According to a paper by UBD lecturers from the Faculty of Business, Economics and Policy Studies, Dr Patrick Low Kim Cheng, Dr Mohammad Nabil Almunawar and Dr Fadzliwati Mohiddin, e-Government may imply a restructuring and reengineering of government business processes.
In their paper entitled "E-Government in Brunei Darussalam —Facilitating Businesses, Creating the Competitive Edge", the UBD lecturers suggest that Bruneian civil servants and the public need to change their thinking and "accept the e-ways".
Like one of Singapore CSCP's early strategies, Brunei too can adopt the "Start Small, Scale Fast" (SS-SF) approach, they said, adding that it would be best to start each major initiative on a small scale as a prototype. The system should only be deployed on a mass scale once it has been tested and accepted by public.
Meanwhile, the UBD lecturers acknowledged that one of good examples of change in management in Brunei was the introduction of the HAR I IS system within the Ministry of Health.
Developed purely by the Human Resource (HR) specialists of the ministry, the information system, which provides portal and IT support for the ministry, is greatly accepted and widely used by the management and staff of the ministry.
This is a good start, as it moves away from "mere data collection but also a mindset acceptance of the change to come", they said, adding that it also serves as a solid action step to move forward in the e-Government implementation.
In their conclusion, they noted that e-Government is not merely introducing technology for efficiency; instead it is a transformation process that involves changes in mindset, culture and structure for better service to all government stakeholders.
The transformation process is a complex one. Therefore, it has to be managed properly in order to establish an effective e-Government, they said.
Meanwhile, Dr Yong Chee Than, a senior lecturer from UBD, discussed various issues pertaining to managing government projects in regional Asean economies, particularly those relevant to the Sultanate.
He also highlighted a number of successful c-Government projects; one of which was the TAFIS project led by the Ministry of Finance. The TAFIS project enabled all government agencies to transact using a secure network and a single common platform. Furthermore, it led to changes particularly how agencies carry out operational processes.
A more notable outcome was the establishment of a joint venture company between the government and a private organisation called BAG Sdn Bhd.
Meanwhile, he said that a few of the recently implemented c-Government projects would need to be strengthened by incorporating additional technical modules such as more bandwidth, better integration and interfaces.
He also noted that a typical problem in most IT projects was the continual expansion of scope of work without significant cost compensation.
In his conclusion, he suggested that a simple IT performance measurement system should be established and maintained by a ministry or department, and capable of consolidating to ensure the successful implementation of Brunei's e-Government.
Primarily, managing e-government projects requires a shift from merely implementing a technology solution to the development and adoption of an acceptable project management methodology, and the improvement in public organisations, business communities and citizens, he said.
This may sound a tall order for the implementation of the e-Government project, but the reality is that the e-Government blueprint is the best catalyst for bringing about the transformation process and capacity building, he added.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Zasika Musdi
Quelle/Source: Brunei Direct, 08.01.2008
