NEWS: Push for government spending

KUALA LUMPUR: The time is right for governments to invest heavily in information technology, said Springboard, a Singapore-based research company.

“Many think the recession is the worst since World War II but it is also the best time since then to invest in technology,” said Dane Anderson, Springboard CEO.

He said massive stimulus spending, citizens and businesses turning to governments for leadership, and new technology breakthroughs and innovations are the three factors that justify government decisions for new transformation initiatives.

According to Springboard’s research, there are several trends that governments can take advantage of to improve the delivery of services to the people.

One of these is new social media that can be used to reach out to the younger generation.

Anderson said today’s youth communicate differently compared to those of the previous generation and if governments want to get their messages across, they will need to take advantage of social media.

“There is already evidence of this taking place,” he said.

In Malaysia, the Prime Minister and several other government leaders have hopped onto microblogging service Twitter while Singapore is using Facebook, a popular social networking tool, to enable its youths to better express their views.

These new online platforms of communication have spawned a concept called e-democracy, which government leaders can use to gauge public sentiments on the various issues.

Such tools are already widely used in business as ways for companies to receive feedback from their customers so that they can constantly improve their products and services.

However, said Anderson, some governments are unwilling still to adopt such media due to the fear that it may lead to chaos or unrest among the people.

“Leaders can thwart these services or pull them into their spheres of influence, but it would be more logical to make use of these communications tools,” he said.

Site maintenance

Another trend is the injection of Web 2.0 capabilities into e-government websites to make them more user friendly.

Web 2.0 refers to the next-generation of the Internet that, among other design features, places more emphasis on communication, information sharing, and the forming of web communities.

Springboard’s research shows that some governments need to pull up their socks in this area. “Although there was an explosion of e-government websites between 1999 and 2005, many of these lack usability and have not been kept up-to-date,” Anderson said.

Also, amidst global pandemic risks, governments have turned to technology to help keep disease at bay and to administer proper and timely care to their citizens.

Technology solutions, such as thermal-imaging scanners and networks that aid in early detection and response, are a boon.

Eye on the pie

Computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) is expecting a boost in revenue as governments increasingly use information technology to deliver services to the public.

The company has identified several opportunities in the public sector market, said Gerry Lim, director of sales for the government and civilian agencies, public sector, health and life sciences technology solutions group at HP Asia Pacific.

One is the introduction of an e-voting system. Although the introduction of such machines may take time because government policies need to be in place first, HP said the system could be introduced in a non-political setting, such as a company’s annual general meeting.

Once security, transparency and any other issues have been settled, Lim said, e-voting could initially replace postal votes during a general election. “It will take time but it is do-able,” he added.

Another opportunity that HP sees lies in the healthcare sector where high-performance computing can improve the quality of care given to patients.

Such technology can be the basis of a digital hospital where caregivers prioritise the needs of the patients in order to be more efficient.

“This enables caregivers to separate the patients that most need medical care from those who just want a glass of water,” Lim said.

HP also sees hospitals and clinics embracing cloud computing, allowing these facilities to access and maintain a central repository of virtual records so that doctors and other caregivers can have up-to-date patient information at their fingtertips.

Additionally, cloud computing reduces a user’s hardware and software costs because the applications or data is stored on the Web instead of on individual computers or servers maintained by each organisation.