Dr Bruno Lanvin, invited speaker to the first seminar held by the Brunei Information Technology Council at the Indera Kayangan Ballroom at the Empire Hotel and Country Club, said, "Being smaller is becoming a bigger advantage than it has been in the past".
Small countries like Estonia are already getting ahead with ICT, and there are lessons to be learned from larger countries, he said.
Dr Lanvin, Executive Director of c-Lab at Insead (European Institute of Business Administration), pointed out that Singapore was "the leading example of the world" in terms of e-government for "new" government as it combined leading and creating the proper environment for e-government.
During the seminar, he talked about the new global environment for ICTs, the new roles for government, the rapid evolution of e-government and the future. People should consider success stories of ICTs and its infrastructure and Dr Lanvin highlighted the importance of having a regulatory framework and fighting the digital divide.
"This included a much bigger focus on applications, focused on issues that have not been articulated visibly before: content, knowledge and empowerment."
Skills are also important. If people do not have the necessary skills or education, then they will not benefit from using ICT, he added. People should continue upgrading their knowledge especially in terms of skills as the world is constantly changing and the education learned in institutions may not become as relevant once a person enters the workforce, he warned. "Expect knowledge to be shaped by your career," he added.
Dr Lanvin said there is a need for public reform and better services to citizens and businesses, adding that there were many expectations of the government, with emphasis in governance, transparency and accountability in all sectors.
"All citizens want transparency to have a say in what's going on," he said, adding that at the same time people all around the world now have a greater ability to connect with the rest of the world. Information is being shared in a matter of seconds through networks such as Twitter, said Dr Lanvin.
"This is changing a lot of what is expected from the government," he added.
E-government is linked to e-governance and Dr Lanvin talked about the key elements, such as new roles for government, which he said has also changed throughout the years from becoming the sole producer of everything and anything of importance to the country to becoming the facilitator and allowing the private sector to become more involved.
"The last point is to become a leader. Take a step back and at the same time as being a leader, you can inspire," he said.
Another important element is what Dr Lanvin called "e-readiness", which he said is defined by the number of players and leaders round the world, with three factors that should be considered: environment, tools and usage.
E-readiness is measured by the number of facilities such as computers, telephone lines and the services that are available, he explained, adding that the output of ICT usage should also be taken into account.
Regarding whether an increase in ICT usage improves the general standard of living, Dr Lanvin pointed out that although there might not be nothing new about an ICT product, people will find new ways to use it. He cited the many social networks available today as an example.
Dr Lanvin identified four groups of functions that are required in order for e-government to be successful. He said governments should: provide access (universal service) such as layout ICT infrastructure, produce ICT equipment and finance public research and development; provide the proper environment such as macro-economic environment and fiscal policies on costs innovation; introduce an education policy such as curricula for life-long learning on ICT training and facilities; and, provide and promote vision that addressees digital divides both domestically and internationally.
The fifth function is for governments to have the "ability to guide people through their own eyes", said Dr Lanvin.
Most people in high positions are very skilled and trained in government issues, but not all are IT specialists, he said.
"And, they are not expected to be. There is a lot of proper training that has to take place," he added.
Dr Lanvin also talked about the benefits of e-government to the government, businesses and citizens that have changed from 1996 to the present day. He added that he expected e-government in the future to "die" in the sense that it will become "multichannel and natural". "What remains is to cope. We won't talk about e-government in the future, it will be the way to do government. It will be so natural that our children will not mention the word e-government."
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Dewi Mohd Sofri
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
