E-Government in Malaysia: Its Implementation So Far and Citizen’s Adoption Strategies.

E- Government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Network, Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. As far as Malaysia is concerned, the implementation of e-government was initiated with the introduction of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996 and in the survey, Malaysia’s ranking is 25^th out of 32 countries in terms of e-government usage growth.

The implementation of e-government in Malaysia heralds the beginning of a journey of reinventing the government by transforming the way it operates, modernizing and enhancing its service delivery. E-government seeks to enhance the convenience, accessibility and quality of interactions with the public and businesses at large. Simultaneously, it will improve information flow processes within the government, improve the speed and quality of policy development, and improve coordination and enforcement. This would enable the government more responsive to the needs of its citizens.

There are seven main projects were indentified to be the core of the e-government applications under the e-government flagship:

i) Electronic Procurement (eP)

ii) Project Monitoring System (PMS)

iii) Electronic Services Delivery (eServices)

iv) Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)

v) Generic Office Environment (GOE)

vi) E-Syariah

vii) Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX)

Citizen’s Adoption Strategies.

Generally, new technologies are forcing governments to be particularly attentive to time. In order to make the right decisions and avoid falling behind, government must identify and resolve the different issues that have arisen from the transition period during which traditional and e-government co-exist. Rather than just focusing on introduction of ICTs, government should decide on, guide and control the transformation of government into e-government. The use of ICT to strengthen the involvement of citizens and businesses in public decision-making must progress at the same time. In conclusion, implementing good strategies must be addressed carefully. Otherwise, e-government will remain a misleading, cosmetic operation.