Title: Malaysia's New Govt ICT Masterplan
Author: Jianggan Li
Source: FutureGov
Date (published): 24/03/2011
Date (accessed): 24/03/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:

"Four strategic thrusts have been identified in order for the government to realise its vision for 2020. That includes: “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now”; Government Transformation Programme (GTP); Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the 10th Malaysia Plan.

Various programmes are developed to address the ICT requirements for the government in the above-mentioned areas over the next five years.
...
The public sector ICT blueprint, under which all agencies and departments will work towards the common goal, incorporates four key concepts: Information strategy which “enhances information sharing”, “ICT Governance”, “Managing Knowledge Effectively”, as well as “Strengthening the infrastructure architecture”.

For information architecture blueprint aims to achieve a whole-of-government by providing connected service delivery. The government will identify the business architecture components and map it into the information architecture components. The goal is to enhance public facing delivery channels, provide a common architecture standard for information sharing as well as enhance collaboration by identifying common, shareable and reusable information.

The phases will include building the foundation, achieving connected service delivery and finally seamless sharing of information by 2015.

In the area of governance, Dr Nor Aliah says of strengthening the governance structure is to “support and align with the national strategic priorities and initiatives by creating a more responsive governance environement to improve speed of decision-making and delivery”.

The strategy to build an informed knowledge environment includes the building of a Knowledge foundation programme, knowledge practitioner development programme as well as rewards & recognition programme. In addition to inculcating the culture of knowledge management, the government will also strengthen knowledge management initiative in the public sector through development of high impact knowledge management projects and intelligence hub programme. The objective is for an “Existence of a Centralized Knowledge Management Hub for the public sector” in five years’ time.

Dr Nor Aliah highlights the concern that currently “public sector ICT infrastructures are currently not fully optimised due to redundancies and inefficiencies resulting from disparate ICT infrastructure”. To increase the productivity, the government plans to consolidate public sector network, data centres & disaster recovery centres, establish public sector cloud computing infrastructure, standardise end user computing infrastructure, develop common security infrastructure, deploy mobile computing solutions and increase the usage of open source applications.

The public sector ICT framework has been developed, which include ICT governance and change management components.

“In many areas, the government services are available but the usage rate is very low,” says Dr Nor Aliah, who adds that one of the objectives is to make sure more people use government services. Seven strategic objectives have been identified as part of the business strategy plan; these include streamlining ICT architecture; consolidating ICT operations; intensifying inter-agency collaboration; rationalising ICT governance structures; attracting, developing and retaining top talent in the public service; strengthening the performance culture and fostering knowledge culture.

Numerous KPIs have been set in the areas including online services, paperless government, sharing of information and shared services."

Title: Developing a Knowledge Management Strategy for the Arab World
Authors: Walter Skok, Saad Tahir
Pages: 11 pp.
ISSN: 1681-4835
Source: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, EJISDC (2010) 41, 7, 1-11
Publisher: City University of Hong Kong
Date (published): 07/05/2010
Date (accessed): 28/06/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to investigate the issue of knowledge sharing and knowledge management (KM) in an Arab context, by identifying the main issues and obstacles which arise as a result of the Arab culture. By using field data from questionnaires given to staff in an Arab firm, the research shows that western based KM practices should be applied cautiously in a non-western setting. The research concluded that the most appropriate overall knowledge strategy to adopt is a hybrid strategy of ‘intellectual asset management’ i.e. where existing company assets are more fully exploited and ‘personal knowledge assert responsibility’ i.e. where individual employees are encouraged to develop and share their skills and knowledge. This blended approach will nurture a culture of knowledge sharing amongst staff, which is often difficult to achieve. The research also demonstrates how the biggest barriers to knowledge sharing in Arab organisations are the people themselves together with their social and cultural beliefs. These results will be useful within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and for other Arab governments and organisations (as well as multinationals who are looking to set up in an Arab country), when trying to formulate KM strategies. This research allows them to understand better the barriers that will prevent successful implementation of KM in an Arab setting. It also provides them with a series of recommendations to help overcome such obstacles, and thus seeks to find active solutions to ensure that the concepts of knowledge management and sharing are not lost in translation.

Title: Smallholder farmers and ICT-KM
Author: Enrica Porcari
Source: 4d Magazine
Publisher: Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies
Date (published): January-March 2010
Date (accessed): 21/04/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
ICTs can help smallholder farmers maximise the return on agricultural inputs, provided timely and relevant information is made available to them.

Research organisations like the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) cannot be satisfied just knowing they have produced high quality science. It is essential that the outputs of their research are communicated and put to use in the village, on the ground, in the lab, or across the negotiating table.

This is where the ICT-KM Programme of the CGIAR plays a role in helping to get vital research results out to the people who need it the most. The Programme recognises that scientific research organisations are becoming more and more information intensive, multi-disciplinary and partnership-based, requiring up-to-date communications infrastructure and knowledge sharing practices. As such, the Programme helps the CGIAR develop and sustain a culture of active information and knowledge sharing involving timely yet cost-effective multi-directional communications, the know-how to collaborate, and the tools to support multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams.