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 Bandar Seri Begawan – "Today's global workforce
enjoys unprecedented access to information, tools that allow intra-organisational collaboration and sharing. We should
expect new and innovative uses for sharing information, reducing
transaction cost and enhancing transparency in government process through
one e-Government initiative."
This was highlighted in a speech by the Minister of
Communications, Pehin Orang
Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Hj Awang Abu Bakar bin Hj Apong at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Annual
E-Government Congress: "From Government Online to Service transformation".
He said, "I imagine a day when government web sites go beyond
being notice boards for posting details of government tenders, but to be
widely adopted and used as participatory forums for frank and honest,
transparent discussions on policy issues, for the sharing of information
and collaborative development of policy in wilds, and even the dissemination
of audiovisual briefing through v-blogs and podcasts".
He also highlighted that within the ministry, "we have a
strong justification for adopting e-Government systems for our internal
processes. Within the ministry's of 2007-2011
strategic plan, the mechanism of improving our own internal operations is
through the adoption of international best practices, streamlining
procedures and improved organisation networking.
In our view, e-Government is the catalyst to achieve this objective".
He also noted that some of the priorities at the Ministry of
Communications with respect to e-Government and developing the ICT industry
in general. With the consent of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, a body of experts drawn
from the public and private sectors as well as academia was formed, the
E-Government Technical Authority Body (EGTAB), while the EGLF (e-Government
Leadership Forum) was also established.
EGTAB as the advisory body was created in response to a review of
the e-Government implementation that suggested, among other things,
addressing the issues of improved interoperability plans and the adoption
of best practices in the procurement process. EGTAB is currently developing
a set of recommendations to address these issues.
Sustainability, development of local ICT workforce and knowledge
transfer from implementers to local support staff are interrelated issues.
Towards this end, the Ministry of Communications, together with AITI, the
Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry, are developing new
mechanisms to increase local ICT industry's participation in the
e-Government project and, to equip them with relevant skills and tools to
develop their core competencies.
He also mentioned that the Brunei ICT Awards (BICTA) was developed
to motivate local ICT developers and encourage their participation in the
Asia-Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA).
The opening ceremony also saw a speech by Jeremy Millard, Head of
e-Government, Danish Technological Institute, Denmark.
He has worked extensively with local and national governments and
regional development agencies in all parts of the world. He has also worked
on a large number of e-Government assignments.
He highlighted three major policy goals of a government.
The first goal is the search for savings: dynamic,
productivity-driven and value for money concept and set of institutions.
The second goal is the search for quality services: inter-active,
user-centre, personal high impact on quality of life, maximising
fulfillment and security.
The third goal is the search for good governance: Open,
transparent, accountable, flexible, inclusive, participatory and
democratic.
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