| Azlan Othman |
TELEKOM Brunei Berhad (TelBru) infrastructure has capabilities to support the Smart Nation vision, but more cohesive cooperation among stakeholders is needed to realise this initiative, a top official of the telecom major said.
“The Smart Nation concept can take Brunei into the next ICT era and improve the quality of life. Innovation is our way of life and our people are constantly making things better and bigger. Bruneians are no longer followers, but leaders in their own way. Culture and technology co-exist in harmonic symbiosis which is the vision of our Smart Nation,” Lim Ming Soon, Chief Marketing Officer of TelBru, said at the one-day TelBru ICT Forum held at t The Rizqun International Hotel yesterday.
“Our broadband customers have now grown to 37,000 in the second quarter of 2016 from 28,000 in 2013, and this includes home and business connections. As of September 2016, the speed of delivery has increased to 9.5 mbps and this enables subscribers to have better communication not only within the country but also with the outside world,” Lim Ming Soon said.
“We in the Sultanate are now witnessing the fourth industrial revolution which has the potential to improve the quality of people’s life. The possibilities are endless from agriculture, retail, and healthcare to defence, and this include increasing facilities of the consumers and businesses.
“Brunei vision 2035 is our benchmark to what we are doing at TelBru. In the 21st Century, Internet is the right tool to achieve this vision. Whatever we do, or how we are going to do it, Internet will always be one of our key necessities in the future.
“The growing fibre optic infrastructure and technology delivers to realise what we want, opens up the gateway to innovative ideas, creates employment opportunities and encourages the young leaders and innovators to think big,” he said.
Lim Ming Soon also said that in last October, TelBru launched the first ever Smart Nation showcase in Brunei Darussalam. “It was relatively small, but size doesn’t matter. We believe every Smart Nation starts from home,” he added.
Lim Ming Soon, Chief Marketing Officer of TelBru while speaking during the ICT Forum 2016.
Among those that attended the forum.
Some of the invited speakers at the forum. – PHOTOS: AZROL AZMI
Members of the panel during the forum.
“Slowly we will create awareness on applications outside the home. From home, we will bring the latest in technology to the classroom, on the road, at financial institutions, hospital and government administration. We have identified various applications to be used to help in operations in these different fields.”
Meanwhile, participating in a panel discussion on Smart Government, Zainurijal bin Haji Abdullah from e-Government National Centre (eGNC) at the Prime Minister’s Office, touched on digital government where the focus areas are collaboration and integration, optimisation, enterprises information management, capability and mindset, security and service innovation.
The centre’s digital government programmes include advancing digital services, implementing universal access for government systems, optimising digital assets, strengthening security, enhancing stakeholder engagement and developing enterprise information management capability, he said.
Another speaker, Sheikh Abas bin Sheikh Mohammad from InfoCom Federation Brunei, called on the government to form a committee to promote the Smart Nation initiative for our nation to go in the right direction.
“We really look forward for this (Smart Nation) to happen. But we need to focus on our niche market due to our small population to ensure return of investment.” He cited the example of Halal market where the country has the right data for the Smart Nation drive to flourish.
Meanwhile, Pengiran Mohd Amirrizal bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud, Land Transport Department Deputy Director, highlighted Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) focusing on real time information. ITS allows the public to have real time information on travel, safety and security, he said.
To enhance travel safety of the general public, tourists and travellers, CCTVs are installed to monitor bus driver’s behaviour onboard. And to enhance efficiency, cost effective mobile apps and LED displays are put in place at public transport facilities, besides wifi, GPS and GPRS in public buses as well as an integrated ticketing system.
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