Skills development, private-public partnership vital for Brunei ICT growth

Skills development, private-public partnership vital for Brunei ICT growth

SOBRINA ROSLI
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

BRUNEI's ICT industry is foreseen to grow further during the next few years, subject to proper collaboration efforts, local companies initiative to expand and the nurturing of local ICT skills and expertise.

At a dialogue session between the Prime Minister's Office and the local ICT industry held yesterday,

Pengiran DP Ismail Mohamed, permanent secretary of the Prime Minister's Office told The Brunei Times that though local ICT companies could build upon opportunities offered through the E-government initiative, companies need to also play a role and be more proactive in achieving growth through other areas.

"The prospect of Brunei's ICT industry looks good for the next 3 to 5 years...however the companies must not only look for projects on the government sector alone.They must also be proactive in terms of positioning themselves outside the government industry as well as outside Brunei," he said.

By going regional or even international, they would enrich their experiences and knowledge.

"Companies which are proactive can position themselves in any environment in the competitive world...what is important is the self-motivation and an urge to grow and prosper," he added.

He highlighted government initiative to support local ICT companies such as through the Ministry of Industry, Primary and Resources (MIPR) and the i-Centre of the Brunei Economic Development Board but reminded that such services only provide basic fundamentals and knowledge and that ICT is up to the companies to strive.

Human resources in the field of ICT is also an area of concern for Brunei and efforts are being made to address the issue.

Pengiran Mohammad Pg Kamaluddin, chairman of InfoCom Federation Brunei(IFB) said that non-profit organisation can have a role in developing human resources.

"The main challenge is how they want to implement ICT infrastructure and the human resources development, human resource development covers many areas from specialised skills set to end users at a globally accepted scale...because there is quite a large number to cover, IFB can only play a role in development of specialised ICT skills as well as general ICT end users" he said.

Haslina Taib, the chief financial officer at BAG Networks stressed the need for the continuous training of Brunei's graduates within and outside the country.

"They can be exposed to other management skills and business processes in a different environment, you do need to keep educating and training these human resources," she said.

She said dialogues sessions between relevant agencies and the local ICT industry are very important.

The Brunei Times