This is taken from a website..talking about egnc brunei

the article below is taken from the blog mentioned here.

WILL EGNC MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN BRUNEI EGOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT?

December 22, 2009, 8:10 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: brunei egovernment egnc

Or will it slow things down?

Have anyone read the EGNC staff complaining on Brudirect/HYS regarding their superior? Thats not good is it. If internal affair cant be sorted out, then, how are they going to invigilate the whole nation’s e-government system implementation?

EGNC is taking control over the hardwares and softwares that goes in into the government. Just few months ago, a company is having problem trying to get quotation for Microsoft Office Products to be supplied for one of the Government’s agencies. Weeks and weeks waited, no quotation were received from vendors. Why ? Because EGNC halted the process. Why? Because theyre not ready yet.

But this particular government department needed this softwares.

Yes I know, but EGNC isincharge now, and theyre telling all vendors to put their hands down.

Why?

I dont know.

So the question is, will EGNC make a difference in the e-government development?

EGNC Official Site

Do you know how far off are we in the e-government? Lets compare with UK. There were 2 phases. The first phase is To Computerize the Government System. They’ve done that already. The second phase is Connecting the Public to the e-Government.

Basically with this system, a British dude will have his personal section on the government system. There contains his personal information such as identity and address etc. On top of that, the system keep tracks of the bristish’s dude health (it’s connect to NHS) so if theres any doctor appointment, the system will notify the British dude. His doctor will also be able to keep in touch with him.

Think of it as, e-Gov 2.0.

Not only that, with this system as well, the British dude can buy his groceries via the system. Im not kidding you.

Now in Brunei, we’re still in the process to computerize the government. There are still departments that is using the paperbased solution. Seriously, Bruneians are way too confortable to be able to move on.

Oh yeah, another thing that ive learnt is that, the egovernment system in UK, is done by ONE COMPANY ONLY. AND ITS ONE HUGE COMPANY. Why is this a factor?

One company that connects all ministry together. All ministries will be running on the same platform. Same based. Easier to connect to one another. Easier to share information. Easier to maintan the system.

In Brunei, shit loads of companies. Different department in the govebrnment, is computerized by different vendors, using different systems and with different platform. For instance, MOE, using Apple Mac, while the rest of the ministries is using Windows platform.

There will always be compatibility issues.

This is just my thoughts. Who knows, maybe there are super geniuses working in EGNC right?

But really, how long have it been =) Want to make a difference? Dont make us wait.

cios n eglf members brunei

CIO Survival Guide – The Recovery Begins

If you were a CIO in 2008 and survived 2009, then you have earned your stripes. 2009 felt the full brunt of the economic meltdown
ending the year with double-digit unemployment and new job creation at an all time low.

Putting 2009 aside, what does 2010 hold in store for CIOs? Will it be a year of continued lean budgets and cost controls or a year of gradual recovery and growth?

More than ever, CIOs need to focus on their business savvy, peer relationships and ability to achieve continuous alignment with business strategies and objectives. In addition, it is imperative that CIOs don’t go off on technology quests that may be too controversial or bleeding edge. While having the latest and greatest might give the CIO bragging rights at conferences and such, it does little to impress leadership teams and business unit executives if core needs aren’t being satisfied.

For 2010, CIOs would be wise to keep their technology powder dry, keep the infrastructure solid and focus on providing solutions that are easily traceable to specific enterprise and business unit objectives. Therefore, new project initiatives need to be “rifle-shot” on target and deliverables, spot on. Shorter projects with more frequent deliverables will serve the CIO better than larger, high-risk endeavors. Improving service levels should be first and foremost on CIOs' list of priorities, especially if they have suffered due to cut backs and other recession-related events.

