Is #Brunei ICT Ready? /discuss

One of my friends in Brunei (`sup Fawwaz!) asked this very astute question on his Facebook profile.

Recently, D&L Partners, were engaged by AITI to conduct a study on the Networked Readiness Index of Brunei. D&L was founded by the two Directors of the INSEAD Elab faculty, and they have great credentials in this space.

So the question is … is Brunei ICT Ready?

My response was:

What do you guys reckon? Are we ICT ready?

D&L reckon that a change in the environment (market, political or regulatory) and the levels of public awareness and enthusiasm could improve our “Networked Readiness Index”.

Street photography in #Brunei (@my7thlife @izadmajid @cloud_stride)

This morning I spotted a forum thread talking about street photography in Brunei. The 1st post was about:

  • Concerned parent finds teen daughter’s pics uploaded on blogs and facebook.
  • “Street Shooters” took pix.
  • Apparently in other countries, models under 18 must have written permission from their parents before having their photo published anywhere.
  • One of the photogs proposed the teen to pose indecently – which the kid sensibly declined.

More discussion after the break:

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I’m featured on www.projekbrunei.com by @BruneiTweet – http://ow.ly/1qCjZI

BruneiTweet launched his website and has an e-Interview of his first Follower on Twitter, which happens to be Yours Truly!

Grats on the launch of the new site, looking forward to some fresh modern content authored by one of Brunei’s up-and-coming stars in the social media space.

I think one of the best features of the site is the real-time mining of the Twitter stream for #Brunei topics. This is a great way for non-Twitter users to get a flavour of the current happenings in Brunei.

Financial planning, the TAP 2009 dividend and the BIBD Al-Kauthar fund series #brunei

Brow furrowed in concentration. Pic courtesy of @PgEmran

As of late, I have been updating my personal financial plans, taking into account our move to Singapore. I’m updating my investment strategy to ensure full compliance with the Firm’s independence requirements. In summary, we as auditors and professional advisors must guard ourselves to ensure there is no tarnishing of our independent opinion, or that there is a perceived threat to our independence. This basically means we cannot be shareholders in the clients of the Firm.

I was quite pleased when one of our LegCo members brought up the topic of personal finances during the Monday session I attended. I think it would be quite Relevant to blog about personal financial planning while it is on the general Bruneian psyche, and I have some interesting facts to share with you all.

Because our LegCo member suggested that the Government should introduce authorised investment schemes for the public. Coincidentally – BIBD ran a roadshow this week to give investors a sneak peek at their BIBD Al-Kauthar Fund Series. Bearing in mind that TAP FY2009′s dividend was 0%, I thought I should share some of my current thoughts for personal financial planning.

DISCLAIMER: This blog post should not be construed as advice. All investments carry a certain risk profile. Investors are advised to fully understand the contents, terms, conditions and risks associated with their investments.

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Panel Discussion: India #Brunei ICT Scope and Potential for Collaboration

Earlier this week I was invited by the High Commission of India, Brunei Darussalam to be a member of a small 7-man panel.

My scope was to present the Infocom Federation Brunei (IFB) profile and to talk about potential areas of collaboration between India and Brunei – whilst being mindful that the other Bruneian speakers would also touch on these areas of collaboration.

(Slides & speaking notes after the break)

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CIMB is hiring for 3 positions in #brunei. CIMB is ranked #4 in M&A League table.

I spotted a job ad on Page 57 of the weekend Borneo Bulletin which I thought was worth sharing.

CIMB Group is hiring for: Senior Manager (3-5 years work experience, Master degree advantageous), Executive (1-3 years work experience, fresh graduates encouraged) and Assistant Executive (1-2 years experience with a Diploma).

FYI, CIMB (Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad) is the 5th largest bank in South East Asia by total assets. I think the job posting is blog worthy because:

(More after the break …)

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#brunei e-government advances the fastest in ASEAN over the period 2008 to 2010

2008 to 2010 has been a great two years for e-Government in Brunei.

Some of our achievements over the past 2 years

We launched the e-Government strategic plan 2009-2014. This master plan creates a framework for all major stakeholders to work towards, it unifies the efforts of the public sector and the private sector with a common language and it clarifies the governance structures under which the continued public-private collaboration is to operate under.

The Brunei Government consolidated its efforts to deliver a common ICT infrastructure to Government Ministries, Agencies and Statutory bodies by launching the e-Government National Centre.

IFB ran it’s flagship event, the Brunei ICT Careers Day in 2008. During the Careers Day, the industry and employers had the opportunity to emphasise the importance of ICT to potential new hires, to match professionals with industrial needs and perhaps most importantly, to identify a pool of young & talented ICT professionals.

