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Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

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Singapore has launched the Service Industry Transformation Program (SITP), part of its Smart Nation initiative.
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Singapore has launched the Service Industry Transformation Program (SITP), part of its Smart Nation initiative. This project aims at raising the efficiency of employees by improving the processes of learning and adopting digital technologies and means in the public sector. To achieve this national goal, the Public Service Division (PSD), under the Engineering Program Office, has decided to cooperate with Kryon, specializing in the implementation of automation technology across multiple services, starting with the submission of monthly expenditure reports to the Government Technology Agency to contract management at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

PSD was committed to implementing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) after it had proven its effectiveness in the private sector and led to many advantages, such as reducing repetitive tasks through automation solutions and simulating human behaviors to enhance business efficiency and effectiveness. The adoption of RPA also allowed for the efficient and swift performance of tasks, improved the ability of employees to learn and develop digital skills, and created a culture that stimulates innovation and development within governmental entities.

PSD chose two public entities to test the project, evaluate its role in alleviating job burdens, regulate mechanisms, and automate repetitive and secondary tasks. The division chose entities interested in new technologies, including the National Environment Agency, the Housing and Development Board, and the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research. The selected projects were evaluated based on potential replication and use in other agencies, including evaluating employee skills that qualify them for a promotion, processing cash receipts, and managing invoices and payments.

The Accountant General's Department (AGD) was one of the first governmental entities to initiate the implementation of the pilot project in 2018, funded by the National Robotics Program. AGD used technological means to improve the audit of government accounts. In the past, AGD chose random accounts to audit and review their records to detect errors that may occur in a process that requires tremendous human effort. AGD conducted an experiment on a robot that audits salary increases, performance bonuses, and salaries. This program can process about 100,000 records in just 10 minutes, thus eliminating the need for a random selection since it reviews all records swiftly. This system also made it possible to identify error patterns and improve the process of spending allocation. For example, RPA can determine if a phone line is not being used and gives AGD the option to reduce spending by canceling this line. This system can also identify employees who are processing more invoices compared to their colleagues and alerts the managers that some employees are not working hard enough while others are burdened with additional tasks. It saves time and effort for auditors in manual auditing, giving them enough time to work on more advanced tasks in direct cooperation with government entities. 

The trial was applied once more in the initial phase to improve the onboarding of new employees in the Public Service Division using RPA. Prior to conducting the RPA trial, new employees needed two weeks to get the necessary equipment and tools, such as employee cards, phone numbers, and email addresses. RPA is now capable of allocating user equipment and accounts, alerting service providers, and making it easy for employees to receive their equipment from the first day. This mechanism now needs 7.5 minutes to be completed, while it required 76 minutes in the past. 

RPA projects within the government of Singapore have proven effective across various areas, most notably human resources. For example, AGD used this technology to audit salary increases, performance bonuses, and salaries, while the Economic Development Board also used it to assess employee eligibility for promotion. The Ministry of Defence harnessed this technology to process self-employed make-up pay claims for NSmen, while the Ministry of Education used it for staff deployment. Ngee Ann Polytechnic employed RPA technology to manage the contracts for participating lecturers and full-time staff, and the public sector used RPA to onboard staff and prepare exit clearance for employee resignation within the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research.

On another note, Singapore used RPA projects to boost funding and procurement. They were implemented by the National Environment Agency to process purchase orders and requests. GovTech also benefited from this technology to prepare monthly expense reports. Furthermore, invitations to quote (ITQs) were published in GeBiz for the National Library Board. The Public Utilities Board harnessed this technology to develop the cash collection receipting process. The Infocomm Media Development Authority used it for payment processing of accounts payables. Within the same context, the National Research Foundation processed its payments with RPA, while state courts employed this technology to reconcile the budget and expenditures.

RPA projects were not only limited to human resources, finance, and procurement sectors, as they had a significant role in boosting business and operational processes. The perfect example is the Civil Aviation Authority which implemented this technology to regulate air traffic, the Housing and Development Board also used it to manage payments and billing for service providers, and SkillsFuture Singapore used it to approve requests for course providers. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry expressed its interest in this technology and implemented it to track industry transformation maps.

RPA has been applied in 18 government entities across Singapore to date and received positive feedback from the government sector thanks to its success. This technology has transformed the way the government sector works, especially AGD, and has proven its ability to completely eliminate manual functions, such as data entry and other routine tasks. The Public Service Division aspires to keep on integrating RPA technologies in the daily activities of various government divisions. In the future, RPA is expected to acquire the same capabilities as machine learning and artificial intelligence, which will maximize the benefit of this technology. Accordingly, the government is looking forward to a future in which process automation is a technology that is accessible to all and easy to program so that one robot is assigned to a public employee to perform secondary tasks.

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