Keynote Address

Yang Berhormat Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Shamhary

bin Pengiran Dato Paduka Mustapha

Minister of Transport and Infocommunications

Date:

Thursday, 2nd February 2023

Event:

National Business Conference 2023

Beyond Recovery: Achieving a Sustainable Digital Future

for

- Panel Discussion on Brunei as a Smart Nation -

Venue:

International Convention Centre

Brunei Darussalam

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, salam sejahtera and Good Morning

 

• Yang Berhormat members of the Legislative Council

• Yang Mulia Dayang Nik Hafimi Abdul Haadii, Chair,

APEC Business Advisory Council Brunei;

• Yang Mulia Dayang Haslina Taib, Chair, ASEAN

Business Advisory Council Brunei;

• Your Excellencies;

1. It is a pleasure to be here this morning. I would like to congratulate the ASEAN Business Advisory Council for their continued work in organizing important thought stimulation forums such as today’s conference on Achieving a Sustainable Digital Future, including the panel discussion on Brunei as a Smart Nation.

2. I definitely look forward to learn the views and perspective of the panel members, as well as the audience on this matter.

3. The topic of Smart Nation has never been more relevant than it is today, and its importance will only continue to grow moving forward. Digital technologies were critical in successfully maneuvering through the COVID-19 pandemic.

4. News headlines highlighted the importance of digital transformation and the role of the pandemic as The Great Accelerator (reference). However, this rapid adoption had also taught us that there is still much to be done.

5. Among the lessons learned was that while quick fixes and actions were necessary, for long-term sustainability, we also need to innovate at the core

of businesses or processes. We need to address any newly introduced vulnerabilities in the entire end to end value stream – whether it has to do with delivering goods and services or in manufacturing.

6. It also cemented the fact that we need to be agile in order to best harness the potential and innovation that digital technologies represent.

7. At the same time, with more valuable information increasingly stored digitally and transmitted via the internet, cyber security will continue to grow as au concern. Apart from technological solutions, new ways of working and equipping the workforce with adequate skills and know-how to protect against cyber-attacks has to also come hand in hand with the digital transformation journey.

8. With the change, gaps will also exist relating to digital literacy, as many users are not familiar with even the basics of navigating digital platforms; the digital divide between the haves and have nots. Those who lack access to adequate digital technology are at a distinct disadvantage in an increasingly digital world. Hence, we all need to work together to protect our people and ensure no one is left behind. Digital inclusion must always be addressed for us going forward.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

9. Recently, the overall arching narrative on the digital sector has focused on the development and implications of Artificial Intelligence. While much work needs to go towards developing true General Artificial Intelligence, its impact cannot be denied.

10. Using a combination of these freely available artificial intelligence tool such as ChatGPT, MidJourney and others, a person named Ammaar Reshi was able to recently write, illustrate, publish and started selling a children’s book on Amazon. This was all achieved in the span of a weekend, and

“without ever picking up a pen and paper” (reference).

11. Of course, when talking about digital technologies, connectivity is one of the key underlying infrastructures that is critical to ensuring adoption.

12. Over the past few years, our country has benefited greatly from high connectivity coverage across the whole nation.

13. Key investments in our national connectivity infrastructure over the past twenty years has resulted in the growth of percentage population with access to the internet from 9% in 2000 to 95% in 2020 (reference). On this front, the government continues to work with key stakeholders to further

improve the quality of our network infrastructure such as through the Broadband Uplifting program which aims to “raise the fixed broadband baseline speed for all subscribers to at least 50Mbps” (reference).

14. Today “Brunei is placed in the top 10 for the fastest mobile network speeds on a global basis with a median download speed of 102.06 Mbps on mobile networks” (reference).

15. However, a well-connected nation is not in itselfu sufficient for Brunei Darussalam to achieve and become a Smart Nation. Being a Smart Nation means using technology to create a better future for people and society. It involves using data, digital services, and advanced associated technologies to improve the quality of life for citizens including but not limited to healthcare, education and other public services.

16. Being a Smart Nation also means creating an environment where citizens can easily access the information and services they need, providing citizens with easy-to-use platforms to access information and related services.

17. While there has been progress, ongoing work will continue to improve the awareness, convenience,accessibility, reliabil ity and trustworthiness of our online services.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

18. A Smart Nation is not just about our government services, that improves the quality of lives, but also involves the digital transformation of our industries and businesses.

19. While local businesses have been quick to incorporate consumer facing technology innovations such as e-Commerce and social media marketing, the adoption and application of technologies can also improve efficiency and productivity which in turn can help them to remain competitive – these are the real digital transformation that provides value for businesses and industries with good return on investments.

20. In this regard, we must work together collectively to overcome any barriers to technology adoption, especially by that of our industries and businesses.

21. In addition, we also need to provide an enabling environment to take advantage of our improved connectivity and infrastructure. The question now remains on how we can encourage our people and industry to leverage what is already available. How can we increase the productivity of our industries? How can we improve their capabilities to export goods and services? Perhaps even looking at our ICT Sector in becoming exported oriented.

22. It is within this context that we continue to work on the Digital Economy Masterplan 2025 of which a mid-term review was recently carried out to monitor its progress. Under the Masterplan, among others, we are currently focused on delivering two key enabling flagship projects namely:

a. The Digital ID that is focused on providing individuals with a digital identity that can be used to access services online, as well as 

b. The Digital Payment Hub that is focused on improving and making online payments more seamless and accessible.

23. In concluding, I wish to wrap up by stating that it is imperative for government, businesses and individuals to move in tandem towards a connected and smart nation.

24. All need to strategically invest in education and infrastructure and better understand how technology can influence our comparative advantage.

25. Governments need to protect the population from being disenfranchised, create an enabling and safe environment as well as keeping itself up to speed with technological developments and how to manage the change.

26. With that, I look forward to the discussions today and hope that this can spur further conversations on how we can continue to drive digital transformation and realize the vision of Brunei Darussalam as a Smart Nation.

27. Once again thank you to the ASEAN and APEC Business Advisory Councils of Brunei Darussalam, Ministry of Finance and Economy, Baiduri Bank and all involved in executing this online forum and also to the participants who have joined in today.