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E-Government

The Recipe for a Citizen-centric ICT Policy

By Clarice Africa | 9 May 2011

In an interview with Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab, Undersecretary of the ICT Policy Division at Malaysia’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, he shares with FutureGov Asia Pacific, his take on what constitutes an enabling citizen-centric ICT Policy.

A citizen-centric ICT policy is one that ensures a balanced socio-economic development in the country by way of bridging the digital divide between communities. It is where the government advocates a more accessible, effective and accountable use of ICT in the effective delivery of services to the public, thus promoting more engagements and transparency in the interaction between the public and the government.

According to Dr. Amir, an inclusive ICT policy involves a trisectoral representation which comprises of members from the public, private and community interest sectors.

“Forging a trisectoral partnership is important as it enables the participation and inclusion of all sectors in policy planning and decision-making. In addition, it also builds consensus and wills to create a conducive environment for the growth of a knowledge-based economy,” he said.

“Trisectoral representations allow public sector organisations to engage with all relevant stakeholders, identify key areas of concern, and deliberate on all issues and propose policy interventions”.

Through a process of consultations, Dr. Amir says that the government hopes to formulate policies that are citizen-centric, inclusive, and relevant.

To cite an example, Dr. Amir says that the Malaysian Government took steps to engage the citizens, business communities, the Academe, and NGOs in various consultation platforms to gather opinions on issues that are of interest to everyone.

“These consultations were led by the government through strategic workshops held throughout the nation beginning with the Government Transformation Program at the end of 2009 and Economic Transformation Program in the middle of 2010 and continuously until today and into the future to ensure the success of the projects identified,” he said.

At present, Malaysia is moving towards a citizen-centric Government from merely offering basic information online through static websites to providing interactive and transactional online services across Government agencies and through multi-delivery channels.

“It has moved away from services based on how the Government is organized to services based on the needs of the citizens,” Dr. Amir said.

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