'Ride the waves of change' to achieve e-govt's vision

Awg Hj Azhar bin Hj Yahya, the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Upstream) at the Prime Minister's Office speaking at the opening of the second e-Government Executive Training programme. - JAMES KON

Brunei's e-Government Vision is to be 'an e-Smart Government in the 21st Century" with a mission to establish electronic governance and services to best serve the nation. To realise the vision and mission, one of the identified key strategic priorities in the e-Government strategic plan is developing capabilities and capacity. The nation's e-government vision and mission was highlighted by Awg Hj Azhar bin Hj Yahya, the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Upstream) at the Prime Minister's Office in his remarks at the opening of the second e-Government Executive Training programme organised by e-Government Innovation Centre (eG.InC).
 
"The executive training programmes conducted by the e-Government Innovation Centre yesterday will help this strategic priority by providing public officials with the relevant ICT skills and knowledge towards achieving information society and knowledge based economy in Brunei Darussalam."

 A total of 14 Chief Information Officers and Chief Technical Officers from various ministries are currently undergoing the programme. Highlighting the evolving role of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Technical Officers (CTOs), he stated that their roles are evolving and is no longer simply a matter of keeping ICT projects on time and within the budget but must also continually look at new ways for information to add value and catalyse the development of new e-services as well as delivery channels.

He said, "Clear understanding and appreciation of the benefits and potential of technology will add values to Brunei's e-Government innovation." Apart from understanding the needs and concerns of citizens and businesses, he said, "They must also think outside the box by looking at other ways to implement projects such as outsourcing and public private partnership approaches (PPP).

"We need strong collaboration with our industry partners in the private sector to learn from their best practices and ensure our e-service delivery continues to remain relevant and innovative." Awang Hj Azhar bin Hj Yahya further explained that CIOs and CTOs also need leadership and entrepreneurial skills, technological abilities and must be willing to actively work across departments and ministries.

The issues facing the public today require solutions that cut across the traditional boundaries of different agencies and resolving these issues will require CIOs, CTOs and all public officers to work together more closely than ever before.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary (Uptream) at the Prime Minister's Office also commended the e-Government Innovation Centre as it embarks on an executive e-Government Awareness Training programme for permanent secretaries and deputy permanent secretaries in order to equip them with the latest knowledge and skills towards e-Governence to enable e-government initiatives to be implemented, supported and led right from the top level.

Concluding his speech, Awang Hj Azhar bin Hj Yahya said the emergence of ICT calls for fundamental transformational shifts and rethinking in the ways we do our business and look at e-Government. The complex and rapidly changing environment demands the government agencies to ride the waves of change and continuously adapt to new trends. "I trust that eG.InC will continue to play an important role in delivering high quality and relevant e-Government training and development services," he said.

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