Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT)
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) began as the Ministry of Communications (MINCOM) in April 1968 to oversee the planning and development of Singapore's transport and telecommunications sectors. With the rapid and increasing convergence of the information technology and telecommunications industries, and as their areas of concern increasingly overlapped, MINCOM's functions were expanded to include the development of information technology. The Ministry of Communications was subsequently renamed MCIT on 3 June 1999.
The main focus of the Ministry is to bring about cost-effective world class transportation and infocommunications services and gateways to enhance our economic competitiveness and quality of life in a knowledge-based society. It is responsible for the development and promotion of Singapore as a premier info-communications and transport hub. It oversees the development and growth of the info-communication and postal industries; develops and maintains Singapore's status as a major air hub and international seaport and shipping centre; and strives to provide a world class land transport system. infocommunications hub for the region.
The Ministry sets the strategic and policy direction and its policies and regulatory works are executed by an autonomous department (Meteorological Service Department) and 5 statutory boards under its charge - the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), the Infocommunications Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the LAnd Transport Authority (LTA), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Public Transport Council (PTC). The Meteorological Service Department provides weather information and advice to the public and weather stations in the region.
