# Getting started: Onboarding

## Onboarding & Approvals

**Q:**  If we want to onboard as a publisher, what is the process like?

A: To onboard to data.gov.sg, we require the following confirmations from your organisation:

* **CDO Approval -** confirmation from your Chief Data Officer (CDO) or equivalent appointed authority.
* **Dataset list** - a short list of datasets you plan to publish.

<details>

<summary>Example request for approval to CDO</summary>

\[For Approval] Onboarding onto data.gov.sg to publish datasets

**Background**

data.gov.sg is Singapore's free open data platform with >70 agencies leveraging it to share datasets via automated APIs with researchers, businesses and the general public. In 2025, data.gov.sg handled close to 2bn API requests and >600k dataset downloads.

To publish datasets on behalf of our agency, admin user access is required. Admin users have the ability to upload, manage, and delete datasets.

**Recommendation**

Onboarding to data.gov.sg would enable us to:

1. **Support operational partnerships** - Provide a robust platform for public users who require high-volume programmatic access to our datasets via APIs, ensuring reliable and scalable data delivery to support their operations.
2. **Reduce operational overhead** - Minimize the burden on our data team by eliminating the need to handle ad-hoc custom data integration requests, allowing the team to focus on higher-value data activities and core responsibilities.
3. **Advance agency strategic objectives** - Support the agency's goals of improving the industry by making relevant data more accessible to stakeholders, enabling evidence-based decision-making and fostering innovation within the sector.

**For Approval**

Seeking approval to proceed with the onboarding process as an admin user on data.gov.sg to publish and manage our agency's datasets on the platform.

</details>

The process typically takes 5–10 business days from CDO approval to account activation — though this can vary depending on how quickly your CDO responds.

Once these are confirmed, you can refer to this [page](/user-guide/for-data-owners/how-to-register-as-an-admin.md) for account creation.

**Q: Who is allowed to onboard to DGS as a data owners?**

A: Currently access is limited to agencies with domains&#x20;

* \*.gov.sg
* \*.edu.sg

**Q: What if my organisation uses a non-gov email domain (e.g. .org.sg, .com)?**

A: In such cases, approval from your **parent ministry or supervising government agency** is required before onboard can proceed.

## Hosting & Network

**Q: Where is DGS hosted at?**

A: data.gov.sg is hosted on Open Government Products (OGP) AWS Commercial Cloud.

* It is not hosted on GovTech GCC or on SG-NET
* All access to data.gov.sg is via the **Internet**

**Q: Do we need to whitelist IP addresses?**

A: Please whitelist our domains since DGS uses Cloudflare to manage IPs dynamically.

**Q: Is there a staging link?**

A: Yes, we provide a staging environment for testing. You can use the following endpoint:&#x20;

```
https://api-staging.data.gov.sg/
```


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://guide.data.gov.sg/user-guide/for-data-owners/getting-started-onboarding.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.