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 Bandar Seri
Begawan – LAST year marked the end of the first wave of Brunei's e-Government program as the
five-year 8th National Development Plan came to a close.
Minister of
Communications, Pehin Dato
Hj Awang Abu Bakar, announced last month that His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan
of Brunei Darussalam, agrees with the suggestion mooted by the Brunei
Darussalam National Information Technology Council to review the existing
e-government initiative.
The BIT council,
as the highest committee for strategic ICT planning here, suggested to bring in external consultants to help review vision
and strategies, conduct benchmarking exercises, analyse
the current infrastructure and make proposals for the next phase of
e-government initiative as part of the 9th National Development Plan for
2006 to 2010.
The government's
commitment to adopt ICT was first reflected in the 8th National Development
Plan, 2001 to 2005. A budget of $526 million, set aside under the National
Development Plan, was increased to nearly $1 billion in a bid to develop
and implement the e-government system.
This included
building networks, data centres, applications,
purchases of computing hardware and software, training, technology ventures
and others.
Under the second
wave of e-government build-up that will last until 2010, the strategy will
be moving from infrastructure-based projects to citizen-centric projects,
such as establishing improved online services for the public's benefit.
For example, the
e-Citizen Portal project is in the works. Through this, citizens can access
government services 24/7 and go online to pay utility bills or register
birth certificates.
This review,
carried out by impartial experts, will be the first of its kind in Brunei. It is certain to
be thorough and intensive.
Any country adopting e-governance should consider best
practices, such as regularly auditing and reviewing the implementation
process.
The review will
probably contain qualitative assessments of the current health, strengths,
weaknesses and opportunities for ICT in the global information society for
Brunei Darussalam.
It must also
outline key challenges faced during the last five years and recommend cures
that can help achieve success.
This review will
be different from those already carried out in the past, where brief and
sometimes ineffective surveys were conducted, primarily by foreign organisations. In the 2006 World e-Government Ranking
Survey by the Waseda University Institute of
e-Government in Japan, Brunei ranked 27 out of
32 countries surveyed. The US came in first
with Canada and Singapore taking second and
third places.
The aim of this
particular survey was to research the status and development of
e-government worldwide, and to rank the countries surveyed based on the
criteria of an ideal e-government. While most rankings in the US and Europe are conducted by
universities or private companies, the Waseda
e-Government Ranking is the first of its kind in Asia. Members of the
research group came from 14 different countries.
The e-government
in Brunei started as an initiative
by authorities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its services
to the public. This was highlighted by His Majesty in his 55th Birthday
Anniversary speech when he announced the setting up of a national committee
to help implement an action plan to introduce e-government services.
The key message
that the government seeks to deliver and follow is: Couched under the
notion of ``EG21 Governance and Services Online,'' the government envisions
the creation of ``an e-smart Government in line with the 21st century civil
service vision''. As the e-government initiative got underway, each
ministry came up with their respective e-government flagship projects and
business plans.
Doing so promoted
accountability and provided each ministry with a real sense of ownership.
It also made each ministry responsible to the budget allocated from the 8th
National Development Plan. Commitment, cooperation, time and innovation
were all essential to the implementation of these e-government flagship
projects.
Greater
involvement by officials also meant that every project was the product of
intense debate. Each ICT system was a tailor-made to take into account core
business needs. This allowed for the establishment of an accurate and
efficient system for each ministry. One recent example is the Fleet Card
Management System. This is the joint project with the Ministry of Finance,
Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam and Brunei Shell Marketing Company to provide
electronic payment. Launched on June 1, the system allows for faster
billing on purchases of vehicle fuel through BIBD’s
Kad Inden which is
interfaced with the Ministry of Finance’s “TAFIS” ICT Infrastructure. The
system is also integrated with the point-of-sales system installed at most
petrol stations.
The report is to
be released before the last quarter of 2006. There is little doubt that
authorities will take this opportunity to derive lessons from the past five
years and make improvements for the ever-evolving e-government program as a
matter of nation building.
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