STATEMENT
BY
YB
PEHIN DATO ZAKARIA SULAIMAN
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS
BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM
During
WELCOMING
DINNER
FOR
CONFERENCE ON NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
Sunday,
22nd July 2001
Cesar
Grand Hall, 8th Floor, Orchid Garden Hotel,
Berakas,
Brunei Darussalam
Good
Evening
Yang
Dimuliakan dan Yang Mulia Permanent Secretaries
Senior
Government Officials,
Representatives
of the academia and private sector,
Distinguished speakers and delegates of the Conference,
Ladies and Gentlemen
First of all, I wish to thank
the Vice Chancellor of UBD and the Organizing Committee of the Conference on New
Information Technologies for inviting me as Guest of Honour to the opening
ceremony. Let me also welcome all
overseas speakers and participants to Brunei and I hope you all will have a
pleasant stay here in Bandar Seri Begawan.
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
"Virtual
Information:
the Dawn of A New Era” is an appropriate theme for this
Conference.
Indeed we are entering
a new era of Virtual Information.
Knowledge and Information, or as we now call it, VIRTUAL INFORMATION
is
embedded in our everyday lives and has taken roots
in our economy where intangible capital is considered as important as
tangible capital.
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
The
phenomenal growth of the Internet brings about tremendous
opportunities on how we conduct our daily lives, our businesses and
social interaction. The Government
of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has placed
great emphasis on the development of IT infrastructure in the country. A
high quality nationwide broadband network, the RaGAM 21, has become
operational. This has resulted in a fairly high degree of IT diffusion in almost
all sectors of the economy. New initiatives are underway such as providing government
services on line, with international
connectivity through submarine cables and satellites. This infrastructure has
paved the way to enhancing Brunei Darussalam’s competitiveness in the global
ICT sector. To further leverage on
our strength in the infrastructure, the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and
Yang DiPertuan had created the Brunei Darussalam National Information Technology
(BIT) Council to lead and facilitate the strategic development and diffusion of
the state of the art IT and to exploit IT to its full potential.
A
number of key initiatives are
currently being implemented through the Brunei Darussalam National Information
Technology (BIT) Council. Future
strategic directions in IT have been clearly specified in Brunei Darussalam’s
IT strategic plan, “IT 2000 and beyond”.
First
- National drive towards paperless or information society
We believe that IT offers opportunities for building stronger and competitive communities through improved access to global information. But first there is the need to address the low level of skill, penetration and supply of ICT. Among its immediate tasks, the BIT Council will drive IT Literacy Campaigns and regular programs to close the the Digital Divide between ‘information rich’ and ‘information poor’ so that every segment of our communities are able to use and have access to IT.
The
second strategy is the public sector drive towards electronic government.
The
e-government programme has been identified as a top agenda in line with the 21st
Century Civil Service Vision. The government is committed to provide all
appropriate information and services on line. This will improve accessibility to
government information and services by members of the public or businesses. An
executive committee under the chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary of the
Prime Minister’s Office has been tasked to advance IT diffusion in the public
service and advance the development of
e-related services or activities currently being undertaken by various
ministries and government agencies.
And the third key IT strategy is the private sector drive towards electronic business.
It is
believed that e-commerce have the most potential for growth and penetration.
Therefore, the private sector must realize that IT diffusion should be taken
seriously in doing business locally, regionally and globally. The BIT Council
through a committee led by the private sector is formulating
an action plan for the promotion, development and application of IT in
the business sector with particular emphasis on e-banking, e-marketing and
e-shopping. Our aim is to achieve the status of an electronic business Society
by the year 2004.
The
BIT Council is in the process of setting up an International Advisory Panel (IAP)
comprising of IT experts from overseas. The Panel will advise BIT Council on
strategic IT issues. The Panel is expected to play a key role in advancing
IT-led economic growth of Brunei Darussalam.
The
formation of Brunei Darussalam’s Information Technology Corporation (BIT
Corporation), an incorporated government owned body responsible for the IT and
ICT investments in Brunei
Darussalam, will be one of the flagship projects in jumpstarting the development
of ICT activities in Brunei Darussalam.
It is hoped that this Corporation will be formed in the not too distant
future.
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
These are but
some of the important priority issues that needs to be addressed in bringing
Brunei Darussalam into the new era of information technology. The government
alone without the full support and close cooperation of the private sector will
not be able to handle all those issues effectively. The benefits and
opportunities brought about by the new information technologies are enormous and
cannot be fully realized without the strong commitment of all. It is for us to
choose between facing up to the challenges of the new
technological revolution by participating actively and reap its benefits
or ignore the development and be
left behind.
This
Conference is, therefore, very important and I hope it will help to spur
awareness of the importance of this new Information Technology.
I commend the UBD and the Organizers for their foresight in organizing
this Conference.
On that note,
and with the kalimah BISMILLAHIRAHMAN NIRRAHIM dan BERTAWAKAL KEPADA ALLAH,
I hereby declare this Conference open.
Wabillahihit
Taufik Walhidayah, Wassalamualaikum Warahmahtullahi Wabarakatuh.