Mampu is the lead agency for all e-government projects in Malaysia.
“Statements of intention have been issued, but we have yet to see any active responses,” Khairiyatun told reporters at a recent briefing.
IBM sees an opportunity to be involved in policy framework discussions. In fact, according to Khairiyatun, one of the policy consultations that IBM has taken part in is the national framework for Open Source adoption.
“IBM has consulted and is moving towards formal discussion with governing bodies such as Mampu to come up with a national framework for Open Source adoption,” she said.
As the Malaysian government pushes forward with its e-government initiative, the role of Open Source computing can serve as the backbone infrastructure to drive the transformation.
The e-government initiative, a flagship application of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), aims to re-invent the government sector through the use of information technology, and to ultimately foster a collaborative environment.
Despite the slow execution of some policies, Khairiyutan was confident that this year would see greater interest and support by the Government for Open Source computing, especially using the Linux operating system, as a tool for integration and ensuring interoperability within government agencies.
The Government has moved in the right direction with its announcements on the adoption of Open Source computing standards in public sector procurement. In addition, it has also explored the phenomenon, especially the popularity of Linux.
Having said that, there are some policy actions that have yet to be discussed on an implementation level, said Khairiyatun.
She noted that the Government has not investigated and evaluated the use of Linux as part of national IT, R&D and economic development strategies.
The Government should also consider forging partnerships with technology companies to realise the benefits of Open Source computing and Linux or other Open Source software, she added.
Making progress
From a larger perspective, Malaysia’s desire to bring government to the information age was noteworthy, Khairiyatun said.
Creating an online presence via a website was the most elementary step to take, she noted, however addinmg that e-government adoption in Malaysia was currently straggling between two key phases: access and enterprise integration.
The access phase, she said, was where ministries and individual government agencies maintain an online presence through a website. However, the content currently was still not dynamic and very much based on print information.
With enterprise integration, inter-departments should integrated via a portal, for example. This integration would allow customers and citizens to perform service transactions electronically.
Quelle: The Star