We implemented GEMS, the Government Employee Management System. This Government-wide enterprise system seeks to modernise human resource management within the Brunei Government. Reaching some 40,000+ Government employees, compared with the other e-Government projects, GEMS has one of the widest reach.

So how did this translate into our Rankings?

During Brunei’s previous assessment of e-Government readiness, we were slipping in the rankings (shout out to DebatingBrunei.blogspot.com!). Gradually slipping from a fairly high ranking in 2003 of 55/173 in 2003, down to 63/178 in 2004, down to 73/191 in 2005 and then down again to 87 in 2008.

For 2010 Brunei has risen up the rankings – we were the fastest rising in the 10-country ASEAN grouping. We went up from 87th to 68th place – an increase of 19 spots. Not quite regaining our spot from 2004, but definately a strong increase from prior year.

Extract below from UNPAN:

Country E-Government 2010 Rank
2010
Rank
2008
Rank Change
Singapore 0.7476 11 23 +12
Malaysia 0.6101 32 34 +2
Brunei Darussalam 0.4796 68 87 +19
Thailand 0.4653 76 64 -12
Philippines 0.4637 78 66 -12
Viet Nam 0.4454 90 91 +1
Indonesia 0.4026 109 106 -3
Cambodia 0.2878 140 139 -1
Myanmar 0.2818 141 144 +3
Lao People’s Democratic Republic 0.2637 151 156 +5
Timor-Leste 0.2273 162 155 -7

The down side?

On the Up side, Brunei scored well on: the e-Government index, the Infrastructure index and the Human Capital index

On the other hand, Brunei has scored pretty poorly on: the Online Service Index and the e-Participation Index.

The bottom line

For Brunei to live up to our expectations set in the National Development Plan 2007-2012, and in the e-Government Strategic Plan 2009-2014, we will expect to see some big changes.

Firstly, the results of the e-Government citizen survey (organised by PMO and IFB, in collaboration with EGNC and BAG) will come in. This will be interesting to analyse, because this will tell the e-Government stakeholders which government services are in greatest need of attention by implementing agencies. This kind of e-Participation

And to achieve improvements in the Online Service Index?

I think that very high on the Government agenda will likely be technologies like “Service Oriented Architecture” (SOA) and the “Enterprise Service Bus” (ESB). I feel that a key strategy to enhancing the depth and breadth of online services being offered to the Rakyat (Citizens) is not through brute force computerisation but rather through a thoughtful and most importantly … a coherent business NEEDS driven implementation that focuses on the essence of the problem. This is neatly described by Deloitte Consulting as “Service Thinking“.

Because after all, a brute force computerisation of existing processes doesn’t have the same potential to unlock public value to the Rakyat (Citizens) or to deliver meaningful e-Services.

Once we have identified the “pain points” through the e-Government citizen survey, we can then go about tackling the problem of putting some of these services online. In the language of the e-Government Strategic Plan 2007-2014, the “SOA” is called the “Government Enterprise Architecture”.

I’m looking forward to the next 2-3 years to see the kinds of services that will be implemented in a SOA-driven approach, or as they call it, a “Government Enterprise Architecture” driven approach. And remember! This is all towards delivering e-Services and with a main objective of delivering meaningful e-Services for the public and the nation.

IFRS for SMEs – What does the future hold for Brunei?

2 weeks ago at the sidelines of the AFA16 conference, Izam Said asked me for my thoughts on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption in Brunei.

Over the last two weeks I’ve had more thoughts on IFRS and some thoughts on a potential way forward for us in Brunei.

More after the break.

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Guest Post on re:The Auditors

Francine McKenna and I correspond over Twitter on various topics covering Corporate Governance and the “Expectations Gap” between auditors and the stakeholders they serve. She has more than twenty years of experience in the consulting and professional services environment including tenures in both the US and abroad at PwC, KPMG/BearingPoint, JP Morgan and Jefferson Wells/Manpower. She is a freelance writer and a frequent speaker in and out of the accounting/audit world.

Francine invited me to author a guest post on her blog, “re: The Auditors“. She writes and speaks passionately, authoritatively and most importantly, critically about the audit profession and the auditor’s role in capital markets.

I jumped at the chance to author a guest post on her blog, and this is the result. It’s a summary of the first Plenary session at AFA16 where I was invited to present a paper.

http://retheauditors.com/2009/12/15/a-guest-post-from-bruneis-pengiran-izam/

If you’re an accountant, I heartily recommend adding her RSS news feed to your newsreader and keep up to date with the latest developments that affects all accountants everywhere.

Financial scandals – Have auditors succumbed to greed?

This week, we hosted the 16th ASEAN Federation of Accountants confernce here in Brunei and I was very pleased when I received an invitation from BICPA and the organising committee to present a paper on the above topic.

I’ve uploaded my slides to slideshare.net, and I also attach high res slides after the break below.