Digital governance can be defined as an application of information technology to the functioning of the government.
It aims to enhance the delivery of public services to the citizens as well as other individual and organizational consumers of the government services.
Digital governance creates high digital literacy among citizens, promote digital inclusion and enable secure access to services, through digital identification systems
Here are among the benefits of digital governance to the citizens.
Efficient services
One of the benefits of digital governance is that it ensures efficiency in public services by the government to its citizens.
For instance, it helps improve urban planning by optimizing routes for transport operators, reducing commuters’ journey times; provide educational support to students based on their individual learning needs; and enable online self-referral and screening.
E-governance not only saves cost and time, but also proves to be a more secure way of managing large amounts of public data from various sectors.
Smart infrastructure
Due to growing population especially in urban areas, there is a pressure for the government to build and upgrade the infrastructure.
New infrastructures are needed not only to support the growing population but also increase economic as well as social activities.
By utilising technologies such as smart devices, sensors and software to physical infrastructures, this will ensure efficiency and effectiveness in monitoring and controlling the facilities in various sectors.
This may include transportation, water and electricity system, public services and safety operation.
Job opportunities
As Sarawak is developing its digital economy, investing in technologies is essential to support innovation, growth and jobs creations.
Technologies has enabled small businesses to compete for global businesses with bigger companies.
With digital governance, the government help the entrepreneurs by easing regulatory requirements and access to credit for small businesses and offer them financial incentives for creating jobs in the services and solutions sectors.
For those who are self-employed especially when contributing to digital economy such as web designers, policymakers can make it easier for them to obtain the licensing and accreditation they need to work on their own account.
A strong policy will encourage a thriving digital economy.
Security
Technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) have the risk of being exploited by hackers.
Thus, citizens are becoming increasingly concerned about the way their data is being used.
However, technologies are also beneficial in a way that it is essential to ensure smooth public services to the society.
For instance, among the things that can be done to increase the security of the citizens includes introducing information security management systems to safeguard data, increase computing capacity, support secure biometric identification programs and provide safe payment platforms for citizen transactions.
