Brunei Darussalam is undertaking an ambitious Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development programme with massive spending in the sector, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office, said, ©BRUDIRECT.COM reported.
“ICT plays a crucial role in people’s daily lives and allows us to increase our global competitiveness with ever-advancing technologies,” he said in a keynote speech at the 4th Asean CIO Forum which commenced at a hotel in Gadong yesterday.
This is the very reason that the Government of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has embarked on key programmes and begun spending in the ICT sector since the introduction of the e-Government programme in 2001, the minister noted, adding that the Sultanate has spent more than half-a-billion Brunei dollars on various ICT projects, much of which was spent over the last five years.
He said that the key programmes included the investment in IT infrastructure and systems that have seen tremendous progress such as creating a secure government-wide network, establishment of world-class data centres and facilities, standardised shared services and various government enterprise systems. The government is committed to continuing investment in this area for realising the Brunei Vision 2035. It is also investing in local human resources and aims to develop sustainable local businesses in the ICT sector.
The focus is on developing technical competencies of locals in line with industry trends, which in turn would provide a more sustainable environment for local ICT businesses to flourish.
The minister also said the government has recently embarked on a new five-year strategic plan called the Digital Government Strategy 2015-2020, where the focus is on a ‘whole-of government’ approach towards innovation and efficient service provision.
This would lead to the digital transformation of the government, where services would be simpler, faster and more accessible by taking into account the needs of the citizens and the business community for services that cut across multiple agencies, he said.
He added that the government also wants to put in place a two-way communication platform where the public could contribute and participate in the development of national policies and other matters of public interest.
Earlier, Adi Shamsul bin Haji Sabli, Deputy Permanent Secretary (IT and E-Government) at the Prime Minister’s Office, in his welcoming speech said the Internet of Things (IOT) presents a new frontier for potentially exponential improvement. Quoting from a recent report by Gartner he said that there are 4.9 billion connected “things” in use in 2015, and this would reach 25 billion by 2020.
The utilisation of IOTs are seemingly endless, with the creation of new opportunities for personalised healthcare and setting up of smart homes where almost everything is automated and connected, he added.
IOTs will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operating environments, especially in designing and building smart cities, and the feedback loop created by the measurement of every detail can be used to optimise, for example, traffic flow, energy consumption, security and emergency response and others.
The 4th Asean CIO Forum (ACIOF) is hosted by the E-Government National Centre (EGNC) in collaboration with the Asean Chief Information Officer Association (ACIOA).
The two-day forum with the theme ‘Global Competitiveness – Optimising Technological Advances’, is attended by over 250 participants from Asean including government and private sector Chief Information Officers, Chief Technical Officers, Project Managers and IT entrepreneurs.
An annual event, the ACIOF aims to promote innovative collaborations among government, businesses, institutions and citizens, where the objective is to promote the sharing of best practices by running a highly interactive and engaging forum for CIOs from within Asean and beyond.
The forum is also set to provide opportunity for networking and relationship building among ICT players in Asean, which ultimately aims to energise and establish the Asean CIO Association.
This year the key plenary session topics are Cloud Services, Internet of Things and Smart Cities, and Crowdsourcing and Social Media.
The dialogue sessions were conducted in the afternoon, where nominated Asean delegates shared their experiences, plans and knowledge on applying technology in their countries.
On the second day, the delegates will be invited to take part in a roundtable discussion that will be chaired by the ACIOA, and they will also visit several of Brunei’s technical innovation centres.
For more information and enquiries, visit www.aseancioforum2015.gov.bn or e-mail to Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!.
---
Quelle/Source: The Borneo Post, 09.06.2015
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
