Deputy Permanent Secretary (IT and E-Government) at the Prime Minister's Office Hj Azhar Hj Ahmad explained this to reporters yesterday in light of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's recent titah.
During the 17th Civil Service Day celebration earlier this month, the monarch questioned why, after more than a decade and over $1 billion spent, was the e-government initiative lagging behind and its services under-utilised. His Majesty had then called for investigations into the cause of problem and for efforts to be made to jumpstart the process.
Hj Azhar said that much of the work carried out since the e-government initiative started in 2000 were focused on building IT infrastructure and back-office systems, but acknowledged it was "not enough". He told reporters that these then-thought improvements went largely unnoticed by the public.
"Its usage so far is still unsatisfactory. Similarly, IT applications to facilitate the public's dealings with the government are also unsatisfactory, when compared with other countries in the region," the deputy permanent secretary said.
"Hence, the focus for e-government over the next few years is not just (about) putting more PCs on the tables. It is not just about creating more websites. It is not just about telling officials to use email as official government communication," he added.
Focus will now be on delivering e-services, particularly the top 20 per cent of services used by the public, rather than "simple" back office systems.
"We have to focus on the business process before we IT them. Don't do IT first, and only after that, look at the process... There is no point in automising our inefficiencies," Hj Azhar said. "It's a learned lesson and we hope that it will change in the future."
The deputy permanent secretary was also one of the speakers during an open forum discussion, "e-Government: Connecting with the Citizens" during the THiNKBIG Technology Forum yesterday.
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Quelle/Source: Bru Direct, 28.10.2010
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