BBYB 2023

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60 Borneo Bulletin Yearbook 2023
Over the past few years, businesses and
industries have slowly adopted Industrial
Revolution 4.0, such as in automation and
data exchange in technology and processes
including the use of artificial intelligence
(AI), cognitive computing, cloud computing
and the Internet of Things (IoT). Brunei
Darussalam has been actively improving
its infrastructure to support digitalisation
efforts which will benefit the whole
population including small businesses and
those who live in remote areas.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid
advancements were alsomadewithmuch of
the focus placedondigitalising the economy
as the quick adoption of technologies was
made to boost the efficiency of the Brunei
Government’s services and processes.
Brunei continues to pursue improvements
to the digital regulatory environment for
businesses, developing policies and systems
to create an interoperable market structure
to shift from paper-based to electronic-
based services.
E-Government National
Centre
Formed in April 2008 under the Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO), the E-Government
National Centre (EGNC) functions as the
centralised organisation that concentrates
on IT in the civil service. The centre oversees
the development of IT personnel and
centralises procurement of IT equipment, in
addition to providing common government-
wide applications and shared IT services
among all ministries.
In 2020, EGNC implemented the National
Information Hub (NIH) to serve as a
platform for information integration among
government agencies in support of the
sharing information initiative. Through NIH’s
Single Repository, common and uncommon
data can be obtained from trusted sources
and supported by the back-end system of
government departments or agencies in
need.
Meanwhile, the One Government Network
(OGN) is a specialised and secure
government network infrastructure
connecting government agencies
nationwide to integrated E-Government
services as well as Internet services
controlled via a central gateway at the
EGNC. As of November 2020, the service
has been connected to as many as 931 sites
nationwide.
The National Centralised Database (NCDB)
provides a database infrastructure for the
allocation of databases of the 11th National
Development Plan (RKN II) projects that need
improvement or a “technology refresh”. With
the availability of this service, it will provide
significant impact from the aspect of cost of
software purchase and maintenance that is
more economical and efficient as compared
to buying software in “silo”.
Meanwhile, Brunei Open Data at
is a portal to support the open data initiative
in Brunei enabling government agencies to
Digitalising the Economy