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Government to release more data on the Web

SINGAPORE — Instead of poring over spreadsheets and data tables found across a myriad of Government websites, the public can now access more Government data on topics ranging from lightning activity to property rentals, as the Government continues its e-governance push.

SINGAPORE — Instead of poring over spreadsheets and data tables found across a myriad of Government websites, the public can now access more Government data on topics ranging from lightning activity to property rentals, as the Government continues its e-governance push.

The Government will be releasing more data to the public, said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday, calling the move a “proactive” one that will “encourage more feedback, as well as research and analysis on issues of public concern”.

Users of the Government’s OneMap site can select from a dropdown menu what data they wished to peruse with respect to the geographical area they searched for. For example, in future, the Government will add rental transactions for all public and private properties onto the interactive map. Users can then overlay such information against, say, school locations or transport nodes to keep themselves informed when deciding to rent a property.

Another example is PopulationQuery, a new service launched yesterday on OneMap that allows users to sieve data on Singapore’s population according to filters like age group and household monthly income. Such a service, when combined with other filters such as restaurant clusters, could help businesses decide on their product mix or whether to even set up shop.

The Ministry of Manpower will launch a Labour Market Statistical Information site next month, which generates graphs and tables using the ministry’s survey data, allowing employees to benchmark their salaries against the national or an industry’s average.

Mr Tharman — who was speaking at the launch of the fourth eGov Global Exchange at Marina Bay Sands — said the move was meant to help meet “increasingly dynamic, multi-faceted and complex” challenges and reach out to tech-savvy citizens, and the information would be presented in a user- and machine-friendly manner.

The news was greeted with cautious optimism from experts TODAY spoke to.

Director of International Property Advisor Ku Swee Yong welcomed the move, but said users should be careful of relying on raw daw that would be interpreted wrongly. For example, rental figures might not capture extras — rent-free periods for businesses, whether a property has been renovated — that affect the final price.

Director of Research and Consultancy at Chesterton Suntec International Colin Tan said rentals could be driven up if individuals flocked to areas with low rentals indicated, prompting landlords to hike rents, but added it is “still better to have more information”.

National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser said he hoped to see more data on poverty, social mobility, citizens, permanent residents and foreigners. “Quality data matter for academic research and policy analysis.”

As for the labour market, human resources consultancy Hudson Singapore’s Executive General Manager Andrew Tomich said more information “may help spur competitiveness and productivity from both employees and employers”. But he echoed concerns that the data, which might not capture information such as work experience or qualifications, might be misread.

Mr Tharman also announced yesterday that the Government was launching Corporate Pass — similar to SingPass — which will allow authorised staff to access multiple corporate e-services for a company through one common system, come early 2016.

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