INNOVATIONS IN PUBLIC SECTOR: THE BRUNEI CASE

The paper seeks to provide an overview of the service modernization introduced in Brunei’s public sector and discusses its overall aims, benefits and challenges. The paper has adopted descriptive and analytical methods and is primarily based on secondary and some primary data and information. The primary data was collected through interactive discussions with some senior government officers at the Ministry of Finance. Also, the paper has provided a systematic and careful analysis of the general literature on service delivery innovations and those pertaining to Brunei. Despite the concerted effort of the Government of Brunei to improve and expedite the internal processes at the Ministry of Finance through the use of ICT, there remain some challenges which need to be addressed by the government. Chief among them are people, cultural issues and existing administrative procedures and policies. Another concern is the lack of coordination and collaboration among various stakeholders. The findings of this paper are not based on a comprehensive and rigorous empirical work and, therefore, can only be interpreted as indicative of the current situation of Brunei public sector. Further attempt needs to be done to assess, whether TAFIS as an e-government project, has achieved or going to achieve its planned objectives. The value of the paper lies in clearly delineating the nature of change in the Brunei public sector and adds to the limited literature in the use of IT systems to support the functional areas at the Ministry of Finance. The findings can be of interest to policymakers and practitioners in the Brunei public service.