Mustapa: Enhance govt’s digital initiatives to improve public service delivery
03 Aug 2021
The government’s digital initiatives need to be ramped up in order to improve the quality of government services, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
He said existing efforts, such as the Government Online Services (GOS) Gateway, could be strengthened to accelerate the implementation of the National Digital Identity initiative.
The GOS Gateway is a one-stop portal to improve the ease of doing business and enhance public service delivery.
“Under the MyDigital blueprint, we have outlined plans to drive digital transformation, to deliver integrated end-to-end online government services, leveraging on cloud technologies and open data, as well as upskilling of civil servants.
“These are keys for us to move towards a digital government,” Mustapa said during the Digitising Public Service Delivery webinar today.
The event was organised by the Strategic Change Management Office, in partnership with telecommunications conglomerate Axiata Group Bhd and management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group.
Meanwhile, consultancy firm Francis Maude Associates (FMA) chairman and co-founder Francis Maude said strong central leadership, mandate and capabilities are required to drive the change and digital transformation in a government.
“The central leadership must have the right mandate that is able to operate, inspire people and create goodwill across the government and, most importantly, have the ability to say no and have a high level of technical authority and capability.
“Without the right capability, then the mandate will be attacked or eroded because the other part of the government will say why should we listen when they (leaders) don’t know as much as we do,” he said.
Maude also said that disruption is essential to deliver progress and change and that reform of the civil service is crucial.
“Find things you (government) can do, make them happen and make them successful.
“Show the people that changes can be done inside and outside of the government. Don’t wait until you have got the perfect plan, perfect policy and then implement,” he said.
Maude was a United Kingdom cabinet minister from 2010 to 2015.
He led an efficiency and reform programme that delivered cumulative savings from the operating costs of the government of more than £52 billion.
Founded in 2016, FMA’s focus is on the implementation of fiscal, economic and public sector reform.
It has worked with federal governments in Canada and Australia, the government of New South Wales, and a number of governments in Asia and the Middle East.
Source: Bernama
