SINGAPORE (Nov 10): All Singapore public servants will be using Workplace, Facebook’s offering for corporations, next year, announced Peter Ong, head of the Singapore Civil Service, in a speech at the PS21 ExCEL convention.

“Let me also share that we are the first Public Service in the world to get on to Workplace,” says Ong.

The entire public service of 143,000 officers will be on Workplace by end March. Currently, 15 agencies and over 5,300 public services officers are on the platform after the first phase of the launch in Oct.

With Workplace pricing at US$3 for the first 1,000 user, US$2 for the next US$9,000 users and US$1 for each additional user per month, the Singapore government will rack up a monthly bill of US$153,000.

Workplace will replace Cube, a “social intranet” for public servants to get to know, share ideas and interact with each other.

“However, after some time, the team found that Cube did not quite take off as expected — it was not a failure, but neither was it a success or a force to reckon with,” says Ong.

“Among others, there was feedback that the lack of a mobile app prevented easy access and limitations in use. Technical issues, such as the unfamiliar interface and slow loading times were also factors,” he adds.

The early result of active weekly users of Workplace currently stands at 82%, which is more than the average weekly visitorship on Cube in its first month, according to Ong.

“We have seen agencies reduce the number of internal emails sent by posting major announcements on Workplace,” says Ong.

“Senior leaders are engaging with their staff more frequently and meaningfully than before, and there is an explosion of activity across groups from small teams to large, cross-cutting communities of practice,” he adds.