IMPLEMENTING an electronic payment system in Brunei would complement its e-government and e-business initiatives, facilitating and reducing transaction costs, as well as providing more entrepreneurship opportunities, said a foreign expert.
Electronic payment is a prerequisite for e-government initiatives to take off and should be considered as a flagship project which affects government-business-public relationship, said Dr Yeoul Hwangbo, an e-government professor at the E-Government Technology Authority Body (EGTAB).
He told The Brunei Times that Internet payment is important for e-government and e-business initiatives as e-government services require safe e-payments on the Internet and the government would not be able to provide electronic transaction services to its citizens and businesses without the system.
Dr Yeoul said that the system would allow users to reap greater benefit with less effort, adding that it would be more convenient for individuals to pay bills using their personal computer and the relevant government agencies are able to collect money efficiently and within a short time.
This would also create new business opportunities, he said, adding that even newspaper companies have the potential to sell its digital products (information) to people using e-payment. "E-payment is not a new emerging phenomenon, but it is a popular business tool for many countries," added the South Korean expert.
He said that a number of processes must be taken into account to implement the system, including developing an e-payment regulatory framework such as law, order, policies and guidelines, as the first process. The next step is to design an inclusive e-payment system and establishing public-private partnership (PPP), he said.
Engagement with the private sector has been an integral feature of government use of information communication technology (ICT), he said. Brunei's private sector can provide upfront funds for constructing infrastructure and facilities, while the government must set up regulations, policies and guidelines to protect consumers, he added.
"Public-private relationships have broadened from the acquisition of products and services such as mainframe computers which governments themselves could not provide, to services such as the operation of computing facilities direct to end users of government services."
Dr Yeoul said that the integration of government services with non-government activity can leverage on existing infrastructure and existing patterns of citizen and business interactions.
He said that security has always been a major issue when dealing with online transactions. "To ensure the system is fool-proof, cyber security measures, with particular emphasis on digital signature and public key infrastructure, should be reinforced."
Public key infrastructure should be established to provide more secure services for citizens and businesses, he said, adding that it should meet the security requirements of authentication, integrity and confidentiality.
In addition, other security measures should be considered, such as personal computer security software to be provided by the e-payment agencies such as banks, prevention software to ban keyboard hacking, data and privacy protection policy and password.
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