Singapore’s digital government score rises as AI readiness introduces new performance gap

Singapore’s digital government performance improved for a third consecutive year, with its overall score reaching 65 in the 2025 Adobe Digital Government Index. The 4.7% increase was driven by gains in digital self-service and site performance, reflecting continued investment in infrastructure and accessibility across public sector platforms.

The index evaluates ministries and statutory boards based on customer experience, site performance, and digital self-service. While the results point to stronger technical foundations, they also highlight emerging gaps in how citizens interact with government services, particularly as expectations shift towards more intuitive and AI-enabled experiences.

Strong infrastructure gains contrast with declining experience scores

Improvements in Singapore’s overall score were linked to enhanced self-service capabilities and faster, more reliable website performance. These gains reflect sustained investment in shared digital infrastructure, accessibility standards, and platform consistency across agencies.

Long-term initiatives such as the Singapore Government Technology Stack, SingPass integration, and alignment with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines continue to support scalability and inclusivity. The Central Provident Fund Board was cited as an example of how clearer, plain-language content can improve self-service outcomes, particularly through its “PLAN with CPF” platform for financial guidance.

However, the index recorded a 5.8% decline in customer experience. Despite faster and more robust systems, users continue to encounter fragmented journeys, complex content structures, and inconsistent design across platforms. These issues affect how citizens locate information and complete transactions on both mobile and desktop interfaces.

AI readiness introduces a new benchmark

The 2025 index introduces AI readiness as a new category, reflecting the growing role of generative AI, AI-powered search, and digital assistants in shaping how users access information.

Singapore leads Asia with an AI readiness score of 65.5, supported by strong performance in trust, authority, and technical accessibility. Government websites are structured in ways that allow machines to access, navigate, and index content effectively.

However, the findings point to a visibility gap in external AI-driven platforms. Official information is less prominent in AI-powered search tools and digital assistants, where many users now begin their information journeys. Limited traffic referrals from large language models and lower demand for agency-specific keywords reduce the reach of government content in these environments.

This creates a new layer of competition for visibility, where technical accessibility alone is insufficient without optimisation for AI-mediated discovery.

Personalisation remains uneven across agencies

Personalisation is identified as a key factor in improving digital service quality, but adoption remains inconsistent across Singapore’s public sector.

Scores across ministries and statutory boards ranged from 37.5 to 68.8, indicating varying levels of maturity. Stronger performance is observed in early-stage interactions such as search, service discovery, and updates. However, personalisation is less consistently applied across end-to-end user journeys.

This uneven implementation limits the ability of agencies to deliver context-aware experiences that adapt to individual user needs, particularly as expectations shift towards more tailored digital interactions.