"If one was to peel away at the ICT strategy of any country, what we would find at the core would be e-governance," said Deputy Minister at the Prime Ministers Office Dato Seri Paduka Eusoff Agaki Hj Ismail.
Noting that the forum brought together senior officials and experts from e-government bodies across the region, he said that despite the differences in implementing e-governance, the challenges faced would be similar among nations.
"The common view of e-governance is that it is a multi-stakeholders undertaking - an undertaking that should involve e-government experts, policy makers and implementors as well as the industry players, citizens or public at large," lie said.
"Perhaps the difference lies in the approaches that countries take to realise their e-governance objectives or priorities," he added.
Dato Eusoff Agaki highlighted that one of the challenges was how to adequately address the concerns of multiple stakeholders, namely the government, businesses and citizens. "It is therefore a delicate balance and to manage the process itself poses a major challenge to those stakeholders involved."
He believes that streamlining and re-engineering processes and procedures to overcome the issue of red tape was part of good governance, along with the improvement of decision-making processes and strengthening the coordination of government agencies.
"In other words, a whole government approach or integrated government agencies will serve to strengthen governance and ultimately in delivering an effective e-government within the civil service as well as to the citizens."
In this initiative, the EGLF chairman said that a special committee had been formed to streamline processes and reduce red tape. Known as the Steering Committee for Public Service Delivery, the committee was tasked to address inter-ministry issues and problems that arise due to poor services delivery.
The delivery of services was key in the e-government drive, as it emphasises on citizen-centric services so that the population would be encouraged to interact with government agencies.
"Delivering a healthy e-governance is not a one-sided affair but an affair with the society at large."
"It affects how the government and society carry out their duties and build a more cohesive, informed and educated people. This will ultimately transform the competitive advantage of the nation - a very sound investment indeed."
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ubaidillah Masli
Quelle/Source: Brunei Direct, 18.08.2009
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