IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

In launching the project at Kota Marudu and Petra Jaya, Sarawak simultaneously through teleconferencing Sunday, its Minister Datuk Maximus Ongkili said the project is to support the national aspiration to build an informed society by encouraging the use of science, technology and innovation (STI) to improve the life of the people especially in rural areas.

Abdullah said that with good cooperation between the state and federal governments, everything would be able to be implemented speedily for the people’s benefit.

He said the initiative was a follow-up of the state government's success in securing first place at last year's Malaysian Government Portals and Websites Assessment.

The assessment, by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), was undertaken based on the global best practices criteria applied by Brown University and Waseda University, he said after opening the state government's e-government exhibition, here.

Under Secretary, Cyber & Space Security Division, National Security Council, Prime Minister’s Office, Mohammed Shah Nuri, said that there was a need to focus on “addressing the risks to critical infrastructure and establishing a comprehensive programme and responsibilities” for mitigation.

“Since 2007 and the attack on Estonia, the attacking of critical infrastructure has become more obvious - most of their combined services went down for about three weeks,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said the second phase would involve expanding the MSC to other cyber cities in the country, and, later, various parts of the world.

“Many think the recession is the worst since World War II but it is also the best time since then to invest in technology,” said Dane Anderson, Springboard CEO.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the RM15.2 billion infrastructure would spur economic growth further.

The speed of Internet access will be improved up to 1,000 megabits per second for large users.

The project, which also provides for e-government applications, would give broadband access at minimal monthly fees for businesses.

Under the first phase, the state's 92 primary and secondary schools would be equipped with this service within six months.

The roll-out of broadband infrastructure will be accelerated through a public-private partnership initiative to achieve 50% household penetration by 2010.

Once they start deriving benefits from the Web, it will be a necessity for them and broadband ­penetration in the country will start to increase, said the researcher.

Spanning from year 2010 to 2015, the project targets under-served areas where there is no telecommunication or broadband service. The project stemmed from the Universal Service Provider Programme, a scheme started by the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia (MECM) to promote the availability and usage of network and application services throughout the country.

To extend internet coverage and telecommunication services, the state government has earmarked RM55 million (US$17 million) for Community Broadband Centres. These will be scattered across the rural regions of Sabah, a state with the population of 3.2 million. 14 broadband libraries which cost RM22 million (US$6.8 million), and 212 towers for expansion of cellular coverage - worth RM298 million (US$92 million) will be constructed.

Change your mindset towards Information and Communications Technology (ICT). This is what JPJ Deputy Director-General Datuk Solah Mat Hassan wants Malaysians to do.

He lamented that many Malaysians were still doubtful of trying out E-payment via the government portal, probably out of fear that it was unsafe and that personal particulars might be compromised.

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said it ranked number one out of the portals of 13 states and scored 88 points out of the maximum of 100.

"A total of 1,145 government portals and websites nationwide were assessed this year by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). The Sarawak electronic government portal is ranked number one followed by Johor and Selangor.

E-government is aimed to complement existing service channels, not replace them, said Datuk Abdul Aziz Hussein, State Secretary of Sarawak, in an address to civil servants. The talk came against a backdrop of a slew of new government technology projetcs in neighbouring Brunei Darussalam.