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E-Government, Local Government

Oracle launches e-government Centre of Excellence in Malaysia

By James Smith | 7 August 2005

Oracle’s regional network of E-Governance Centres of Excellence (CoE) is growing, with yesterday’s official opening of its fifth Asian solutions testbed in Putrajaya.

The new centre has been charged with coming up with solutions to bridge the country’s digital divide by the minister responsible for technology who attended the official opening with other government officials and Oracle executives.

“Our Prime Minister has put the improvement of public service delivery as one of the most important items on the agenda of his government. It is a pleasure for us to see another initiative from Oracle in supporting this agenda for e-government,” said Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis, Malaysia’s Science, Technology and Innovation Minister. “We like to thank Oracle for all their support for Malaysia?s ICT agenda, and I would like to ask them to focus attention on crossing the digital divide.”

Dr Jamaludin cited statistics showing near ubiquitous use of mobile phones by adults, and suggested that mobile applications could help increase the reach of e-government in the country.

“It is important for the Centre of Excellence to look at the end-play; how many people will use the solution. If your solution is PC-based, it has limited penetration. But mobile phones, that is a different matter. We have 16 million mobile phone users, which represents a very good penetration of mobiles amongst adults. By contrast we have only 2 million PC users. So it is one thing talking about offering solutions, but it is very important to understand how many people have access to the solutions. It is important for Oracle to look at the end-play.”

Oracle expects to invest 10 million ringgit (US$2.66 million) over three years, in terms of technology and headcount. The CoE will feature open source sofware solutions, complementing the Malaysian government’s stated preference for increasing the uptake of OSS by government agencies.

The CoE will be used as a testbed for new government applications, and it is expected to leverage implementation and technology insights from the existing CoEs in India, The Philippines, China and Sri Lanka.

“There are similarites and differences between these countries, and there are different dynamics at play,” said Keith Budge, Senior Vice President, Oracle Asia Pacific. “However making sure that you bridge the digital divide is important to all governments, and our Centres of Excellence provide a good opportunity for experimentation. I don’t think you can put a dollar value on that knd of experience.”

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