19 response package) underwent many changes to ensure it fulfills its new purpose of sending accurate and useful information. The system is currently disseminating the latest COVID-19 updates, with two or three updates per day, as well as clarifications on fake news related to public policies and major government announcements.
To share information quickly and reliably, the government has used three tools to make the most of WhatsApp’s features and tailor them as needed. The first tool was the translation feature using artificial intelligence since Singapore has four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil. Therefore, the government has used AI tools to rapidly translate materials from English so that all members of society receive information as quickly as possible. GovTech was committed to designing an easy-to-use registration model for all segments of society that includes simple steps starting with the selection of the right language. It allows officials to create a new mailing list within 30 minutes and connect it with the systems of other government agencies. This model also ensures that data is fully encrypted between the two parties and linked to the government cloud.
Finally, the speed for sending updates was taken into consideration. At first, the WhatsApp tool was designed to send updates regularly to individuals and the system could only send 10 messages per second, so it would take 14 hours for the last person to get the message. To overcome this obstacle, the government established an alternative alert system that could speed up and scale up the process. The new system has increased the number of messages sent to 500 per second, which means that all participants can receive messages in under 30 minutes.
Singapore’s response to the COVID-19 crisis was acclaimed worldwide and commended by the Director-General of the World Health Organization. The government’s use of WhatsApp was a successful experience in terms of communicating with society members at times when rumors and false news were circulating. This app has allowed Singapore to deliver a quick and smooth response by combining urgent needs with the existing ICT infrastructure. Such programs enabled Singapore to communicate smoothly and swiftly with society members in times of crisis. On another note, CovTech developed two other digital tools to enforce compliance with government instructions. The Ministry of Manpower and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority use one tool to screen quarantined individuals by sending a short message at random intervals asking the recipients to confirm their location via geolocation technology. Moreover, the unit designed an AI chatbot in just three days to answer inquiries related to the virus and the government’s response to the crisis.
