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Govt partners with Microsoft to develop chatbots for e-services

SINGAPORE — In the near future, citizens could use chatbots on public service websites to help them answer questions or complete simple tasks, thus doing away with the need to scroll through dozens of Web pages to find the information they need.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, TODAY file photo

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, TODAY file photo

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SINGAPORE — In the near future, citizens could use chatbots on public service websites to help them answer questions or complete simple tasks, thus doing away with the need to scroll through dozens of Web pages to find the information they need.

Singapore is partnering with software giant Microsoft to develop next-generation digital government services via chatbots that will enable conversation — be it voice or text, said Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister-In-Charge of the Smart Nation Initiative, on Tuesday (July 12).

He announced the proof-of-concept project, Conversations As A Platform, during the World Cities Summit.

“I believe there are more intuitive ways for government services to be delivered to our citizens. Everybody expects responsive and personalised interactions in real time,” said Dr Balakrishnan, who made the announcement during a session titled Smart Cities: Leading the Way.

“I think we have moved beyond paper, electronic form-filling and just online services. What we are trying to do now is to work with Microsoft on the concept of ‘conversations as a platform’. Some of you may know them as chatbots because in fact, if you ask most people today, most of our interactions with friends and peers are through emails, instant messages and other similar platforms,” said Dr Balakrishnan, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs.

“Now the question is, why shouldn’t the same capability be available for government? Which means not queuing and waiting for a person to attend to you, but having an intelligence with access to all the data and the ability to personalise and respond to you in real time, to guide you to access the most relevant services and to make the most efficient use of government resources,” he added.

Possible uses of this technology include helping with queries or transactions. The various public service platforms are still being reviewed to determine suitable pilots.

The proof-of-concept will be implemented in three phases, where users are able to converse with, and call upon, any applications within a single website to complete tasks, according to a joint statement by the Infocomm Development Authority and Microsoft.

In Phase One, chatbots will draw from a vast database to answer simple factual questions from users about selected public services. 

During Phase Two, chatbots will expand their capability to help users complete simple tasks and transactions within government websites.

In the final phase, chatbots will be able to respond to personalised queries from users.

It will also explore potential future scenarios, including services that cater to a multilingual and multigenerational population, said the statement.

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