IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

"Brunei's (online) portals have a lot of information listed on them but not a lot of e-Government services," said Richard Kerby of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The UN expert had been facilitating a two-day workshop on the Measurement and Evaluation Tool for e-Government Readiness, or Meter in short, at the golf course-side Bunker Meeting Room of the Empire Hotel and Country Club in Jerudong.

In the second session of the THiNKBIG National Technology Forum, Pg Dato Paduka Haji Ismail bin Pg I fall Mohamed, Government CIO and Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, addressed over 200 participants on "Brunei's e-Government: Implementing the National Plan" describing the Brunei government's vision and direction on ICT.

The issues being discussed mostly revolved around government websites and its lack of functions despite its many colourful interactive tabs, said Sarinah Hj Abd Hamid, a secondary school teacher from Kuala Belait.

Based on her experience of visiting government websites, most are still just pages of information for the department or ministry while those that do have a proper website posted on the Internet have features that are still under construction.

The project is expected to encourage the use of ICT and enhance ICT literacy among civil servants.

The e-Map project will provide users the means to share geographical data and promote the development of business applications that utilise spatial data, which will produce significant savings for data collection and use and enhance decision-making.

The e-passport is one of the Immigration and National Registry Department's projects under the e-government project and is aimed at replacing the "Machine Readable Passport" (MRP) currently in use.

The flagship projects will be selected based on its characteristics, namely multiple-agency, connectivity, interactivity and transactional as well as providing the highest impact to the government and public. Three of the flagship projects identified are the Business Licencing System, ePayment and Government Employee Management System (Gems).

The project is designed according to the methodology Geographical Information System (GIS) that integrates all related information.

In light of the forthcoming survey, at www.egovcitizensurvey2009.gov.bn, of what the people of Brunei think the government should offer in the way of "e-services", top priority has been given "citizen's engagement" as it is recognised as a critical success factor for e-government initiatives, said the expert, who asked to remain anonymous.

This was a recommendation made by an expert from the United Nations, Richard Kerby, Senior Inter-Regional Advisor from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, speaking to the media.

Kerby, who is in Brunei to conduct a two-day workshop `Measurement and Evaluation Tool for e-Government Readiness (METER)' spoke to the media on the importance of social networking tools such as Facebook, blogs and Twitter as a way of improving the Brunei Government's e-services.

The contract was signed yesterday between HDD and Perniagaan Dinamik Giat to update the department's network infrastructure, a project which will link HDD headquarters with its respective branches via broadband.

The project will also improve existing network infrastructure such as email and the Government Employee Management System, while streamlining others like e-Sikap.

Three invited speakers offered their take on the overall topic of Effective and Efficient Strategies for e-Government Building, yesterday morning. The purpose of the session was to explore how respective countries have set their strategies in an effective and efficient way in regards to the development of e-governance. The session was seen as a discussion of topics under the "administrative simplification" component of the conference.

This was stated by the Director of the National E-Government Centre (EGNC), Awg Hj Azhar Hj Ahmad in his welcoming note at the certificate presentation ceremony for the first batch of the Prime Minister's Office (JPM) ICT Conversion Programme who obtained Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis, yesterday, at the Civil Service Institute in Rimba.

Through this "single window" provided by the Fisheries Department, fisheries entrepreneurs, both local and foreign investors and the public can access services easily, facilitate their investments and the running of their businesses that can benefit the country, said MIPR's Permanent Secretary, Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid Hj Mohd Jaafar.

Present as the guest of honour was Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdullah Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Bakar.