In a speech at the opening of the E-Government Brunei Congress, read by Acting Permanent Secretary Ibrahim Mohd Ali, the minister said the government and a team of consultants from the Brunei Shell Petroleum examined issues which drove the current e-government programme and identified actions forward to improve the program implementation for 2006-2010. One key action determined in the review report was the recommended appointment of an e-government leader.
The minister said in the speech the ministry has also identified the priority to establish an E-Government Technical Authority Body. "This is to put in place an integrated common architecture and standards for e-government infrastructure so that (national) outcomes can be consolidated," he added. He did not say when the body would be established. "The E-Government Technical Authority Body will also deal with programme management and human resource requirements to provide central and common services to be shared by all ministries, such as data centres," the minister said.
Brunei allocated $1 billion in the National Development Plan for its current e-government programme.
According to Pehin, e-government meant providing government services online or electronically via information communication technologies, thereby making government services accessible to the public at any time and place.
Canadian Michael Turner, Chairperson of the E-Government Brunei Congress, said governments face increasingly changing roles as there is a "greater penetration of data processing, digital networks and databases than any sector (excluding) financial services". "E-government is now a global phenomenon, with 29 per cent of government websites offering fully executable online services in 2005, up from 19 per cent in 2004," he said.
Turner, who has previously worked for the Canadian Federal Government, stressed that different governments have different reasons for implementing e-government programme, from improving their services to jump-starting the knowledge economy.
About 130 participants attended the two-day E-Government Brunei Congress, organised by DZ Hampton, a Singaporean business conference and exhibition producer. The congress would see ten speakers sharing experiences facing the challenges of e-government in their countries.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Shareen Han
Quelle/Source: Brunei Direct,, 22.11.2006
