Brunei to build Eco-Cyber Park as IT incubator
By Azlan Othman

Brunei is working on a plan to develop its own Eco-Cyber Park, Minister of Communications, Pehin Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Zakaria revealed.

It will provide electronic content and multimedia services in the Asia-Pacific, Asean and BIMP-EAGA regions.

It is also intended to be the country's catalyst in diversifying innovative and creative talent and capability in information technology, which will be of huge benefit to the people, business and organisations in Brunei.

Most importantly, the Eco-Cyber Park will become an incubator for diversifying dynamic and competitive market in the provision of information and telecommunications services and also Brunei hopes it can attract investments and indigenous innovations in information and telecommunications industries.

This park will consist of office blocks, shopping malls, R&D manufacturing plants, a small exhibition centre and others, Pehin Hj Zakaria elaborated in his dinner address at the Asean-EC Conference on K-Economy held at the Empire Hotel and Country Club on Wednesday.

"As a small country, strategically located in the fast growing region, we see huge opportunities and prospects for Brunei. We see ICT as an important economic sector in itself, of course it also supports the growth of industries such as manufacturing and financial services.

"Through Brunei Economic Development Board, Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, we are working to develop our own Eco-Cyber Park. To help realise the strategies and achieve our vision of making Brunei as a cyber hub in the region, our government has allocated $170 million under the 8th national development plan (NDP)."

Pehin Hj Zakaria added that the physical development of the cyber park will be linked by a road network to nearby strategic locations like the learning institutions, the national theme park, housing estates, the international airport, the deep water port and the business centres. A high-speed telecommunications infrastructure - our RaGAM 21- a broadbrand high-speed fibre optic cable network - will link the cyber park to the Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII) and the Global Information Network (GII)."

"We are focused on providing our people access to pervasive and reliable information and communication infrastructure. We are serious in our intention to embrace technology to improve the productivity, efficiency and competitiveness of our country and the quality of our people's lives."

According to Pehin Hj Zakaria, it is also Brunei's vision to make the country as a cyber hub and "we have a good prospect to be one of the major hubs for telecommunications and multimedia services in the region.

"We have invested heavily in building our national information infrastructure (RaGAM 21) which has broadband capabilities in order to keep pace with the rapid changing global trends in the information technology field.

"Indeed, under Brunei's 8th NDP, our government has allocated over $900 million for the development of ICT sector inclusive of e-government projects and initiatives.

"Through BIT Council, we are also seriously working to forge the national IT master plan that includes further advancement in the developments of e-government and e-business and the actual implementation of these programmes. Our e-society will also implement its e-mukim project to extend its ICT services to the community."

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin