Singapore studying digital infrastructure law to address 'security and resilience concerns'

SINGAPORE: A Singapore inter-agency task force led by the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) is looking into legislation to address security and resilience risks faced by key digital infrastructure such as data centres and cloud services.

Speaking in parliament on Friday (Mar 1), Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo said a potential Digital Infrastructure Act (DIA) will focus on areas that can cause a “significant impact” on the economy and society if disrupted.

These include data centres and cloud providers that support the delivery of many widely used services such as banking and payments, ride-hailing, digital identities and social media, said MCI.

The law could require operators to meet higher security and resilience standards to reduce the likelihood of systemic disruptions, said Mrs Teo in a speech where she Iaid out her ministry's spending plans for the year.

Risks that such service providers face could range from misconfigurations in technical architecture to physical hazards such as fires, water leaks and cooling system failures.

Mrs Teo added that the inter-agency task force will continue to consult industry players and relevant stakeholders as it develops its proposals for the DIA. 

Apart from MCI, the task force comprises members from the Smart Nation Group, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, the Infocomm Media Development Authority and the Government Technology Agency. 

The government will also ensure consistent requirements across the DIA and the Cybersecurity Act, which safeguards against cyberattacks, among other areas.

“The challenges are complex, and include the cross-border nature of digital infrastructure operators like cloud service providers,” said Mrs Teo.

“We will also need to balance trade-offs between mitigating risks and increasing compliance costs.” 

MY LEGACY ENHANCEMENTS

As part of a suite of announcements on Friday, MCI also said the My Legacy portal that helps citizens plan for end-of-life matters would be improved in the coming year.

Launched in January 2020, the portal integrates related services across multiple government agencies on one platform.

It provides Singaporeans with information and services such as CPF nomination, Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), Advance Care Planning (ACP) and will-making. 

New tools and e-services - such as for booking wakes and HDB car park spaces - will be introduced to the My Legacy platform.

“This will support citizens in end-of-life planning, manage post-death matters for their loved ones and give bereaved families more time to focus on other matters in their moment of grief,” said MCI.