CIO Insight weighed in on the topic in its “CIO priorities for 2010,” a recap of the survey conducted by “The Society for Information Management (SIM)” of CIOs and IT executive leaders. These priorities are as follows:

1. Business Productivity and Cost Reduction
2. IT and Business Alignment
3. Business Agility and Speed to Market
4. Business Process Reengineering
5. IT Cost Reduction
6. IT Reliability and Efficiency
7. IT Strategic Planning
8. Revenue Generating IT Innovation
9. Security and Privacy Maturity
10. CIO as a Member of the Leadership Team

Clearly these priorities reveal the focus is on sticking to basics before branching out into the innovative. To see cost reduction take precedent over revenue growth is quite telling. Disappointing was the sense that it isn’t imperative to have the CIO serve in an enterprise leadership capacity. This suggests that CIOs are still seen as second class citizens and not the peer of CFOs and COOs. In many respects, these top 10 priorities take me back to the mid-1990s in terms of what those surveyed deemed to be important. For me it isn’t so much the items making the list but the sequence and the inherent contradictions in expectations.

e-Government Citizen Survey 2009

A nationwide e-Government Citizen Survey shall be conducted to identify which Government Services need to be made available online. Aligned with the e-Government Strategic Plan 2009-2014, this survey is open to all citizens and residents of Brunei Darussalam.

The e-Government Survey will enable more effective citizen engagement and collaboration with the community. Your participation will contribute towards improving Government services which are important to YOU! In turn, the Government can prioritise which e-Government projects are in need of the greatest attention.

The survey will launch on the 4th of December 2009. Participants will be able to fill-in online surveys at www.egovcitizensurvey2009.gov.bn, road-shows, focus group and at Brunei-Muara counter services of the Government, namely: Labour Department, Immigration & National Registration, Post Office-Mail Processing Centre and the Land Transport Department.

What is the purpose?

With the input from the community this survey will help the Prime Ministers Office to identify which e-Government services are important to the citizens.

Who can participate in the survey?

This survey is open to all citizens and residents of Brunei Darussalam.

How to fill in the survey?

Log on here

Do you know?

Each participant who completes the survey will receive a participation gift and will be eligible for grand prizes (provided names and IC number are given).

What do I need to do?

All you need to do is complete the survey and remember to include your NAME and IC Number.

Roadshows

We will be conducting roadshows in all four districts. Make sure to catch us at a venue closest to you on the following dates.

During the roadshows, citizens will be able to enjoy other exciting events happening on the same day at different venues such as Sukan Ria, Pembukaan Rasmi Carnival RTB, Walkaton, Pesta Ria Kanak-Kanak.

Major cyber spy network uncovered

There is no conclusive evidence of Chinese government involvement

An electronic spy network, based mainly in China, has infiltrated computers from government offices around the world, Canadian researchers say.

They said the network had infiltrated 1,295 computers in 103 countries.

They included computers belonging to foreign ministries and embassies and those linked with the Dalai Lama - Tibet's spiritual leader.

There is no conclusive evidence China's government was behind it, researchers say. Beijing also denied involvement.

The report comes after a 10-month investigation by the Information Warfare Monitor (IWM), which comprises researchers from Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies.

They were acting on a request from the Tibetan spiritual leader's office to check whether the computers of his Tibetan exile network had been infiltrated.

Researchers found that ministries of foreign affairs of Iran, Bangladesh, Latvia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Barbados and Bhutan appear to had been targeted.

Hacked systems were also discovered in the embassies of India, South Korea, Indonesia, Romania, Cyprus, Malta, Thailand, Taiwan, Portugal, Germany and Pakistan.

Analysts say the attacks are in effect industrial espionage, with hackers showing an interest in the activities of lawmakers and major companies.

Compromised

The researchers said hackers were apparently able to take control of computers belonging to several foreign ministries and embassies across the world using malicious software, or malware.

"We uncovered real-time evidence of malware that had penetrated Tibetan computer systems, extracting sensitive documents from the private office of the Dalai Lama," investigator Greg Walton was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.

They say they believe the system, which they called GhostNet, was focused on governments in Asia.

By installing malware on compromised computers, hackers were able to take control of them to send and receive classified data.

In this case, the software also gave hackers the ability to use audio and video recording devices to monitor the rooms the computers were in. But investigators said they did not know whether or not this element had been used.

According to the New York Times, the spying operation is the largest to have been uncovered in terms of the number of countries affected.

In an abstract for the report entitled The Snooping Dragon: Social Malware Surveillance of the Tibetan Movement - posted on the IWM website - investigators said while such attacks were not new, these particularly stood out for their ability to collect "actionable intelligence for use by the police and security services of a repressive state, with potentially fatal consequences for those exposed".

EGovernment Plaque at The Civil Service Institute