Malaysian officials believe that their citizen engagement efforts are performing well, and remain committed to traditional service channels such as roadshows and conventional branch offices, an exclusive FutureGov report has found.

The report - ‘Government Connectivity, Citizen Engagement and Economic Impact in Asia Pacific’ - was commissioned by Cisco Systems, and surveyed over 100 selected senior officials across Australia, Malaysia, India and Singapore.

Officials were asked to rate the importance of citizen engagement to their organisation, and also to rate their current level of citizen engagement. Only in Malaysia did officials believe that their level of citizen engagement exceeded its importance. Officials gave a score of 84.3% for the importance of citizen engagement - well above the average of 72.7% - and a score of 85.3% for the level of citizen engagement in their organisation.

The survey also found strong support for traditional engagement platforms. Officials gave a score of 76% for the importance of conventional branch offices, against the average score of 61.5%, while they gave a 75% score for roadshows against an average score of 56.2%.

However, Malaysian officials were also enthusiastic about social media, giving it a score of 74% against the regional average of 61.9%, showing the widest regional breadth on citizen engagement platforms.

When asked what opportunities and challenges Malaysian officials need to be aware of, Dominic Scott, Managing Director of National Engagement Strategy for Cisco across Asia Pacific and Japan, said: “ Citizens all over Malaysia are increasingly active in their use of social media tools to discuss and debate issues in their country. For example, more than 45% of the population have Facebook accounts.”

“As Malaysians become more connected and more engaged, their expectations from government agencies in terms of service levels and policy input are steadily rising. For Malaysia to realise the Government’s Vision 2020 aspiration, it is vital for government agencies to embrace the desire of Malaysians for increased participation.”

Further, Scott added, “The challenge is how to ensure that citizen engagement initiatives are meaningful and substantial, and not just superficial attempts to appear open and consultative. Effective use of data analytics, collaboration tools and mobile platforms will be very important enablers.”