E-Government in Malaysia: Its Implementation so far and Citizen’s Adoption Strategies

E-government
It is an e-commerce model which a government efficiently and effectively provides goods, services and information to citizens and businesses. It brings together all the three parties (goods, services and information) together in a network of information, knowledge and commerce.

Implementation of E-government in Malaysia
E-government was implemented in Malaysia since the introduction of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996. It aims at improving government’s responsiveness to the needs of citizens and businesses through upgrading the convenience, accessibility and quality of interactions with citizens and businesses.

E-government is among the flagship applications launched by MSC. It consists of seven main projects which are currently under implementation. They are:

Government to Government
1. Project Monitoring System (SPP II) – an online system that supervises the complete lifecycle of national projects.
2. Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) – an information system enabling the government to successfully deal with its knowledge resources.
3. Generic Office Environment (GOE) – document and office management solution that helps users deal with their office environment effectively and efficiently.

Government to Business
1. Electronic Procurement (EP) – a system where suppliers sells goods and services online to the Government.

Government to Citizen
1. Electronic Services (E-Services) – it enables an individual Malaysian to conduct transactions with Government agencies.
2. Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX) – it provides information on labour markets
3. E-Syariah – a system that manages cases for the Syariah Courts.

For further information, please refer to Implementation of Electronic Government in Malaysia: The Status and Potential for Better Service to the Public

Citizen’s Adoption Strategies
It is undeniable that e-Government does bring lots of benefits as it is convenient and time-saving. However, a lot of Malaysian citizens still prefer interacting with the Government through the traditional method. It could be due to the lack of awareness and confidence in citizens, lack of guidance from Government, language barriers, outdated information, and so on.

Therefore, the Government should constantly find ways that are able to lead the citizens into the Information Age. The followings are some strategies that could be implemented by the Government:

• Educating and informing the public about the various services offered by government agencies.
• Increasing citizens’ confidence by improving the security of doing transactions online and keeping their personal information confidential.
• Improving the quality of services provided. For example, the information provided on the websites and speed of responding citizens enquiries.
• Paying attention to the feedback of the users and improve constantly.
• Providing websites in multiple languages.

Please visit www.malaysia.gov.com for further information on e-Government in Malaysia.