It was conceived in August 2001 and launched in January 2004, with the objective to encourage business investments in Singapore.

Spearheaded by the Ministry of Trade & Industry and the Ministry of Finance, it involved the initiation of a thorough Government-wide review of all start-up licences and licensing policies, as well as the re-engineering of processes involving more than 30 government agencies.

As lead project manager, IDA oversaw the suitable application of technology, and helped ensure that the bureaucracy was not transferred online, ie business process re-engineering must be done before moving the licences online.  Ecquaria Technologies and National Computer Systems developed the systems and infrastructure under IDA’s direction.

Multiple Duplications

Starting a business can be a confusing and frustrating, with a maze of agencies to negotiate for various licences.

For example, to set up a public entertainment outlet, such as a pub, one would need to register the business, apply for a Public Entertainment licence, a Liquor licence, a Tobacco licence, Employer’s Registration, and so on.  This results in having to approach different agencies to fill up forms requiring similar information, making the start-up process time-consuming and cumbersome.

To begin with, businesses even had limited knowledge of the licences they needed and the agencies that they had to approach.

Understanding the problems businesses faced was the first step to alleviating them.

Saving Time, Money and Effort

The Government-wide review resulted in the removal of licences that have ceased to fulfil a purpose and the shortening of processing times for licences that remain.

The OBLS integrated 71 licences from 19 government agencies into a single application for new business registrations.  Using the ‘Integrated Form’, businesses need only to make a single application and a consolidated payment for multiple licences.

It also provided the advantages of a 24-by-7 one-stop shop service for business licences.  The average time spent on licence applications was reduced from 5 hours to 1 hour or less, and the average processing time for licences was reduced from 21 days to 8 days.

Today, 80% of start-ups in Singapore can apply and pay for their business licences online at www.business.gov.sg.  Since its launch, over 22,000 businesses have been served, and it has received more than 85% of positive feedback.  Businesses now have more time and resources on their hands to focus on their business.

Applying Infocomm Technology

Infocomm Technology enabled applications for licences to be put online in a one-stop portal.  It facilitated an integrated system whereby multiple licence applications and payments through a consolidated online payment gateway can be made.

In addition, it also allowed the application to interface with multiple government agencies' backend systems, giving agencies the opportunity to leverage on central databases to verify information, and enabled various agencies to process applications concurrently.