Concerns about practical measures were expressed by ICT professionals and consultants at a seminar workshop on ``ICT Issues and Challenges in Training and Education''.
The seminar's facilitator, Dr Paryono, a research and consultancy manager at Seameo Voctech, recommended that the public and private organisations and institutions represented at the seminar update one another regularly to ensure that their actions were complementary.
``But right now, we need to devise a short-term action plan to deal with increasing public awareness of the implications of an e-government,'' he said.
Saiful Anuar Hj Abdul Rahim, a former deputy director at Seameo Voctech, spoke of the difficulties in ensuring all employees whose needs and capabilities differed became equally proficient in the use of new technologies.
He offered a case study from his current employer, Malaysian company, Loyal Wastewater Engineering.
``Everyone from directors and managers to engineers, executives and clerks will require training to adjust to new and more efficient methods of communication,'' he said.
``If properly applied, ICT will save us a lot of time and money.''
But Jennifer Voon, a lecturer at the Institute of Technology Brunei, said that attempting to cover the rising costs of software licences and solutions was near impossible on the $950 million budget allocated for the e-government projects, and that a different approach should be considered.
``ICT-based research and development projects need to be assigned a higher priority in the cost considerations of any organisation. We should aim instead for financial sustainability by developing our own solutions, or making use of existing open source software.''
Keynote speaker Mohamad Abu Bakar, Interim Director of Seameo Voctech, made an example of the Malaysian government's move towards becoming ICT self-sufficient.
The Malaysian Administration Modernisation and Management Planning Unit appointed in 2004 to implement the Open Source Software Initiative to enhance public sector service.
Dr Paryono said, ``We shouldn't confine ourselves to just being ICT consumers, but set our sights on becoming ICT providers.''
Quelle/Source: The Brunei Times, 05.09.2006
