Singapore’s Ministry of Finance has new Budget 2013 app, but is it a waste of money?

The Singapore government’s Ministry of Finance today launched an app that will give users live coverage of the upcoming Budget 2013 announcement, to be delivered on 25th February.

The app, available now on Android and iOS, will have live video feeds, budget quizzes, press releases, and other information related to the much anticipated Budget 2013, expected to introduce measures to boost Singapore’s dismal productivity rate.

Some content is already available on the app, which seems to be little more than a native mobile-optimized website. Bugs will need to be ironed out to, as the menu displays weird behavior at times.

While an app to broadcast a live feed sounds interesting, it could be let down by Singapore’s spotty Wifi and 3G coverage, rendering it instantly useless. We also don’t know if there’s enough demand to justify the cost of creating it, especially when Singaporeans have a bevy of options to get their news.

Interestingly, the iOS App Store lists the Ministry as the developer. This could mean that it could have more apps in the works, or perhaps it is simply an attempt to test the waters.

It may have to tread carefully. With suspicions of government spending running high due to past incidents such as the Brompton bicycle saga and the AIM incident, questions remain over how much it cost to develop the app, what was the procurement process behind it, and who was the third party developer engaged.

Stay tuned for more updates.

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