MTIC’s primary emphasis is in line with the desire of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to become a ‘Smart Nation’ for the country. The strategy is also in line with the above three goals of BV2035 – viz ensuring high quality of life; having a highly education and skilled workforce; and achieving a sustainable and dynamic economy – with its new vision of a ‘Connected Smart Nation’ and the goal of ‘Enhancing Connectivity for Great Socio-Economic Opportunities, Creativity and High Quality of Life’.
The MTIC 20251 Vision is to UTILISE TECHNOLOGY and CONNECTIVITY to spur innovation and improve the lives and needs of citizens and businesses for continued national development through Digital Economy, Digital Government and Digital Society initiatives to achieve the following:
• Vibrant and diversified economy
• Improved competitiveness and economic growth by developing infrastructure, innovation, data capability, human capital and other resources
• Improved quality of life, public services, schools, safety, mobility of people and to achieve
environment sustainability
The 6 core strategies included under the MTIC are:
Firstly (SO1), digital transformation by showing efforts in achieving the status of a “Smart Nation” based on digital government, setting-up platforms for digital society and the digital economy, ensuring the sustainability of the sectors of transport and information and communications technology (ICT), creating smart transportation through electric vehicles and using the Intelligent Transport System (ITS).
Secondly (SO2), through its Brunei ICT Awards (BICTA), the Ministry also aims to encourage active participation and creativity by stakeholders in the field of ICT, not just for domestic use, but for the international market.
Under the SO2 the initiatives and action plan include:
• Develop a robust and extensive Smart Nation platform for government agencies, businesses and citizens
• Develop and implement Universal Service Provision (USP) requirements
• Develop testbed for new technology
• Develop National Digital Innovation Framework
Thirdly (SO3), the Ministry will continue its efforts to ensure that safety standards in the transport and ICT sectors are in place by reducing road fatality rates, as well as upholding safety and preparedness standards and compliance with the safety, safety and well-being standards of all users and passengers for all agencies under the Ministry.
The fourth strategy (SO4) ensures that, by actively promoting projects, joint ventures and cooperation with stakeholders to consolidate policy proposals and recommendations for formulation and review, the policy and regulatory environment is conducive to investments and enterprises in order to further promote the growth of industry and investment. SO4 aims to increase the contribution of GDP to the transport and ICTsectors through fostering and maintaining a conducive environment to investment and operating businesses.
The fifth (SO5) focus area is organizational transformation, which is the transformation of management and operations with new approaches to service quality and public efficiency, especially in the postal, civil aviation and land transport sectors.
Finally (SO6), the ministry aims at enhancing international cooperation through regional and international forums, such as the ASEAN Transport Ministers’ Meeting (ATM) and the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN), where regional agreements can be pursued bilaterally and multilaterally for the benefit of all parties in the fields of training and capacity-building in the transport and ICT sectors.
The Minister in his foreword message2 in driving Brunei Darussalam towards the status of a ‘Smart Nation’, MTIC is pursuing 5 policy priorities namely, developing ICT infrastructure to facilitate business, reduce cost of doing business; strengthening cybersecurity by ensuring safe and secure ecosystem for all users; continued agility in keeping pace with development and adaptability of digital technologies; improving affordability, accessibility and reliability for benefits of all users and furthering engagement with all stakeholders. The action plans from the MTIC2025 are expected to achieve the following outcomes by 2025:
• 97% – system availability for -e-government shared services (SO1)
• Top 40 of United Nations e-government (SO1)• 50% digitisation of MTIC documentation (SO1)
• 30% MTIC services automated (SO1)
• 6,000 jobs in ICT (SO2)
• 4,800 jobs in land transport sector (SO2)
• 1,800 jobs in the aviation sector (SO2)
• 2,000 jobs in maritime sector (SO2)
• 80% of urban businesses and residential population covered by 500Mbps fixed broadband (SO2)
• Export-oriented digital products and services
• Top 3 among ASEAN Economies in Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking (SO3)
• 10% – energy savings (MTIC) utilities (SO3)
• 75% household internet subscription
• 80% MSMEs enabled by technology
• Improve Global Cybersecurity Index Rank
• 4% GDP contribution by Info-communications sector
• 2.5% GDP contribution by Transport sector
