According to all relevant studies and reports on the topic, we can see that Singapore is the smartest city in the world. When we say smart, we are talking about the concept of “smart cities.” So, we are talking about the place that has reached the highest level of digitalization in the world. Anyone who knows anything about Singapore shouldn’t be surprised to hear such news about the city.
What needs to be said is Singapore has voted on the initiative back in 2014, which determined that they will embark on a journey where that will lead them to this goal. The goal of this strategy is to help the city reach new heights when it comes to technology, but at the same time, the level of sustainability shouldn’t be changed by any means. So, you can see just how challenging this task was for the local government.
With all these things in mind, it becomes obvious that many people are interested in coming to the country and investing their money in the local market. Since we are talking about the digital hub of the continent, investing in companies that work on various technologies, like mobile apps has become of particular interest. Today, we want to talk about just how Singapore achieved making the city smart by developing mobile apps.
Mobile Payments
We know that mobile payments have been quite popular in the last decade practically everywhere in the world. However, we want to point out that the levels achieved by the Singaporean government are nothing short of exceptional. One of the ways you can see that is to acknowledge that almost half of the population has completely shifted towards using mobile payments, which is higher than anywhere else.
The reason why this is important is that this is probably the first place in the world where cash will cease to exist. From the approximation made by the people in the local government, we can expect that to happen pretty soon. We have heard similar stories in various European countries such as Sweden in the last two decades. Still, all of them have a long way to go before they reach the levels Singapore has reached.
Besides that, we can see that one trend that originated during the global pandemic COVID-19 took root in this country. We are talking about contactless payments, which means that everything is carried out online, so there is no need for having credit cards in your wallet as well. So, it is clear that it is not only cash that’s an outdated technology in Singapore, and we don’t believe this is the end of their achievements.
Public Services
Even though most people do not pay attention to public services at first, they must eventually agree that we are talking about one of the crucial factors that determine the quality of life in a city. The city’s government has launched a couple of mobile applications which can help their citizens with getting the right answers to their questions through their devices. On these, citizens get all the answers they need.
We are talking about an ongoing project that was launched back in 2015, and reached a certain stage today, in 2023. However, it is important to point out that this is not the final stage and that it is expected that the work on this entire program will continue in the future. Naturally, the citizens are frequently asked about their opinion on how this system should be improved to make their lives in the city easier.
Mobile Apps and Healthcare
The next thing we want to talk about is the connection between mobile apps and healthcare. Maybe you didn’t know, but Singapore has one of the fastest-aging populations, not just in Asia, but in the whole world. According to certain forecasts, we can see that by 2050, almost half of the population will be older than 65. So, we can see that this aging problem adds pressure on the government to seek solutions.
The ministry of health has decided to create a digital platform that will ensure that every citizen will receive the necessary medical help in the shortest time possible. How is this possible to achieve? Well, pretty much every segment of healthcare is digitalized, and patients can access whatever they need on their mobile phones. That way, healthcare becomes much more accessible to everyone out there.
Through apps on their mobile phone, patients can access their wellness and health history. Not only that, they can get all the relevant information about the needed changes, when the time comes for that. Instead of going to the doctor’s office and spending their time in a waiting room, the doctor will have their case in front of him. So, prescribing medications and seeking therapies becomes much easier.
Various Other Fields
In 2023, we can see that more than 90% of the population in Singapore owns a mobile phone. The reason why this is important is that this is the main drive-force behind practically all the digitization projects made in the last two decades. The entries that we’ve made before are crucial for the lives of the citizens, but that doesn’t mean that these are the only fields where we can see these improvements made.
In fact, there are a plethora of everyday activities you can simply do online without investing too much time and effort into them. You will certainly agree that this is a great way for people to save as much time as possible, and commit it to something they want to do. All the small things we do every day can be resolved in a couple of minutes, and we can agree that this is one of the blueprints of how standard life will look in the future. Even with the high cost of developing these applications in Singapore, the results speak for themselves, and the government continues to invest in the digitization of the country.
The Bottom Line
Singapore draws the map of how our future will look in the future. In this article of ours, you can take a look at all the most important information you should know about how mobile apps help with making the city smart.
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