The opening ceremony at the Royal Berkshire, Jerudong Park Polo Club, saw delegates from all the Asean members converging on Brunei to discuss Civil Service matters. The theme for this year's Conference will be "E-Government: An Opportunity for National Development and Public Sector Modernization". With this in mind, the consolidation and application of ICT in moulding e-government will be the main talking point of the conference.
Pehin Dato Laila Utama Haji Awang Isa in his keynote address at the opening ceremony highlighted the importance of e-Government and that it is becoming the main priorities for governments all around the world.
"The ICT revolution promises to redefine the way that we work and interact", said Pehin Dato Haji Awang Isa.
"To illustrate the impact of ICT, we need only to look at the changes that advancements in ICT have brought to our lives, in particular the younger generation who now seem to take the mobile phone, SMS and the Internet for granted, something almost inconceivable 20 years ago".
Pehin Isa also added that the public sector has been always the one who is playing "catch up" with the ICT revolution and in this regard, all the efforts to make e-Government work cannot succeed through a static process.
"E-Government especially in the context of the Civil Service should be an evolutionary, flexible, continuous process where change and development to suit our clients' needs, is understood to be part and parcel of this process".
One issue referred to as "Bridging the Digital Divide" however remains, said Pehin Isa, and that is the need to provide all the people with the basic infrastructure needed to be able to use the services promised to be provided through e-Government.
Providing an environment that is conducive to private sector investment in technology-related service industries is therefore important where in the end, the general public will be the main benefactors, Pehin Isa said.
"This form of environment can only exist where there is strong support from the government in areas such as the legal and regulatory frameworks that provide the foundations for growth of business, investment and consumer confidence".
Also crucial will be capacity-building and the provision of adequate Human Resource Development programmes to members of the Civil Service during all stages of the implementation of any e-Government strategies, said Pehin Isa. The challenge here goes much further than merely teaching civil servants how to use new hardware and software but also involves the more intricate process of managing change and negative attitudes towards change that may arise, the Home Affairs Minister told.
"This process of managing change requires the ability of our senior management to gauge the comfort level of our civil servants in adapting to new ways of doing things and new tools, technological or otherwise, that can be used to improve the service". Pehin Isa also highlighted that within Asean, bodies like the e-Asean Taskforce and the e-Asean Working Group are spearheading the way to effectively manage the development of ICT in both public and private sectors.
The Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office and also the head of Brunei delegation at the conference, Dato Paduka Haji Hazair in his welcoming speech said that efforts to incorporate ICT and e-Government into the work processes of the Civil Services are the top priority of every Asean member country.
The 12th ACCSM, said Dato Haji Hazair, is envisaged to be a platform for discussion on the latest thinking and to share experiences and the development of e-Government initiatives in the Asean region.
"I am confident with the cooperation, interaction and sharing of experiences among member countries, we will be able to further broaden our scope of cooperation, particularly to help expedite the process of implementing e-Government within Asean civil services", said Dato Haji Hazair.
The 12th ACCSM will be held until October 15. The Plenary Sessions for the conference will be held at the Empire Hotel & Country Club.
Also attending the opening ceremony were permanent secretaries, government officers and foreign diplomats.
Quelle: Borneo Bulletin
