Ministry of Communications and Information

Ministry of Communications and Information

Logo of MCI
Agency overview
Formed 28 November 1990 (1990-11-28)
Preceding agency
  • Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA)
Jurisdiction Government of Singapore
Headquarters 140 Hill Street #01-01A, Old Hill Street Police Station, Singapore 179369
Employees 364 [1]
Annual budget $706.81 million[2] SGD (2014)
Ministers responsible
Agency executives
  • Gabriel Lim[3], Permanent Secretary
  • Tan Li San, Deputy Secretary
  • Janadas Devan, Chief of Government Communications
Child agencies
Website www.mci.gov.sg

Coordinates: 1°17′26.61″N 103°50′53.31″E / 1.2907250°N 103.8481417°E / 1.2907250; 103.8481417

The Ministry of Communications and Information (Abbreviation: MCI; Malay: Kementerian Perhubungan dan Penerangan; Chinese: 通讯及新闻部) 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.

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 Infocommunications Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Government Technology Organisation (GTO), in the second half of 2016.[5]

Statutory boards

MCI has three statutory boards:

MCI also manages the DesignSingapore Council, a department in the ministry and the national agency for design.

Minister for Communications and Information

Years in Office Minister Remarks
1959 - 1965 S Rajaratnam Minister for Culture
1965 - 1968 Othman Wok Minister for Culture and Social Affairs
1968 - 1969 Jek Yuen Thong Minister for Culture
1969 - 1978 Wee Toon Boon Minister for Culture
1978 - 1981 Ong Teng Cheong Minister for Culture
1981 - 1985 S Dhanabalan Minister for Culture
1985 - 1990 Yeo Ning Hong Minister for Communications and Information
1990 - 1999 George Yeo Minister for Information and the Arts
1999 - 2001 Lee Yock Suan Minister for Information and the Arts
2001 - 2003 David Lim Tik En Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
2003 - 2009 Lee Boon Yang Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
2009 - 2011 Lui Tuck Yew Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
2011 - 2012 Yaacob Ibrahim Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
2012 - Yaacob Ibrahim Minister for Communications and Information

References

  1. "Head Q: Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts" (PDF). Budget 2010: Revenue and Expenditure Estimates. Ministry of Finance. February 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  2. http://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/data/budget_2014/download/39%20MCI%202014.pdf
  3. "Changes in Permanent Secretary appointments from January 2017". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  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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