IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

On this occasion, Mr. Mohammed Ali Al Qaed the CEO of the eGovernment Authority (EGA) received the Brunei Darussalam delegation headed by Mr. Dato Seri, Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Awang Abdul Mutalib, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Awang Haji Mohidin, in Acting Senior Special Duties Officer at the Prime Minister's Office, as well as Mr. Awang Shamsualbahri the Head of Executive IT Protective Security Services, (ITPSS), Mrs. Dayang Abdul Ghani, Senior System Analyst at the eGovernment National Center (EGNC), and Mrs. Dayang Mohammed, Manager,Authority For Info-Communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam, (AITI).

A 30-member delegation from the 10th Brunei-Malaysia-Singapore Leadership Development Programme 2018 (Brunei Leg) visited Comquest Sdn Bhd, a leading digital transformation company in Brunei Darussalam recently.

According to a press release, the leadership development programme is conducted annually by the Civil Service Institute (IPA) Brunei, Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN) Malaysia and Civil Service College (CSC) Singapore.

The research and consultancy firm said Taib highlighted the “considerable emphasis” that Brunei had placed on its e-government programme in Wawasan 2035, the long-term national development plan. “We see ICT as one of the key enablers of e-government and Wawasan 2035,” she told the group.

Shaping new forms of governance in the digital era requires knowledge of the dynamics of the electronic processes and structures in the government as well as an adequate insight in the capabilities of ICT technologies.

Currently ranked first in the world by the United Nations for the advancements made in their e-government implementation, South Korea possesses a lot of information and experience on e-government services which it could share with Brunei, Dr Sung Gul Hong told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of an international e-Government forum.

Richard Kerby, who was directly involved in the 2010 UN e-Government Survey in which Brunei was ranked 68, spoke to the media yesterday, during the final day of a two-day workshop on 'Measurement and Evaluation Tool for e-Government Readiness (METER)'.

"We looked at the national portal and then the five ministry portals which are health, education, finance, labour and social services and concluded that Brunei's portals in general have a lot of information but very little e-services and very little opportunities for citizens to give their views through discussion forums or blogs," said Kerby.

This is being carried out through the development of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures.

These projects are designed to increase productivity and efficiency in all aspects of developments in the government departments.

Jake Eo from the National Information Society Agency in South Korea said this as he was at Universiti Brunei Darussalam to deliver a public lecture on Green IT.

Speaking to the Bulletin, he said, "I was invited here by the EGNC (Brunei's E-Government National Centre), and from what I've seen, while Brunei has no manufacturing industries, I see so many opportunities to adopt Green IT technology, such as Smart Grid technology."

e-Government is a tool for increasing efficiency, transparency and facilitating public sector reform.

From February to March 2011, 44 civil servants completed the ICDL programme which covers modules meant to impart basic knowledge in handling computers especially in utilising e-mails and ICT systems—an objective in line with the e-Government Strategic Plan’s target to have 100 per cent e-mail usage in the civil service.

Sharifah Hajah Fatmah bte Shaikh Haji Ahmad, the Director of Civil Services Institute (IPA), said the government has plans to further proliferate this programme.

Darussalam’s ranking in e-Government initiatives penetration showed a slight improvement during a 2016 survey carried out by the United Nations (UN). The Sultanate is ranked 83rd out of 193 countries globally, up three notches from 86 in the last survey conducted in 2014.

Initiated by the UN Division for Public Administration and Development Management to support member states’ efforts in e-Government and information communications technologies (ICT) for socio-economic development, the biennial comprehensive survey includes 193 UN member states.

A three-member delegation from India led by Rakesh Singh, the additional secretary of India's Department of Information Technology, was in Brunei for the meeting.

A panel discussion yesterday on "India-Brunei ICT Scope and Potential for Cooperation" took up the prospect of Brunei benefitting from the expertise and technical nous of India's IT sector. This, the panel discussants said, could help the Sultanate inch close to becoming an ICT (information and communication technology) hub in the region.

Speaking to The Brunei Times at a dinner hosted by Indian High Commissioner Riewad Warjri last night, Minister of Communications Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerma Data Seri Setia Hj Abu Bakar Hj Apong said the progress in the ICT sector between the two countries was the outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed during His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's visit to India in 2008.

However, due to the fact that the potential for bad also weighs just as heavily as for good, the regulation of the Internet poses great challenges to law enforcement agencies.

This rings very true for Brunei Darussalam, where Internet law is a rather relatively new area and untested in the courts, which was stated by Ahmad Jefri Rahman, Senior Counsel in the Attorney-General's Chambers during a public lecture held yesterday afternoon at the Institute of Leadership, Innovation and Learning in Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof said that in the areas of e-Government, Brunei Darussalam and the Republic of Korea share the common goals to provide better services to the citizens.

With half of Brunei's population connected to Facebook, the centre hoped to engage the public to enter the contest through their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/egnc.gov.bn.

"Participants should consider the functions of the portal and the purpose of the portal to create a single word name that can be used for the portal. The portal will host all e-government services such as bill payments, applications and renewal of licences," according to the centre's Facebook page.

This was revealed by Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abu Bakar Bin Hj Apong, Minister of Communications in a speech at the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day celebration at the Sutera Hall of Rizqun international hotel, yesterday.