E-Government in Malaysia: Its implementation so far and citizen’s adoption strategies

Malaysian e-government initiative started in 1997 and focus on reinventing the government machinery and achieving the ultimate vision 2020; attracting foreign investments and developing multimedia industries, especially expertise and technologies. E-government is the use of information technology in general and to offer delivery of public services to citizens. Besides that, it will improve information flows and processes within government to progress the speed and quality of policy development, coordination and enforcement.

Current applications of e-government in Malaysia are Driving License Online, e-filling, KWSP’s i-Akaun, E-Perolehan and Renewing Road Tax. KWSP’s i-Akaun is an EPF account which available on the internet. Account’s status or history of transaction can be check by members by using KWSP’s i-Akaun. Members can also use it to calculate amount eligible for withdrawal and it is convenient to update correct and complete employees’ information. Therefore, employer can use it to submit form and make payment online.

E-perolehan is an online procurement system that permits suppliers to provide their products or services online to government. With that, they can get, manage and process purchase order and receive payment through the internet. Nowadays, we can renew road tax and motor insurance policy at http://www.myeg.com.my/. A list of about 100 insurances companies for citizen is also provided to let citizen choose for it. In addition, we can also renew driving licenses and pay or check traffic summonses online at http://www.jpj.gov.my/.

The implementation of e-government would bring advantages to the public administration and Malaysian society in several ways. First, efficiency can be improve by e-government since the use of information technology makes improvement in mass processing tasks and public administration operations. After that, services can be improved because the main element in restructuring government operations is to adopt a customer-focused approach. These applications will provide a seamless online service and thus traditional government services can be improved. Third, specific outcome would be achieved. The internet can aid stakeholders share ideas and information and contribute to particular policy outcomes.

Many citizens in Malaysia are still skeptical to trust electronic transactions such as paying bills online. Some of them are lack of computer knowledge and some of them face language problem when using it. Therefore, there are five ways to encourage more citizens to use the e-government application which include create incentives to move to the digital channel, making it mandatory, advertise, change the culture and form partnerships with the private sector. In addition, government can implement more languages in e-government to those consumers who are not so good in English and Malay.

As government executives focus on tailoring online services to meet the needs of specific customer segments, just as business do, e-government programs will be more successful and deliver greater returns on the investments.