The new emphasis on the customer – that is, the public – is expected to be a key item in the Malaysian Public Sector ICT Strategic Plan that is currently being drafted by the Malaysian Administrative and Management Planning Unit (Mampu). Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Samsudin Osman devoted the bulk of his address at a conference on e-government for the civil service last week on enhancing service delivery to the public.
“We can build on the successful implementation of e-government ... (but) there are still gaps in the level of service delivery and the perceived value of that delivery from our most important constituents – the citizens,” he said.
The conference was organised by Microsoft Knowledge Capital Centre in collaboration with Mampu, National Institute of Public Administration and, the Energy, Communications and Multimedia Ministry.
He added that there was a need to move up the scale in which the basic services offered online would create new avenues of value added services.
Such a move would involve integrating multiple channels of service delivery – counter, telephone, SMS, and Internet – and end-to-end services that involve “cross-agency collaboration.”
“This will ensure that the Government portrays the image of ‘one government’ to citizens and business, instead of the view of a myriad of agencies and departments,” said Samsudin.
Malaysia’s huge e-government initiative began in 1997 with the launch of the Multimedia Super Corridor’s E-Government Flagship Application.
Since then, the Government has made large strides in areas such as electronic procurement, project monitoring, and human resource management.
But services that require members of the public to come into regular contact with the government, like driving licence renewals or income tax returns, remain at a rudimentary level or have yet to make it online.
The Government has conducted a study to take stock of its e-government achievements so far, and the findings have been used to develop the Malaysian Public Sector ICT Strategic Plan, according Samsudin.
“It will serve as the blueprint for future ICT development and implementation in the public sector,” he added.
The blueprint would also chart the public sector’s path towards an “e-government that is able to provide seamless services and information.”
In line with the plan’s customer focus, the Government will set up a portal through which the public would eventually be able to access all online public services. Samsudin said the portal would also provide access to community sites as well.
“The portal represents a progression from the current scenario of disparate websites,” he added.
Many public sector websites currently focus largely on providing information, rather than services that are available, but Samsudin indicated that that would eventually be a thing of the past.
“We want government departments and agencies to promote the services, not promote the departments,” he said.
Quelle: The Star
