Gov’t pushes for online services

Darren Chin
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE government rolled out more online services in 2015, as part of its push to adopt information communication technology (ICT) as an enabler to achieving Vision 2035.

After spending $1 billion on e-government since 2000, the government now aims to integrate all its services onto the single one-stop portal of e-Darussalam.

Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Hj Mohammad Yasmin Hj Umar had said the e-Darussalam portal is one of the ways to improve Brunei’s rank in the United Nations E-government Survey.

The sultanate dropped 32 places to 86th in the survey last year, with low number of online services, lack of basic features, and poor public involvement with the government cited as the main factors for the decline.

e-Darussalam portal

A total of nine online services are available on the e-Darussalam portal, including three that were launched this year - the Public Service Commission (PSC) Recruitment System, JobCentre Brunei and Labour Control System.

The number of registered e-Darussalam users hit more than 56,000 at the end of November 2015, with figures expected to rise when more government services are introduced on the portal.

His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, launched the portal in July 2011.

With one e-Darussalam account, Bruneians may soon be able to do nearly every action that previously required a visit to government agencies, such as bill payments, submitting application forms or licence renewals from the comfort of their homes.

The minister of energy and industry at the Prime Minister’s Office earlier this year said the goal is to have all government services on the e-Darussalam portal as part of the Digital Government Strategy 2015-2020.

The minister had said the portal will allow a platform for citizens and the government to communicate and provide feedback in helping developing national policies.

Recruitment system

The Public Service Commission in March launched the PSC Recruitment System, an online service for jobseekers wishing to find employment at government agencies.

The recruitment system, which replaced the semi-automated Civil Service Information System (SIMPA), automatically processes all online job applications for ministries and departments.

This streamlined the job application process for prospective civil servants on one portal.

After the recruitment system’s launch in November, the PSC also introduced the psychometric assessment in electronic form, which negated the need for paper and reduced the problem of job mismatch, according to its human resources officer.

All jobseekers wishing to apply for above-entry level jobs in the public sector are required to complete the psychometric test to assess their capabilities in performing their duties.

The launch of PSC Recruitment System also turned out to be the main factor in the spike of registered e-Darussalam users this year as Bruneians who wished to apply for government jobs were required to do so online via the system which required an e-Darussalam account.

JobCentre Brunei

The Ministry of Home Affairs launched JobCentre Brunei in June to streamline and simplify the process of finding employment in the private sector.

The job portal allows jobseekers to apply for vacancies in the private sector while also allowing employers to register on the portal and seek potential employees to fill up vacancies at their companies.

Employees can upload their CV and profiles on the portal as well as apply for training courses through JobCentre Brunei which would diversify the skills set of jobseekers and increase their value to potential employers.

At press time yesterday, 4,008 jobseekers and 378 companies were registered on JobCentre Brunei with 46 vacancies.

Labour Control System

The Labour Control System was launched on May 25, 2015 to make the Labour Department’s services available online.

The system promises convenience and quicker processing times for any applications made to the department and also to prevent falsification of documents issued by them.

Thus far, the system can only accept applications for domestic worker recruitment licences and signing of contracts for new employees.

In line with the Digital Government Strategy 2015-2020, the system will be looking to provide all services to the public online.

This year also marked the first time that employers had to complete the mandatory annual labour census online using the system.

However, it was not without problems as the original deadline of November 30, 2015 had to be extended until the end of the year as companies were not ready and unfamiliar with using the system.

Most of the companies did not even have an e-Darussalam account when it was announced that this year’s census was required to be completed online.


Sumber - The Brunei Times