How GovTech makes use of crowdsourcing to get data from S’poreans, rewards them with vouchers

The Government Technology Agency (GovTech) has developed a gamified crowdsourcing web portal CrowdTaskSG, where Singaporean citizens and PRs can complete tasks and earn rewards.

Data gathered from the portal will be used by government agencies in product or policy creation.

Currently, only the beta version of CrowdTaskSG is available to the public, where Singaporean citizens and PRs above the age of 18 with Singpass accounts can participate in surveys.

“The topics of the survey include Singapore’s living environment, users’ work and transportation preferences, views on mental health and wellness, feedback on services, and ideas for new initiatives, among others,” said a spokesperson from GovTech.

Other tasks such as opinion polls, choice questions, translation requests as well as this or that questions will be made available soon.

How tasks are formulated

The web portal’s tasks are created by GovTech in collaboration with other government agencies to meet their needs. For example, if a government agency requires to gather public opinion on climate change, it may utilise CrowdTaskSG to conduct surveys.

Most of the tasks take only a couple of minutes to complete, and comprise of a maximum of 10 questions. According to GovTech, it aims to provide at least 30 tasks monthly to keep users engaged.

Additionally, as users are required to link their Singpass accounts to CrowdTaskSG, data from Myinfo will be used to create personalised tasks for them. For instance, if you have children, you may receive tasks related to parenting.

This means that tasks cannot be shared between family and friends, and every individual has to sign up for their own set of personalised tasks.

The demographic screening through Myinfo was a recently added after GovTech ran a closed beta from March to May 2022 with around 300 citizens helping to test out the web portal.

“Feedback was generally positive and many stated that the portal was easy to use, fuss-
free and straightforward. Some of them also mentioned that earning rewards while having their
views heard was fun,” said the GovTech spokesperson.

What do Singaporeans stand to gain from it?

The web portal allows participants to earn virtual coins and experience points (XP) for every task completed. Coins can be exchanged for rewards such as vouchers, while XP allows them to climb up the ranks in the CrowdTaskSG community.

Up to 50 virtual coins and 100 XP can be earned with the completion of a task. In the beta phase now, 5,000 coins can be exchanged for a S$5 NTUC voucher.

“We intend to integrate GovWallet into CrowdTaskSG in the future to allow users to redeem cash
rewards,” said the GovTech spokesperson. GovWallet, an e-wallet launched by GovTech earlier this year, allows Singaporeans to instantly access government payouts through ATMs.

Meanwhile, users can progress past five ranks with sufficient XP: Stone, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Upon attaining a new rank, coins can be earned as an incentive. All coins earned will expire on 31 March 2023.

On the other hand, XP earned through CrowdTaskSG do not expire.

However, if you are inactive on the portal, you will drop by one rank per year. In order to maintain your current rank, at least one task needs to be completed every year.

What kind of data does CrowdTaskSG collect?

According to GovTech, data collected via Myinfo is strictly for verification purposes, and to ensure the authenticity and reliability of citizens onboard CrowdTaskSG in addition to creating personalised tasks.

“We do not peg responses to any respondent. Instead, answers to tasks will be analysed by the portal, then aggregated and viewed collectively by government agencies, who can tap on these insights to help improve policies and processes,” explained the GovTech spokesperson.

Other than selected data from Myinfo, CrowdTaskSG also collects other forms of data from users. These include contact information such as email and mailing addresses, device information such as IP addresses, device type and model, and other information submitted through its web portal including task responses.

The data and may be collected through the usage of technologies such as cookies, analytics tags and server logs among others, which is also used to optimise the portal.

This may seem like a lot, but GovTech assures that it will only share these data with trusted partner government agencies and will be stored securely.

Featured Image Credit: Smart Nation Singapore