The Minister of Communications, Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat, hinted at further reduction in information and communication technology (ICT) costs as the ministry looks to strengthen information technology infrastructure and widen penetration.

"We are working to give the best service at more competitive rates," the minister said recently when the Bulletin asked about Brunei's global ranking in the ICT Development Index (MIDI) prepared by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) this year where the Sultanate fell to 77th place out of 175 countries compared to 74th place in 2015.

In the Asia-Pacific, Brunei stood at 9th place, while in the Asean region, the Sultanate was placed at 3rd place behind Singapore and Malaysia.

"Our IT literacy and penetration are increasing but use of ICT is still limited. We should also strive to address the digital divide and continue to develop ICT infrastructure considering the increasing population in the country," the minister added.

"ICT services have been expanding in the country such as the use of Brunei Darussalam Healthcare Information and Management System (Bru-HIMS) at hospitals and the Government Employee Management System (GEMS).

"ICT solutions are already present in the government and private sectors. We should promote locally developed IT solutions not only for internal use but also for foreign markets," the minister added.

"We should encourage locals to engage in ICT through Brunei ICT and Asean ICT awards. During the recent Asean Telecommunications Ministers meeting in Brunei Darussalam, we stressed the importance of innovation and creativity," Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Mustappa noted.

The minister also said that the Brunei Darussalam Declaration on Connected Innovative Community was adopted during the 16th Asean Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers meeting (16th Asean TELMIN), held last month in Bandar Seri Begawan to advance Asean's vision of establishing an innovative and inclusive community.

"We emphasised on promoting innovations in the Asean member countries and stressed on innovative and creative ideas to encourage new creations to be marketed overseas through subscribing to the international property copyrights and innovative networks of friendly countries, to promote Bruneian ideas as our local market is small.

"We should also take a serious note of cyber-security as we are going to depend on e-economy in the future," the minister added.

According to the ICT Development Index, in the access sub-index ranking, Brunei Darussalam is considerably higher than its overall IDI 2016 ranking, standing at 52nd place globally with the Sultanate as occupying the middle of the distribution.

The report stated that 21 countries in IDI 2016 have rankings for access which are 20 or more places higher than their rankings for usage.

The greatest differences were observed for Brunei Darussalam (52 places), Ukraine (43 places), Seychelles (34 places), the Islamic Republic of Iran (31 places) and Mauritius (30 places).

These imbalances suggest that there is scope for greater deployment and policy interventions to stimulate demand in these countries.

The Republic of Korea topped the IDI rankings in 2016 for a second consecutive year. The top 10 countries also included two other economies in the Asia-Pacific region, and seven European countries. This reflects the high level of ICT investment and innovation occurring in developed and high-income developing economies.

The majority of high-performing countries have liberalised and competitive ICT markets that encourage innovation. They also have populations with relatively high incomes and the skills needed to make effective use of ICT.

Countries from around the world showed strong improvements in performance.

The greatest improvement was achieved by St Kitts and Nevis, which rose from 54th place in 2015 to 34th place in 2016. Other countries showing substantial ICT progress included Myanmar, Algeria and Bhutan.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect.com

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