Ministry of Communications and Information

The Ministry of Communications and Information (Abbreviation: MCI: Malay: Kementerian Perhubungan dan Penerangan, Chinese: 通讯及新闻部; Tamil: தொடர்பு, தகவல் அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore. It is in charge of information and communications technology, the media and design sectors, public libraries, as well as the Government's information and public communication policies.

Agency overview
Formed1 November 2012 (2012-11-01)
Preceding agency
  • Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA)
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
Headquarters140 Hill Street #01-01A, Old Hill Street Police Station, Singapore 179369
MottoKnowledge is Meant to be Shared
Employees2,651 (2018)[1]
Annual budget$1.04 billion (est) SGD (2019)[1]
Ministers responsible
Agency executives
  • Yong Ying-I[2], Permanent Secretary
  • Joseph Leong[3], Second Permanent Secretary
  • Janadas Devan, Chief of Government Communications
Child agencies
Websitemci.gov.sg

History
The Old Hill Street Police Station is currently the headquarters of the Ministry of Communications and Information

On 5 June 1959, the Ministry of Culture came into being with the swearing-in and appointments of ministers of the new Government of Singapore. On 1 February 1980, the Broadcasting Division of the Ministry of Culture became a statutory board, the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation.

1985 saw the dissolution of the Ministry of Culture. Its Information Division came under the new Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). Its arts promotion component was assimilated into the Ministry of Community Development (MCD) as the Cultural Affairs Division.

Five years later, on 28 November 1990, the Information Division of the MCI and the Cultural Affairs Division of MCD, together with other associated departments and statutory boards, reunited to form the Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA).

On 1 September 1991, the Festival of Arts Secretariat, Singapore Cultural Foundation, the Arts Division of MITA, and the National Theatre Trust merged to form the National Arts Council (NAC).

On 1 October 1994, the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) was formed as a statutory board under MITA to oversee and promote the broadcasting industry in Singapore.

On 23 November 2001, the information and communications technology (ICT) functions under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology came under MITA. The expanded Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, but retained the acronym MITA. In that year, Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) became one of MITA's statutory boards.

On 1 January 2003, the Singapore Broadcasting Authority, Singapore Films Commission and Films and Publications Department (previously under the MITA headquarters) merged to form the Media Development Authority (MDA). On 13 August 2004, the Ministry's acronym was changed from "MITA" to "MICA".

On 1 November 2012, MICA was renamed the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). The move followed the restructuring of two previous ministries – MICA and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) – into MCI, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). REACH (Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home) was assimilated into MCI while the resilience, arts and heritage portfolios became part of MCCY. MCI now oversees the development of the information and communications technology, media and design sectors, public libraries, and the Government’s information and public communication policies.[4]

On 18 January 2016, MCI announced that the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Media Development Authority (MDA) will be restructured into two new entities: The Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Government Technology Organisation (GTO) (now Government Technology Agency; GovTech), in the second half of 2016.[5] The new statutory boards were formed on 1 October 2016.

Organisational structure

MCI has two statutory boards, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the National Library Board (NLB).

MCI also manages the Cyber Security Agency, a national agency overseeing cybersecurity strategy, operations, education, outreach, and ecosystem development and the Personal Data Protection Commission, Singapore's primary data protection authority.

Ministers

The MCI is headed by the Minister for Communications and Information, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The position is currently held by S. Iswaran from the People's Action Party.

MinisterStart of TermEnd of Term Ref.
Minister for Culture
S Rajaratnam19591965
Othman Wok19651968
Jek Yeun Thong19681969
vacant (1969 – 1970)
Jek Yeun Thong19701977
Ong Teng Cheong (acting)19771981
S. Dhanabalan19811984
Minister for Social Affairs
Othman Wok19631977
Ahmad Mattar (acting)19801981
S Dhanabalan19811985
Minister for Communications
Yong Nyuk Lin19681975
Lim Kim San19751978
Ong Teng Cheong19781983
Ong Pang Boon19831983
Minister for Communications and Information
Yeo Ning Hong19851990
Minister for Information and the Arts
George Yeo19901999
Lee Yock Suan19992001
Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
David Lim Tik En20012003
Lee Boon Yang20032010
Lui Tuck Yew20102011
Yaacob Ibrahim20112012
Minister for Communications and Information
Yaacob Ibrahim1 November 201230 April 2018
S. Iswaran1 May 2018Incumbent

References
  1. https://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/docs/default-source/budget_2019/download/pdf/39-MCI-2019.pdf
  2. Au-Yong, Rachel (5 March 2019). "Several ministries to get new permanent secretaries from April 1". The Straits Times. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  3. "Permanent Secretary Appointment - 28 Jan 2019". Public Service Division. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  4. Imelda Saad; S. Ramesh (31 July 2012), MCYS, MICA to be restructured to form 3 new ministries, Channel NewsAsia
  5. "IDA, MDA to be restructured to capitalise on converging media and ICT landscape". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
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