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Objectives

To establish a government-wide view comprising all government agencies' Enterprise Architectures, so as to identify more citizen and business centric services, and better align business and Infocomm Technology (ICT) investments.
Fast facts
Launch date
May 2002
      

Introduction:

An Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a set of blueprints that provide a holistic view of business functions, supporting data standards and ICT systems and services, regardless of the organisational structure and ownership of these systems. This is used to drive the organisation's strategic alignment and business transformation.

The EA for the Singapore Government comprises the Business Architecture (BA), Information Architecture (IA), Application Architecture (AA) and Technical Architecture (TA) of the government. It provides a holistic view of business functions, common data standards, and shared ICT systems and infrastructure. This programme facilitates the identification of opportunities for collaboration among agencies, encouraging greater sharing of data, systems and processes across agencies.

 

Background:

The Singapore Government's EA journey started in 2002 and has been on-going, under different programme names:

Service-Wide Technical Architecture (SWTA) – In 2002, the SWTA was developed to serve as a set of technology standards, product registers and best practices, which guided agencies in the construction of ICT systems, with the objective of enabling inter-agency systems interoperability. The SWTA has since been renamed as the Singapore Government – Technology (ICT) Reference Model (SG-TRM).

Singapore Government Enterprise Architecture (SGEA) – In 2007, the Singapore Government – Reference Models and EA methodology were developed. The reference models provide a common understanding of business functions across government agencies, data standards to facilitate data exchange, and a view of common systems and services that can be reused. The methodology helps to guide agencies in developing their agency-wide EA. Provided below is a brief write-up of each component:

  • Singapore Government – Business Reference Model (SG-BRM) – The SG-BRM addresses the BA, and describes the lines of businesses and business functions performed by different government agencies.
  • Singapore Government – Data Reference Model (SG-DRM) – The SG-DRM addresses the IA. It specifies the data definitions for data elements that are commonly used across the government.
  • Singapore Government – Solution Reference Model (SG-SRM) – The SG-ARM addresses the AA, and describes the systems and service components that can be shared across the government. The SG-SRM has since been renamed as the Singapore Government – Application Reference Model (SG-ARM).
  • Methodology for AGency ENTerprise Architecture (MAGENTA) – This methodology was created to guide government agencies in developing their agency EA with the use of the EA reference models. It provides detailed steps to develop an EA, templates for information capture, scenarios and best practices. In collaboration with an Institute of Higher Learning, an EA practitioner's certification programme was also introduced in mid-2006.

Enterprise-Wide Architecture for Value Enhancement (eWAVE) – In 2009, an EA Pilot was conducted with related agencies using the artefacts from the SGEA and SWTA to identify both agency and cross-agency opportunities. This EA effort highlighted opportunities for standardisation, shared data, shared systems, as well as ICT demand aggregation. To support EA modelling, analysis and presentation, the Singapore Government – Central Repository for Enterprise Architecture (SG-CREATE) was established to serve as a single government-wide EA repository that allows business and ICT information to be captured in a consistent manner using established standards. This information can be used for planning both agency-wide and government-wide.

 

Programme Details:

The Whole-of-Government EA (WOG-EA) is the current EA programme that builds upon the foundational effort from the previous EA efforts. It aims to enable the government to improve its services and optimise its ICT assets by rigorously analysing and identifying strategic opportunities from its various lines of businesses, business information, software applications and technology investments, so as to meet key strategic outcomes laid out in the eGovernment 2015 masterplan.

The WOG-EA programme is focused on achieving the following outcomes:

  1. Identify opportunities for end-to-end service integration for a seamless government, leading to greater synergy and efficiency.
  2. Identify shared systems that can be used by multiple government agencies to minimise duplicative efforts.
  3. Improve clarity on application resilience requirements to achieve robust solution designs.
  4. Improve impact analysis on technology adoption to attain better technology planning and policy development.
  5. Improve transparency of WOG initiatives and government agencies' various ICT investments, as well as their alignment with business goals to reach better investment decisions.