| 24-hour help for sending out press releases |
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| The
MICA team which developed the
VDD. |
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Worried sick about having to send out an
urgent media release during the wee hours of the
morning? Fret not — there is now the Ministry
of Information, Communications and the Arts’
(MICA) Virtual Duty Desk (VDD) to do the job! Like
its name suggests, the VDD is a Web-based portal
that enables government ministries and statutory
boards to disseminate information to the media 24
hours a day from any place, at anytime, as long
as there is access to the Internet.
First introduced as a pilot project for four ministries
in October 2003, the VDD now has more than 300 users
from ministries, statutory boards, the People’s
Association and community development councils.
Don’t be put off by its swanky name —
the VDD is surprisingly easy to use. All users need
to do is log on to the VDD website. Within a few
clicks, they can decide when and how to send out
information. They can even specify ahead of time
when to disseminate a media release.
Ministries and statutory boards can also personalise
their media releases by using their own letterheads,
which also makes for easier identification.
The media’s job is also made easier as journalists
can now go directly to the source of the information
for clarification, if necessary.
For those who are worried about system errors, fret
not. The user-friendly VDD will prompt users if
compulsory fields have been missed out or when there
is an error in the dissemination time of the media
release.
The VDD has really proven its worth. During the
recent tsunami disaster, it was one of the main
channels for providing updates on Singapore’s
humanitarian relief efforts in affected areas like
Aceh and Phuket. Pictures and images of the relief
efforts and equipment used were easily and instantly
relayed to the media.
Aside from being a more efficient means of releasing
information, the VDD has brought colleagues in MICA
and other agencies closer through regular interactions
and training sessions.
Credit must certainly be given to the team of efficient
IT colleagues who developed the VDD and provided
constant technical support and advice when the system
was down — a rare occurrence, thankfully.
Feedback from our regular users has been most encouraging
so far. In fact, our Ministry of Community Development,
Youth and Sports colleagues sum up what most users
have to say about the VDD: “It’s really
a reliable system! Not only is the system user-friendly,
we can also access it and disseminate speeches and
press releases from anywhere, at anytime. And our
MICA colleagues have been of great help whenever
we encounter any technical problem with the system.”
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By
MICA
Next: One card, many uses |
