Revamped app with more than 40 govt services aims to be one-stop shop

She had downloaded the Government's Moments of Life (MOL) application a year ago, but it was only while searching for a pre-school for her one-year-old daughter months later that she started to use it.

Ms Lim Siang Ching's family is vegetarian and she found she could use the app to narrow her school options by the fee charged, the distance from her home as well as the food served.

The graphic designer has also used the MOL app to track her daughter's vaccinations, upcoming medical appointments, and government benefits that her parents, both in their 60s, are eligible for.

Now, after a revamp to the app, Ms Lim, 34, can also apply for a new passport, make housing payments with her Central Provident Fund savings, and more.

Rebranded as LifeSG, the improved app will provide one-stop, personalised access to more than 40 government services, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office said, up from the 12 that MOL offered.

Announcing the revamp during a webinar yesterday, Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation initiative Vivian Balakrishnan said the new app is more citizen-centric.

EVOLUTION

"This is part of an evolution of the delivery of government services using technology, but focused and customised on people as individuals, and keeping humans at the centre," he said.

The new app interface groups services by topic, such as healthcare, community services and housing and property.

Users can also indicate their interests, and a personalised dashboard will recommend relevant content and features.

The dashboard will be improved to give an overview of key personal information, and there are plans to add reminders that prompt users to complete important applications such as primary school registration.

Existing users of MOL, which has been downloaded more than 165,000 times, will be prompted to update the app.

The Government Technology Agency (GovTech) said LifeSG is complementary to the Government's digital identity app SingPass Mobile, through which many of the same digital services can be accessed.

A GovTech spokesman said the former helps users to navigate across government agencies and discover services and information they might not have been aware of, while the latter gives quick access to users who know what they want to do.

The revamp comes two years after MOL was first launched.

Aimed at serving citizens at specific milestones, it first catered to new parents and helped to cut the time spent on birth registration and Baby Bonus applications from an hour to 15 minutes by letting parents do both at the same time.

Seven in 10 births are now registered via the app.

New features were added last year for seniors and, more recently, for those impacted by Covid-19.

GovTech chief executive Kok Ping Soon said: "We will continue to extend simpler access to digital services and personalised content to more citizens, and evaluate their needs and feedback to improve the app with more useful features."