“We are now in the smart government phase compared to e-government earlier, and this is in line with how communication technology is being used and the higher demand for information by the people,” says the Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Joseph Entulu Anak Belaun.

He highlighted the need to ensure that information is useful and eases transactions between government and citizens. He urged government agencies and ministries to regularly update their websites so that the latest information is displayed.

The Minister was speaking at the opening of the Malaysia CIO and Malaysian Open Source Software Conference organized by the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit.

Smart government represents the next level of government-to-citizen interaction, he believes, and demands a shift in focus on how technology is used. The Malaysian Government had mapped out 69.97 per cent of its 12,051 services currently offered online as of September. It plans to achieve 70 per cent by the end of the year.

The conference was themed ‘Charting the Next Level of SMART Government’, where ‘SMART’ stands for Social, Mobility, Analytics, Readiness and Trust. The conference looks to raise awareness of and promote sharing of best practices on ‘Next Level of SMART Government’.